Environmental Biotechnology Network

EBNet Working Group: Early Career Researcher (ECR)

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 ‘Environmental Biotechnology’ 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 ‘Best Presentation’ 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 2026 see the WG Report HERE.

For further outputs from travel bursaries and placements please check the Outcomes page, which is updated with new publications etc.

The ECR WG is winding up, for now at least, as our UKRI funding for travel and other activities has finished. We are actively seeking support for similar activities, so do watch the website for announcements.  And of course all ECRs are warmly encouraged to join some of our sister and successor organisations:

Environmental Biotechnology Innovation Centre   ―  Better Water for All Network+  ―  Elemental Hub  ―  Global Center for Sustainable Bioproducts  ―  Carbon-Loop Sustainable Biomanufacturing Hub  ―  National Biofilms Innovation Centre

Previous 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 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

    We are now starting to analyse the “I am an Environmental Biotechnologist…” statements, with the idea of including them in a future document.

    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.

    And some closing words

    “I wanted to share some of my reflections with the EBNet team:

    The EBNet ECR Working Group was a safe space in which many of us were able to grow and thrive. Beyond the tangible outcomes, there were significant intangible benefits, including the camaraderie that now exists between many ECRs and EBNet members, and the trusted relationships and networks created through the group, spaces where we can ask for help without fear. The group also gave many of us the confidence to experiment, to take on responsibility on a larger stage, and to step beyond our comfort zones with the reassurance of genuine support. I would particularly like to thank Angie Bywater and Louise Byfield, our Network Co-Managers, for their tremendous encouragement and guidance; without their support, much of what we achieved would not have been possible.

    Thank you for placing your trust in us, and for providing the resources, networks, time, and space that made this possible”.

    – Anjali Jayakumar, ECR WG Coordinator

    Our heartfelt thanks to the funders, and to all whose involvement made so many good things possible  –  do stay involved with the Network and our other WGs!