Volunteer with FOR
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Interested in getting involved?
Future of Research is a volunteer-run organization. That means we welcome those interested in using their talents to improve the lives of early-career researchers. We have a variety of volunteer opportunities across different skill sets and interests.
Volunteers perform a variety of tasks including:
- Crowdsourcing data for research
- Writing papers
- Organizing symposia and meetings
- Fundraising
- Writing blog posts
- Creating content for our social media pages
- Planning and facilitating workshops
Want to plan a meeting or symposium?
We encourage early career researchers to plan their own FOR symposium. This is a great opportunity to identify the needs of local early career researchers to brainstorm solutions, identify interested leadership, and coordinate efforts. If you’re interested in organizing a symposium, check out our how-to guide, published on The Winnower!
Use the form below to get in touch with us.
Advisory boards
FoR currently has three task forces working in three different areas relevant to ECR advocacy
- Mentoring and Training Guidelines and Standards
- International Postdoc Affairs
- ECR Policy and Labor
Mentoring and Training Guidelines and Standards
Based off our 2019 meetings and the recommendations that followed, we collect data on departments’ mentorship and training practices to provide reporting that ECRs can use when making career decisions or when advocating for better training conditions. See our project page for more information
International Postdocs Affairs
Future of Research is committed to highlighting the issues of international postdocs, who face unique challenges in the US due to visa, salary, childcare, benefits, and lack of access to federal funding mechanisms. Most recently we conducted a survey to study the impact of COVID 19 immigration policies on international postdocs. See our International Postdoc page for more information.
ECR Policy and Labor
At most institutions across the US, graduate students and postdocs are considered some combination of employee and trainee. Funding source and the official title given by the university can greatly affect a grad student or postdoc’s salary or access to benefits. We believe all postdocs and grad students deserve a liveable wage, access to benefits, and intentional training that will prepare them for their next career stage. Our task force studies institutional policies that affect ECR labor, and supports unionizing efforts by ECRs across the nation. Visit our page to find out more about our latest work.
Volunteer interest form
Future of Research is a volunteer-run organization. That means we welcome those interested in using their talents to improve the lives of early-career researchers. We have a variety of volunteer opportunities across different skill sets and interests.