Early-career researchers push back against the pressure

Australia’s Early and Mid-Career Researcher Forum is raising its voice, its chair tells Gerd Winter

The early years of a researcher’s career can be a lonely struggle. They are driven by the hope of being one of the lucky few who secures a tenured position at a university, or by desperation to find meaningful employment elsewhere.

This is a situation Monash University soil scientist Vanessa Wong can relate to and it motivated her to volunteer as chair of the Early and Mid-Career Researcher Forum, launched by the Australian Academy of Science in 2011 to give young researchers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics a national voice.