Aims and scope: Diversity, inclusion, equity and support are crucial ingredients for the emergence of creative ideas and innovation, the building blocks of research. It is particularly important for Early Career Astronomers (ECAs) to connect and learn navigating the academic system in permanent evolution (e.g., responding to pandemic, climate change and diversity crises). Securing the next job, building a mentoring network, finding support at work while ultimately developing a sustainable behavior is important, yet challenging, particularly for underrepresented minorities in astronomy. Such issues must be addressed simultaneously internationally and at the level of individual institutions. This Early Career Astronomy session at EAS 2022 aims to bring together a generation of scientists to take the practical next steps addressing career challenges.

We invite astronomers from all career stages to participate in our session, to be involved as mentors and mentees, advisors and to share experiences and ideas throughout the sessions for how to best support early career astronomers. We particularly would also love to hear from astronomers with traditionally marginalized backgrounds and/or that are part of underrepresented groups in astronomy.

Programme

9.00-10.30: Well-being in Astronomy & How to get most out of your PhD/PostDoc?

• 9.00: Hannah Calcutt - Mental health and wellbeing in astronomy
• 9.20: Tana Joseph - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Dutch astronomy and beyond
• 9.40: Gourav Khullar - Equity and Inclusion Advocacy and Community Organizing with Early Career Researcher Groups
• 9.55: Tanveer Karim - Model minority myth and its impact on policy making: a case study on asian-americans
• 10.10: Q&A with speakers

• 11.15: Viviana Acquaviva - The benefits of a support network
• 11.45: Small group discussions
• 12.15: Claudia Gutierrez - RECA mentorship programme: connecting and empowering the astronomical community in Colombia
• 12.40: Start of match-ups between mentors and mentees

• Mentoring session: pre-organised meetups between mentors and mentees.

• 17.30: Anna McLeod - Title TBD
• 17.50: Mark Gieles - A career in astronomy: a balancing act
• 18.10: Brenda Namumba - Bridging Africa and inspiring the future through science: my story
• 18.25: Cormac Larkin - (Ph)DIY: A beginner's guide to designing a PhD
• 18.40: Q&A with speakers

Invited speakers

• Hannah Calcutt (Nicolaus Copernicus University)
• Tana Joseph (University of Amsterdam)
• Gourav Khullar (University of Chicago)
• Tanveer Karim (Harvard University)
• Viviana Acquaviva (CUNY NYC College of Technology)
• Claudia Gutierrez (University of Turku)
• Anna McLeod (Durham University)
• Mark Gieles (Universitat de Barcelona)
• Brenda Namumba (SARAO / Rhodes University)
• Cormac Larkin (University of Groningen)

Scientific organisers

• Jakob van den Eijnden, Oxford, UK, jakob.vandeneijnden[at]st-hildas.ox.ac.uk
• Valeriya Korol, Birmingham, UK, korol[at]star.bham.sr.ac.uk
• Anniek Gloudemans, Leiden, NL, gloudemans[at]strw.leidenuniv.nl
• Neige Frankel, MPIA, Germany, frankel[at]cita.utoronto.ca
• Annelotte Derkink, Amsterdam, NL, a.r.derkink[at]uva.nl
• Floor Broekgaarden, Cambridge, USA, floor.broekgaarden[at]cfa.harvard.edu

Contact

EAS21ss34 @ gmail.com