Supporting early-career researchers

Whether you’re a student, a postdoc or a new PI, the early stages of a research career often present a pressure to publish papers, grow your connections and engage in informal scientific activities to continuously promote yourself and your work.

We’re a publishing company made up of scientists, so we understand the intricacies of life as an early-career researcher (ECR). We believe that, as our future leaders in biology, it is vital to provide you with the right support during these early stages of your academic career.

Alongside our five journals, we offer a number of practical ways to help you meet the unique needs and challenges you may encounter as an ECR.

Grow your network

Apply for one of our grants to help you make new connections within the scientific community.

• Receive up to £3,000 to make a collaborative visit to another lab with a Travelling Fellowship.
• Apply for a DMM Conference Travel Grant to receive up to £600 to attend in-person and virtual events that relate to the scope of the journal.
• Check out eligibility for the new JEB grants for junior faculty staff: Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grants and ECR Visiting Fellowships.
• Apply for financial support as an organiser of a large, small, in-person or virtual event in the fields covered by our journals.
• Attend conferences around the world thanks to funded grants that we offer through our affiliated scientific societies.
• Apply for a funded early-career place to sit side-by-side with leading experts in a given field at one of our Workshops. These offer the chance to interact with leaders in your field, on an equal footing. Some of our past Workshops have even been proposed and hosted by ECRs.
• Attend our Journal Meetings to discuss relevant and challenging topics that go on to shape the field and our journals.

Join the community

Online communities are a powerful way to keep the conversation going no matter where you are. They offer an opportunity to promote your work and expand your network globally, allowing interactions with people you might not usually meet face-to-face.

• Join 200+ ECRs over on preLights to highlight the latest preprints in your field, build confidence in your scientific writing and interact with preprint authors.
• Freely contribute to the Node and FocalPlane, our community sites that serve developmental and stem cell biologists and microscopists with discussion threads, jobs, event listings, resources and beautiful images.
• Keep up to date with the Node and FocalPlane Correspondents and preLight Ambassadors as the selected members help shape the future of their respective communities.
• Follow us on WeChat where we are building a community of Chinese researchers.
• If you’re a new Principal Investigator, or looking to make this transition soon, check out Development’s Transitions in Development series along with the Pathway to Independence Programme aimed at supporting researchers as they progress from postdoc to PI.
• Hear from new PIs as they share their personal experiences of setting up their own lab in Journal of Cell Science’s Cell Scientists to Watch series.

Maximise your impact

Let us help you spread the word about your exciting research.

• Benefit from free Open Access publishing with our growing number of Read & Publish agreements.
• Explore different ways to effectively promote your research.
• Submit to Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology or Disease Models & Mechanisms for the chance to win each journal’s annual prize for the most outstanding contribution that year.

Raise your profile

We understand that the published paper is just part of your research journey and we want to help you tell the whole story.

• Read interviews with first authors in each of our journals: The people behind the papers, First Person, Conversation and Future Leader to Watch.
• Establish yourself in your field by contributing a Future Leader Review or A Year at the Forefront Review to Biology Open.
• Increase your chances of being found for peer review, talks and collaborations by joining the Node Network (for developmental biologists) or the FocalPlane Network (for microscopists).
• Participate in peer review. With our journals, your peer review contribution will always be recognised and valued, thanks to transparent peer review policies, and partnerships with Publons and Review Commons.
• Curious about scientific life away from the bench? We offer 12-week professional internships for PhD students eligible for funding through their PhD programme.