NECTAR @ The Australian National University

NECTAR is the Network for Early-Career Teachers, Academics and Researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia.

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the stolen land on which our work takes place, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, and pay our respects to their elders. These lands have always been places of teaching and learning.

NECTAR was founded in 2011 to bring together early-career researchers at ANU to better support one another during the often overwhelming and uncertain first years of university employment.

NECTAR has since grown into an ANU-wide organisation with paid staff, elected chairs, and College and School-based volunteers who work together to realise NECTAR’s key purposes:

1. To develop the ideas and build the confidence of early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs)
2. To help foster among EMCRs the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful future
3. To maintain a direct channel of communication for EMCRs with the ANU Executive, shaping the identity of the University and its strategic goals
4. To foster communication and collaboration across ANU between EMCRs and the broader University community, including networking, research collaboration and social activities

Through its staff and volunteers, NECTAR achieves these purposes by:

• Supporting diverse EMCR initiatives
• Providing and promoting opportunities for career development and connectivity via collaborative, cross-College frameworks
• Creating supportive peer-to-peer spaces for EMCRs at ANU