Carers In STEMM

I had the opportunity to travel to Australia as part of a Fellowship - as this was for 6 weeks my whole family came. This was my daughter waiting to make sure her suitcase had made it to the plane ✈️ 🥰

#stemm #muminscience

As fellow mothers, how were you functional?! 🤣

I'm impressed how people combine scientific careers and parenthood and I love seeing babies at conferences. However, what I would love even more if everyone had access to appropriate parental leave.

This is me accepting my first EiC job, couple hours old newborn in tow, starting 6mo mat leave.

LOVE this, and what a cute little helper they are :-)
...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY little one! 🎈

My husband and I are both in STEMM so to help us with the guilt of travelling for conferences we made it into a cute tradition of being walked to the bus/train by our cute lil helper (who is 4 TODAY 🥹🥹)

This was me with my mom going for an @EMBO young investigator award interview 2 weeks after my son was born. Thank goodness for moms and a quick turn around at the passport office 😆

Wow, gorgeous, but this must be a contender for our youngest dependant to date to travel for the love of science.

Hooray for supportive parents 👏

A third of the inspiration behind Carers in STEMM….❤️❤️

#STEMMCarers

Travel with the babies… I can’t say I cherish the memories of sleep deprived nights followed by exhausting and long conference days. I could only make it work, as we could afford my mum tagging along, a huge privilege as she had to come all the way from Germany!
🧪🔭

By way of a celebration of the juggle many carers & parents go through to make travel for research happen, why not share your “STEMM life with dependants” photos 😃 🧪

Let’s amplify, discuss, normalise the balancing act, & celebrate the superpowers often required ⚖️

We ❤️ seeing them!

#STEMMCarers

👏👏👏👏👏

A phot showing a pile of printed report with green cover page. The front title reads The Dual Demands of Academic Travel and Caregiving and shows a graphic of different caregiving situations as well as a wordcloud.

Oh hello there!!! The printed copies of our report have arrived - and I am the chosen Laura to lug them across the country!

So, come and join us in Edinburgh on the 22nd of October for our first @carersinstemm.bsky.social report launch and get your own copy!

forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

We LOVE seeing this!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏

Scientist, Wonder Woman, Carer ❤️

You can also join one of the three report launch events where the team will be sharing their actionable recommendations to improve support for all academic carers. Please come and say hello to me if you’re at the Edinburgh event! 9/end🧵

Register👉: forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

A Carers Guide for Institutions 1 Ensure institutional expense policy allows for the reimbursement of care-related costs including dependant and co-carer travel expenses. 2 Update and align institutional financial reimbursement policy with funder T&C’s relating to care-giving costs. 3 Establish institutional policy and disseminate to line managers and expense approvers to avoid inconsistent implementation and support. 4 Provide flexible carers grants for all staff and students with minimal administrative burden to flexibly support ad-hoc care and do not mandate online attendance. 5 Consider the competing demands of meeting sustainability goals and the requirement to support carers (e.g. trains, flight times on weekends). 6 Decouple measures of research impact and esteem from travel opportunities with updated academic guidance. 7 Allow for family-friendly travel accommodation options including booking outside of approved institutional travel providers. 8 Provide a per-diem (a daily allowance) option for complex trips to reduce administrative burden on carers. 9 When hosting an event, ensure risk assessments and insurance policy align to allow access to those under the age of 18.

So today I celebrate the work of @carersinstemm.bsky.social who are calling for systemic changes to funding, policy & culture to support carers in STEM. Funders & employers must listen if they recognise and value the importance of a diverse workforce.👩‍🔬🧪

Read their report 👉 carersinstemm.co.uk 8/9🧵

From 2006. A younger and shell-shocked looking Catherine on a balcony holding a very tiny baby with the mountains of Vancouver in the background. The baby is so new, Catherine still has the pregnant bump.

