Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences
The polar regions provide valuable insights into the functioning of the Earth’s regulating systems. Conducting field research in such harsh and remote environments requires strong international cooperation, extended planning horizons, sizable budgets and long-term investment. Consequently, polar res...
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Online Access: | https://eprints.utas.edu.au/45760/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/45760/1/147725%20-%20Shifting%20perspectives%20in%20polar%20research.pdf |
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ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:45760 2023-05-15T18:02:44+02:00 Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences Figuerola, B Valiente, N Barbosa, A Brasier, MJ Colominas-Ciuro, R Convey, P Liggett, D Fernandez-Martinez, MA Gonzalez, S Griffiths, HJ Jawak, SD Merican, F Noll, D Prudencio, J Quaglio, F Pertierra, LR 2021 application/pdf https://eprints.utas.edu.au/45760/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/45760/1/147725%20-%20Shifting%20perspectives%20in%20polar%20research.pdf en eng Frontiers Research Foundation https://eprints.utas.edu.au/45760/1/147725%20-%20Shifting%20perspectives%20in%20polar%20research.pdf Figuerola, B, Valiente, N, Barbosa, A, Brasier, MJ orcid:0000-0003-2844-655X , Colominas-Ciuro, R, Convey, P, Liggett, D, Fernandez-Martinez, MA, Gonzalez, S, Griffiths, HJ, Jawak, SD, Merican, F, Noll, D, Prudencio, J, Quaglio, F and Pertierra, LR 2021 , 'Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences' , Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 9 , pp. 1-10 , doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 <http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009>. austerity COVID-19 diversity and inclusion interdisciplinarity mentoring post-doctoral researchers Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftunivtasmania https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 2022-05-09T22:16:38Z The polar regions provide valuable insights into the functioning of the Earth’s regulating systems. Conducting field research in such harsh and remote environments requires strong international cooperation, extended planning horizons, sizable budgets and long-term investment. Consequently, polar research is particularly vulnerable to societal and economic pressures during periods of austerity. The global financial crisis of 2008, and the ensuing decade of economic slowdown, have already adversely affected polar research, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has added further pressure. In this article we present the outcomes of a community survey that aimed to assess the main barriers and success factors identified by academic researchers at all career stages in response to these global crises. The survey results indicate that the primary barriers faced by polar early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) act at institutional level, while mitigating factors are developed at individual and group levels. Later career scientists report pressure toward taking early retirement as a means of institutions saving money, reducing both academic leadership and the often unrecognized but vital mentor roles that many play. Gender and social inequalities are also perceived as important barriers. Reorganization of institutional operations and more effective strategies for long-term capacity building and retaining of talent, along with reduction in non-research duties shouldered by EMCRs, would make important contributions toward ensuring continued vitality and innovation in the polar research community. Article in Journal/Newspaper Polar Research University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasmania |
language |
English |
topic |
austerity COVID-19 diversity and inclusion interdisciplinarity mentoring post-doctoral researchers |
spellingShingle |
austerity COVID-19 diversity and inclusion interdisciplinarity mentoring post-doctoral researchers Figuerola, B Valiente, N Barbosa, A Brasier, MJ Colominas-Ciuro, R Convey, P Liggett, D Fernandez-Martinez, MA Gonzalez, S Griffiths, HJ Jawak, SD Merican, F Noll, D Prudencio, J Quaglio, F Pertierra, LR Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences |
topic_facet |
austerity COVID-19 diversity and inclusion interdisciplinarity mentoring post-doctoral researchers |
description |
The polar regions provide valuable insights into the functioning of the Earth’s regulating systems. Conducting field research in such harsh and remote environments requires strong international cooperation, extended planning horizons, sizable budgets and long-term investment. Consequently, polar research is particularly vulnerable to societal and economic pressures during periods of austerity. The global financial crisis of 2008, and the ensuing decade of economic slowdown, have already adversely affected polar research, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has added further pressure. In this article we present the outcomes of a community survey that aimed to assess the main barriers and success factors identified by academic researchers at all career stages in response to these global crises. The survey results indicate that the primary barriers faced by polar early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) act at institutional level, while mitigating factors are developed at individual and group levels. Later career scientists report pressure toward taking early retirement as a means of institutions saving money, reducing both academic leadership and the often unrecognized but vital mentor roles that many play. Gender and social inequalities are also perceived as important barriers. Reorganization of institutional operations and more effective strategies for long-term capacity building and retaining of talent, along with reduction in non-research duties shouldered by EMCRs, would make important contributions toward ensuring continued vitality and innovation in the polar research community. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Figuerola, B Valiente, N Barbosa, A Brasier, MJ Colominas-Ciuro, R Convey, P Liggett, D Fernandez-Martinez, MA Gonzalez, S Griffiths, HJ Jawak, SD Merican, F Noll, D Prudencio, J Quaglio, F Pertierra, LR |
author_facet |
Figuerola, B Valiente, N Barbosa, A Brasier, MJ Colominas-Ciuro, R Convey, P Liggett, D Fernandez-Martinez, MA Gonzalez, S Griffiths, HJ Jawak, SD Merican, F Noll, D Prudencio, J Quaglio, F Pertierra, LR |
author_sort |
Figuerola, B |
title |
Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences |
title_short |
Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences |
title_full |
Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences |
title_fullStr |
Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences |
title_sort |
shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences |
publisher |
Frontiers Research Foundation |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/45760/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/45760/1/147725%20-%20Shifting%20perspectives%20in%20polar%20research.pdf |
genre |
Polar Research |
genre_facet |
Polar Research |
op_relation |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/45760/1/147725%20-%20Shifting%20perspectives%20in%20polar%20research.pdf Figuerola, B, Valiente, N, Barbosa, A, Brasier, MJ orcid:0000-0003-2844-655X , Colominas-Ciuro, R, Convey, P, Liggett, D, Fernandez-Martinez, MA, Gonzalez, S, Griffiths, HJ, Jawak, SD, Merican, F, Noll, D, Prudencio, J, Quaglio, F and Pertierra, LR 2021 , 'Shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences' , Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 9 , pp. 1-10 , doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 <http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009>. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766173343114854400 |