The academic landscape is changing, bringing about new challenges and increased pressure to excel at different scholarly roles - and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) will surely experience the impact of these changes. Apart from increased teaching loads, ECRs also bear the expectation to publish, contribute to the third income stream of UFS, offer supervision, involvement in community engagement and fulfilling administrative and leadership roles. The combination of these roles can be daunting, especially if there is no clear path to attaining these goals.

The REAP programme seeks to understand the unique research development needs of ECRs where-after similar clusters can be formed and the support structures needed can be developed for each cluster as an effective strategy for the holistic support of emerging scholars. While all the support functions in the research sphere will continue to offer their specific initiatives, this program aims to create an integrated research environment around the specific needs of the ECRs, based on specific cluster needs.

In addition to specific interventions aimed at addressing specific needs for growth and development (including mentorship, structured workshops, online resources and much more), this initiative will also create a ‘research-community’ where colleagues can experience a support network, both in terms of academic experts, and peer support. Furthermore, funding opportunities are available for research specific training opportunities, teaching replacements, conference attendance, external mentors, etc.

The REAP initiative is open to all permanent, full-time UFS employees who are a) at the starting point of their PhDs, b) in the process of completing their PhD, or c) graduated with their PhD’s within the last three years. Based on needs of the various clusters, the duration of the REAP initiative will vary from one year to two years.