Conventional wisdom says motherhood should wait for tenure as before you land a permanent post, #academia is just not that family friendly🙁

@carersinstemm.bsky.social are calling for change and to celebrate their new report, a Saturday🧵on parenting & academia! 1/9 👩‍🔬🧪🔭⚛️

ℹ️: carersinstemm.co.uk

Advertisement poster of our Carers in STEMM report launch event in Edinburgh, on the 22.10.2025 at Playfair from 10am. More details can be found via event registration https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=B8tSwU5hu0qBivA1z6kad4JPwQzjYCRIgeFJLWslxmNURE5QNENLOE1LN1lOMlZPUlZYT0RJTklQOC4u

Edinburgh and surrounding areas, please join us in 3 weeks for our first report launch event!

After presenting our survey findings, we have a great line-up of panelist, including the fantastic @astroroyalscot.bsky.social!

Register via forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

Screenshot of the front page of the carers in STEMM survey report

We are pleased to announce the publication of our STEMM sector-wide survey

The report highlights our findings & suggests recommendations. Now available to download here carersinstemm.co.uk

Please share especially w/ institutions, funders & allies

@laurawolz.bsky.social @carterlj.bsky.social

Do we have any contacts at a Northern Ireland university? 🙏🧪

Poster detailing a series of events hosted by Carers in STEMM in Edinburgh (22nd October), Manchester (13th November) or London (9th December). Events will be hybrid. Poster includes a QR code for registration. Contact us for alternative registration processes. Poster also details the financial support available to facilitate the full attendance of carers in STEMM or interested, supportive allies

🚨We're going on tour!🚨
Join us for 1 of our "Report Launch" networking events: Edinburgh, Manchester, London, or the comfort of your own home!

We will present the 'Carers in STEMM' survey findings, host panel discussions w/ policy markers, EDI advocates & fellow parents/carers.

Spread the word!📣

👶✈️ Balancing caregiving and academic travel?

Join Dr. Laura Pallett for "The Dual Demands of Academic Travel and Caregiving"

🗓️ Sept 25 | 🕒15:00 CEST
🔗https://tinyurl.com/yefis2025-ia2

Hosted by the Improving Academia group of yEFIS

1/3rd of the 3Lauras presented last week at the "New UCL Academics Group" - this new network is seeking to improve culture for the next generation of the scientists we are training, so was great to share of our work around caring responsibilities & travel opportunities.

Thanks for the invite!

Fantastic to have 1 of the 3Lauras shortlisted for such a fantastic @britsocimm.bsky.social Award.
Congratulations to the winners 👏

How UK paternity leave compares to the rest of Europe Most dads in the UK get two weeks off work after their baby is born, but dads in many European countries get more.

🚹 Report: #PaternityLeave policies vary in Europe but the UK's offer is "one of the worst in the developed world".

🇬🇧 2 weeks at £187.18 a week
🇪🇸 6 weeks with full pay
🇩🇰 24 weeks at full pay
🇸🇪 10 months: First 390 days up to SEK47,750 (£3,590) a month.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thanks for the share, and amplification of the article ❤️

Researcher parents are paying a high price for conference travel — here’s how to fix it Three scientist mothers call for a change in how conference childcare costs are reimbursed, drawing on their personal experiences.

For those interested on the caregiving & science initiative, follow @carersinstemm.bsky.social and read their article about conference travel (very pertinent!!) www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Thanks @doctoremmerson.bsky.social - it’s always nice to be recognised for things like this 👏

2 of the 3Lauras collecting their UKRI advancing culture impact award

2 of the 3Lauras in front of a poster describing the work of Carers in STEMM

The news is out now 😉

We are proud to say we, the 3Lauras, have been awarded the @ukri.org “Advancing Culture” 2025 Impact Award for our work trying to improve caring provisions at conferences, grant funding & policy here at Carers in STEMM 👏

The recognition is fantastic - 🙏 !

@carersinstemm.bsky.social looking forward to this UKRI FLF session on academic travel and caregiving... very pertinent for me at present!

Great to feature among the other fantastic projects at the Annual #FLFConference