27 early career academics from ten universities came together in Bournemouth for a two-day sandpit funded by The British Academy Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network.
The event, organised by BU's Dr Catalin Brylla (Centre for the Study of Conflict, Emotion and Social Justice) and and Dr. Lyle Skains (Narrative, Culture and Community Research Centre), brought together researchers from a variety of disciplines - including performance, media, business management, environmental sciences, anthropology, computing, architecture, law, engineering, tourism, and health studies.
The two days consisted of networking activities, team-building exercises, research funding workshops and project development workshops, centred around the researchers' interest in a sustainable world and society (as represented by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals).
It culminated in six interdisciplinary project proposals that were pitched to a panel of BU subject experts: Professor Amanda Korstjens, Professor Adele Ladkin, Professor Huseyin Dogan, Dr. Lyle Skains, Dr. Catalin Brylla and Zarak Afzal.
The project proposals will now be allocated a mentor to help with producing a bidding application to a suitable funder.
The BA ECR Network is considering running this sandpit again next year and expanding it to its other regional hubs.
