First Nations Researchers Collective
Program Overview
Background
The First Nations Researchers Collective at Flinders University was established in December 2021 after an iterative co-design process with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, the Office of Indigenous Strategy and Engagement, and Research Development and Support. The Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) is sponsoring the Collective.
We launched the First Nations Researcher Collective in March 2022. This first year will serve as a pilot of the program; we will revise the program in line with feedback from members of the Collective after this pilot year.
The Leaders of the Collective, who will plan and chair the sessions, are:
- Associate Professor Natalie Harkin (College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences)
- Associate Professor Karla Canuto (College of Medicine and Public Health)
- Ms Lorna Murakami-Gold (College of Medicine and Public Health)
Vision
The First Nations Researchers Collective at Flinders University provides a supporting, reciprocal network to share knowledge, foster collaboration, enhance opportunities, and build capacity for emerging and established researchers.
Participants
All Flinders University researchers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, including Honours and HDR students.
Key points
- The content and concept will be led by the Indigenous research community.
- The teams from the Office of Indigenous Strategy and Engagement and Research Development and Support will collaborate to develop the framework for the program and will provide administrative support.
- This co-design approach is critical to the success of the program: It ensures the Indigenous Researcher Collective is shaped by Indigenous voices without adding to the overall workload of Indigenous researchers.
- This First Nations Researcher Collective is aligned with Flinders’ Reconciliation Action Plan (Action 10). The Collective will also be reflected in, and link to the work of, the Indigenous Research Strategy (currently in development).
Format of the program
- Indigenous researchers will get together to discuss specific research- and career-related issues; four sessions will be held each year.
- Four Indigenous researchers will be leaders in the Collective (identified through EOI). The leaders will rotate the responsibility of planning and chairing each session.
- Indigenous and non-Indigenous presenters will be invited to speak, as appropriate and as decided by the leaders in the collective.
- We would like to fly in rural and remote researchers, but that will depend on available resources. At a minimum, we will invite the rural and remote researchers to virtually join the sessions.
- Between sessions, we will provide an online forum for interaction and collaboration.
For further information or enquiries, please contact: researchers.collective@flinders.edu.au
Researcher Mentoring Program for Early-Career Researchers
- Do you want to become a more successful researcher?
- Do you want to build your research profile?
- Are you strategising for future academic promotions?
- Would you benefit from the support and guidance of an experienced, senior researcher?
The Flinders University Researcher Mentoring Program pairs early-career researchers (ECRs) with senior academics. Through the Program, senior researchers support ECRs to develop their research careers, meet their research aspirations and goals, and strategise for future academic success.
This Researcher Mentoring Program also provides an opportunity for ECRs to create a University-wide community with their fellow mentees who are at similar career stages (within 8 years post-PhD). This ECR community serves as a source of support and information for the mentees during the Program and beyond.
This Program runs from March to November each year. In the weeks leading up to the official launch in March, we provide mentees and mentors with information about the Program, expectations, and guidance about mentoring. During the Program, each mentee–mentor pair meet regularly. In addition, the cohort of mentees gather for three Roundtable Workshops to discuss topics of relevance to their career stage.
For more information including the program overview, eligibility criteria for mentees and mentors, and key dates for 2022, please see the Program Guidelines.
Details for next year’s Program will be available in November.
Please contact the Program Coordinator, Dr Jen Beaudry (Manager, Researcher Training, Development and Communication) if you need any further information or clarification.
Message from the Deputy
Vice-Chancellor (Research)
We are pleased to announce that we are relaunching the Flinders University Researcher Mentoring Program for Early-Career Researchers in 2022.
The Program is an opportunity for early-career researchers (ECRs) to benefit from the support and valuable skills and knowledge of senior researchers at Flinders. This Program has served more than 150 ECRs since 2012. The feedback from the mentees has been consistently positive, highlighting improvements to their research profiles and well-being.
The University values the input and wealth of experience that our senior academic staff bring to mentoring our early-career researchers. I strongly encourage researchers at all stages of their careers to participate in this Program either as mentees or mentors.
Professor Robert Saint
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
Sturt Rd, Bedford Park
South Australia 5042
Follow Flinders
