The coronavirus pandemic has caused significant difficulties in research, particularly for early-stage researchers. In-person conferences and events in our field have been cancelled, and it has become difficult, if not impossible, for early-stage researchers to present their work to our wider scholarly community, receive feedback and advice from more senior scholars, and start building their networks of contacts. Researcher and emma member Ivana Kostovska (imec-SMIT-VUB Vrije Universiteit Brussel), recognized the need for this initiative and submitted the idea to the emma board and as a response, we launched emmaConnect.
This initiative proved successful and we decided to implement it on a systemic basis.
With emmaConnect, we connect our early-stage researchers with more experienced scholars in an informal and temporary setup. This could take the form of a single or multiple online conversations in which the research and/or the career path of the early-stage researcher would be discussed. This could also, potentially, lead to research collaboration with the more experienced scholar and his or her team, or, possibly, involvement of the early-stage researcher in online meetings of other researchers at the advanced scholar’s university. Some of the best examples of collaboration based on emmaConnect were presented at the pre-conference event at emma 2022 in Munich.
This year, in 2026, we welcome applications to participate in emmaConnect. See more details in the call here. In 2026, the deadline to express your interest is March 24, 2026.
If you have any questions about emmaConnect, please contact Ivana Kostovska (kostovska.I(at)outlook.com).