Aim:
Through the ECR WG, we hope to create a supportive space for ECRs who specifically work in environmental biotechnology to support, inspire, and empower each other. This is an opportunity to bring together ECRs in the EBNet community who are geographically dispersed and spread amongst different universities, departments, and disciplines across the UK.
While most universities nowadays provide a wide array of career development opportunities for ECRs, our EBNet ECR WG will create a space for researchers working in diverse research strands of âEnvironmental Biotechnologyâ and facilitate discussions, events, and workshops tailored to help them identify and thrive in areas of their interest.
If you are interested in contributing ideas or helping to organise events and activities relevant to you, contact EBNet@EBNet.ac.uk or any of the members below. We are a friendly cross-disciplinary group from a number of universities and industries and your input is welcome.
Working Group Co-ordinator:
Dr Anjali Jayakumar, Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at Newcastle University since December 2022. She studies and designs sustainable materials produced from renewable resources such as biomass, mineral wastes, and microorganisms and utilise them to improve food-energy-water security. Anjali was winner of âBest Presentationâ at the annual EBNet ECR conference 2022. Email: anjali.jayakumar@ncl.ac.uk.
Working Group Members:
- Alice Banks, Imperial College London
- Becky Greaves, Biogen (industry member)
- Deborah Hall, Harper Adams University
- Natalia Jawiarczyk, Isle Utilities (industry member)
- Szabolcs Pap, University of Highlands and Islands
- Karthika Sangilidurai, Cranfield University
- Manpreet Bagga, Newcastle University
Working Group Activities
For information on this Group’s activities to March 2025 see the WG Report HERE.
Special issue
Available now – Special Issue Call for papers: CIWEM: Water and Environment Journal: Environmental Biotechnology
Submission deadline extended to 31 December 2025
The guest editors are Dr Tao Lyu, Cranfield University and Dr Anjali Jayakumar, Newcastle University â heads of our PFAS and ECR Working Groups respectively. This special issue is open for participants of the EBNet ECR24 conference AND also the whole EBNet community. Take a look and get your work published HERE.
Past Activities
Joint Workshop: The Next Wave: Skills Development for Emerging Professionals – a joint EBNet/Institute of Water event. Friday, 25 October 2024, at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, Ansty Park, Coventry, CV7 9JU. Find the Agenda: HERE. There was an informal gathering on the evening before the workshop for drinks and Networking, with the event itself from 09:30 – 17:00 on Friday 25 Oct 2024. See the Flyer here.
- ECR Workshop: Realising the potential of your ideas through partnership and funding: 10-11 October 2023, Sheffield. Brought to you by BBNet, HVB, EBNet and the Supergen Bioenergy Hub. Registration closed at 10:00 on Monday 18 September 2023.
- In Conversation with Environmental Biotechnologists Career Talk #1: Journeys of Academic Pursuits: 14 Aug 23, 13:00-14:15. Registration closed.
- In Conversation with Environmental Biotechnologists Career Talk #2: The Road from Academia to Industry: 21 Nov 2023, 14:00-15:15. Featuring: Dr Stephen Woodgate, Managing Director, Beacon Research Ltd and Dr Becky Greaves, Research Manager, Biogen UK Ltd. Registration closed.
ECR Conferences
EBNet’s ECR Conferences ran for 6 years from 2019-2024. To ensure a safe space for researchers to interact, the posters and presentations were not made public and are only available to attendees. See here for information on the events and contact us if you would like more details.
I am an Environmental Biotechnologist…
At the last two ECR conferences, in 2023 and 2024, all those applying to attend were asked to provide a sentence on the topic I am an Environmental Biotechnologist because… . For some of the responses see here. And for information on why this matters, see EBNet’s publication:
What is Environmental Biotechnology? Widely applied, but a clear definition of the term is still needed. Heaven, S., Kusch-Brandt, S., Byfield, L., Bywater, A., Coulon, F., Curtis, T., Gutierrez, T., Higson, A. and Sadhukhan, J., 2025. Environments 2025, 12(10), 393; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments12100393
See also:
A good general guide on ECR support is provided online by the AHRC. Read their Guidance on training and developing early career researchers in the arts and humanities here. For more general UKRI support see here. And for access to free outreach material for kids on Biochar find a link to Char Comic.