Tūāpapa Rangahau – Unitec’s Research Centre, recently held a three-minute ‘Research Spiel’ competition.
Dr Kristie Cameron, Chair of the Unitec ECR forum and Senior Lecturer in EAS shares her experience as well as information on becoming an Early Career Researcher at Unitec…
Winner: Dr Samantha Heath
The ‘Early Career Researcher Research Spiel’ Competition
To me, being an Early Career Researcher (ECR) means the opportunity to learn, practise, broaden, and conquer. To be inspired by others’ research as well as their enthusiasm, passion and ability to stay grounded. ECR’s by definition are inherently motivated to succeed in their role within education here at Unitec and by disseminating their work – they often a problem with saying ‘no’ to new projects or collaborations and can appear slightly soggy by the end of the week.
In early June, the Unitec ECR forum and Taupapa Rangahau held the first 3-minute ‘Research Spiel’ competition. Staff that meet the criteria to be an ECR shared their research with a focus on transdisciplinary and collaborative studies. There were eight competitors from a range of Schools across Unitec. These wonderful speakers included Dr Caralyn Kemp, Laura Harvey and Kristina Naden from Environmental and Animal Sciences; Dr Lata Rana from Early Childhood Education, Dr Tui Matelau from Bridgepoint, Dr Samantha Heath from Health and Social Practice, Dr Cat Mitchel from Ngā Wai a Te Tūī; and Dr Yusef Patel from Architecture.
Winner: Dr Tui Matelau presenting
Our infallible judges were Dr Falaniko Tominiko from Pacific Success, Learning and Research and Marie Shannon ePress Editor, Tāūpapa Rangahau, chose three winners based on the impact of their research on the relevant industry and community stakeholders. Each winner earned $1000 to spend on research dissemination or conference attendance. The recipients of the award were Dr Samantha Heath discussing her work on the future nursing workforce, Dr Tui Matelau discussing the importance of positive identity from the perspective of New Zealand mental health practitioners and Kristina Naden speaking about her research in zoonotic diseases in dogs in Tonga as part of Unitec’s work with the South Pacific Animal Welfare group.
Early Career Researchers at Unitec – applications now open
Laura Harvey, Dr Kristie Cameron (ECR Chair), Kristin Naden (winner) and Dr Caralyn Kemp
ECRs are valuable assets to Unitec with comprehensive support available through Tāūpapa Ranguhau including contestable funding, PBRF support, writing retreats and more. The latest round of ECR funding is currently open for Registrations of Interest and the dates for the latest writing retreat have been announced:
- Registrations of Interest close Monday 2 August, 2021
- Applicants notified of outcome: Friday 20 August, 2021
- Full applications open: Monday 23 August, 2021
- Full applications close: Monday 18 October 2021
- Applicants notified of outcome: Friday 3 December 2021
Please email Penny Thomson or Brenda Massey from Tūāpapa Rangahau for information on criteria and how to apply.
In recent weeks, the definition for ECR funding has been updated. If you think that you are an ECR please email me: kcameron@unitec.ac.nz to be added to the list to receive ECR notices and information.
An ECR at Unitec lies between ‘emerging/beginner’ and ‘senior/advanced’. An ECR is within 10 years (prior to the closing date for full applications for ECR funding) of becoming an ‘independent’ researcher, which is defined as one or both of the following, whichever comes first:
- A researcher who has been awarded a PhD or a professional doctorate with a significant research component.
- A researcher who has been the primary author of an independently investigated (i.e. unsupervised), disseminated quality assured research output. This criterion excludes conference presentations and typically also excludes very short written outputs.
Time taken for parental leave is not counted as part of the 10-year window (i.e. one year of parental leave would extend the eligibility period to 11 years since achieving criterion 1 or 2). Note that other forms of extended leave may be considered by negotiation with Tūāpapa Rangahau.
I am looking forward to a lot of emails and more social events to meet all the ECRs at Unitec.
Congratulations to all our ECR Research Spiel competitors and winners!