Early Career Network

About the Early Career Network

Hello from the new members of the ECN committee who took up their roles in September 2025! 

Angeliki, Sebastian, Aruni and Leah join Mike Bolt, who remains a member of the committee for a second year, and Arvind Kumar representing ECN on the PSA's EDI Working Group.

Thank you to Matt Hepplewhite, Danny Bowman, Manuel Hernandez-Gonzalez and Stephanie Luke for the great work they carried out in their term.

We want to support you and are preparing a series of workshops and events and would like you to help us shape the ECN’s programme and strategy to your needs. Let us know how we can do this by filling in our brief membership survey here.

And look out for details coming soon about our online 'Welcome Event': a roundtable with the theme of 'Resilience, Perseverance, Impact . .' from 12.00-13.00 GMT on 20 November 2025!

Things we think you might be keen On…!

Call for Expressions of Interest – SoKEN 2026 Conference

The Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Turku, Finland, invites scholars to express interest in participating in the 9th Annual Conference of the Social Science Korean Studies Network in Europe (SoKEN), taking place on 9–10 April 2026. This year’s theme, “Democratic Resilience and Social Movements in South Korea: Challenges and Future Prospects,” explores how civic activism and democratic engagement shape Korea’s political landscape amid global and domestic pressures.

Paper proposals from across the social sciences are welcome—including sociology, political science, anthropology, economics, communication, and area studies. Submissions may focus on democracy and social movements or broader aspects of contemporary Korean society.

The conference is open to PhD students, Early Career Researchers, and established academics. Accepted participants will receive up to two nights of accommodation in Turku. Modest travel funding may be available, depending on budget availability.

For more details, and to apply, please submit a 250–300 word abstract and a short bio (max. 100 words) to il.g.lee@utu.fi at the Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turkuby 9 February 2026, 17:00 Helsinki time. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by early March 2026.

Are You Interested in Reviewing a Book for the Political Studies Review? Do you Want to Further Develop your CV?

Political Studies Review, one of the Political Studies Association’s flagship journals, currently has the following titles available to review:

·       Deformations of Democracy: David Beetham in Contemporary Politics by John Schwarzmantel and Helen Beetham

·      Political Theory: A Global and Comparative Introduction by Leigh Jenco, Paulina Ochoa Espejo, and Murad Idris        

·       Money, Parties, and Democracy: Political Finance Between Fat Cats and Big Government by Matteo Bonotti and Zim Nwokora

·       Singapore's Grand Strategy by Ang Cheng Guan     

·       Wollstonecraft: Independent Woman by Alan M. S. J. Coffee          

·       Rise of the International: International Relations Meets History by Richard Devetak and Tim Dunne      

·       Bringing War Back In: Victory, Defeat, and the State in Nineteenth-Century Latin America by Luis L. Schenoni              

·       From Subordination to Revolution: A Gramscian Theory of Popular Mobilisation by John Chalcraft          

·       The Militarisation of British Democracy: The Iraq and Afghan Wars and the Rise of Authoritarianism by Paul Dixon      

If you are interested in reviewing any of these titles, please get in touch with PSR's editorial team at PSR@port.ac.uk, mentioning where you saw the opportunity advertised. Reviews should be no more than 1000 words. For more guidance and informal enquiries on these titles, or any others that you might be interested in reviewing, contact Dafydd Townley at dafydd.townley@port.ac.uk 

Resources for Early Career Researchers:

A Discussion on Academic Publishing

Publishing is an increasingly important aspect of an academic career, and it can be hard to navigate the process as an early career academic. At last year’s conference, held in Glasgow at the University of Strathclyde, the PSA’s Early Career Network held a roundtable session with a number of leading figures in academic publishing.

We compiled an article which outlines the panellists’ comments and advice so that early career academics can benefit from their wisdom, advice, tips, and warnings and covers:

• Which journal should I submit to?
• To include a cover letter or not?
• The review process
• Finding reviewers
• Responding to reviewers
• Being the reviewer
• Representing the underrepresented in journals
• Beware predators
• An audience beyond academia?

Read the full article here.

ECR Development and Advice:

Early Career Researchers: Careers and Skills Development 
https://www.ukri.org/what-we-do/developing-people-and-skills/ahrc/early-career-researchers-career-and-skills-development/ 

Carvalho. E (2023). Dos and do-Overs for Early Career Researchers. Times Higher Education. [Online] https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/dos-and-doovers-reflections-life-early-career-researcher 
 

Methods Schools

ECPR Summer and Winter Methods School - https://ecpr.eu/Events/EventTypeDetails.aspx?EventTypeID=5 
Essex Summer School - https://essexsummerschool.com/ 

Engagement 

Luke, S., & Dommett, K. (2024). Top Tips for Academics Engaging with the Media. Political Insight, 15(2), 24-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/20419058241260786

Bowman. D. and Hepplewhite. M. (2024). From Research to Policy: A 5-Step Guide to Effective Engagement with Policymakers and increased visibility of research. [Online]                            https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/from-research-to-policy-a-5-step-guide-to-effective-engagement-with-policymakers-and-increased-visibility-of-research/ 

How to engage with the UK Parliament                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/research-impact-at-the-uk-parliament/training-and-events/online-training-for-researchers/parliament-for-early-career-researchers-online-training-session/ 

Publishing and Blogs 

Hepplewhite. M. and Luke. S. (2024). Academic Publishing Guidance for Early Career Scholars: Insights from Editors' Roundtable. [Online]                                                                    blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/academic-publishing-guidance-for-early-career-scholars-insights-from-an-editors-roundtable/ 

Oxford Politics Blog (2014). Academic Blogging. [Online] Available at: https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/academic-blogging-political-analysis-digital-age/ 

LSE Blog - Academic Blogging. [Online] Available at: https://info.lse.ac.uk/staff/services/knowledge-exchange-and-impact/kei-guide/academic-blogging 

McCloskey-Gholikhany. J. To Blog or not to Blog... UACES. [Online]  https://www.uaces.org/resources/articles/academic-blogging-career 

LSE Guide to publishing and scholarly communication - https://www.lse.ac.uk/library/assets/documents/guide-to-publishing-and-scholarly-comms.pdf 

Blog Opportunities 

PSA Blog - pitch your ideas to comms@psa.ac.uk
LSE Blogs - https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/ 
[LSE offers a range of research blogs (i.e. British Politics and European Politics) that you can write about your research or a paper that you have just published]. 
UK in a Changing Europe - https://ukandeu.ac.uk/analysis/ - you can write a blog about anything that relates to UK-EU relations.