FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you define "early career researcher" (ECR)?
We define an ECR as anyone who has less than one year of their doctoral program left (i.e., "all but dissertation") or less than 7 years experience after having completed their doctorate. In other words, their career lies in the interval [-1, 7] + PhD.
Do I have to be an ECR to sign up?
No! We encourage researchers at all career stages to participate in the CommNLA community.
Do I have to be an ECR to apply to give a talk?
The primary aim of CommNLA is to provide a platform for early-career researchers to present their work and connect with other researchers. Therefore the majority of talks will come from ECRs. If you have an exceptional situation (e.g., you had to "pause" your career for childbirth or health reasons), please let us know.
I just started a permanent position-- do I still count as an ECR?
Please see answers to the above questions. Although we will give preference to those without permanent positions, our main aim is to give exposure to everyone in the early stages of their career.
When is the application deadline?
We will review applications weekly and notify applicants as soon as possible of their acceptance/talk date.
How long will YouTube videos stay up? I'm afraid someone will steal my stellar research.
We hope that as many videos as possible will remain available indefinitely. However, this is up to the speaker-- when you register, you are able to specify how long you wish the recording to be available publicly. In order that viewers from different timezones/with existing commitments are able to participate in the series, we ask that recorded talks are publicly available for at least one week after broadcast.
I would like to participate, but I'm normally busy/unconscious during the seminar time.
As many talks as possible will be available indefinitely, and all talks will be available for at least a week after broadcast. Although the discussion portion will only be accessible live, we encourage everyone to continue the conversations offline, and on Twitter (follow us @CommNLA!)
Are you all going to spam me with e-mails?
We will send out weekly email reminders with the Zoom/YouTube links to upcoming webinars, and automated feedback emails after each session. We will also send less frequent emails on other topics (e.g. asking for speakers).
I signed up/applied to talk, but I did not receive a notification e-mail. Is something broken?
First of all, thanks! Secondly, do not worry. Some of the Google features we are using come with limitations, such as, only 20 automated confirmation e-mails can be sent per day. Please just keep an eye out for the weekly reminder e-mails, or write to us directly if you think the form has a glitch.
I have never used Gather before. How does it work?
Gather is a new online conference tool that helps replicate the serendipitous nature of live, in-person conferences. You just log in and move around with either the WASD or arrow keys, a bit like in a video game. Once you are close enough to someone, you will hear them and see their video feed, and they will hear and see you too. Please visit Gather's FAQ page if you are having technical problems, especially with video/audio. Note that you may have to exit other apps using your video/audio for Gather to work properly.
I have more questions-- whom should I contact?
If you have feedback, comments or questions please contact us at communicationsinnla@gmail.com.
Also feel free to keep in touch with us on Twitter-- you'll find us @Comm_NLA.