Emerging Scholar CIRCLS is a community of graduate students and recent graduates who are either already engaged in interdisciplinary computer and learning sciences research or are interested in this work. Our goal is to support the newcomers to the field as they transition from their identities as graduate students to their new identities as interdisciplinary scholars.

We invite PIs to nominate their graduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in actively participating in this vibrant community of emerging junior scholars and building networking connections with senior researchers. We also look forward to and welcome self-nominations from all interested graduate students and recent graduates. We especially encourage the participation of individuals and groups who have been minoritized in the computing and learning sciences community.

Introducing Emerging Scholar CIRCLS

A New Community in our Landscapes of Practice

At the Center for Integrative Research for Computing and Learning Sciences (CIRCLS), we support a vibrant community of researchers investigating emerging technologies for teaching and learning that will be available to learners in 5-10 years. A necessary dimension of this work is thinking about the future of our interdisciplinary field, the newcomers, and the best ways to support them. Our new Emerging Scholar CIRCLS community assists and champions those who are the future of the field and joins them on their journey.

Emerging Scholar CIRCLS focuses on scholars in the very early stages of their careers: graduate students, postdocs, and recent graduates. We recognize that many of these scholars might not even be thinking of themselves as scholars yet, preoccupied with the graduate school’s daily realities or the demands of their first jobs. With Emerging Scholar CIRCLS, we aim to enrich the landscapes of practice for these bright minds by providing the space and facilitating the activities emerging scholars need to explore, construct, exercise, and transition to their new scholarly identity.

This year, we are also striving to do more to advance equity within our field and community. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the center of our field’s research efforts, yet the field itself is not as diverse as the learners it serves. We specifically invite BIPOC emerging scholars to join our Emerging Scholar CIRCLS community. Our current efforts toward broadening participation build on previous achievements of the Center for Innovative Research on Cyberlearning (CIRCL), which preceded CIRCLS. For example, we matched new investigators from Historically Black Colleges and Universities with mentors who supported their efforts to write successful proposals. We have provided funding for scholars of color to travel and attend our PI meetings before receiving NSF funding.

In the Emerging Scholar CIRCLS, we plan to start with two types of activities: Mentoring Sessions series and affinity groups. In our Mentoring Sessions series, established researchers will meet with small groups of emerging scholars. In our interdisciplinary affinity groups, emerging scholars will have opportunities to lead and shape groups’ work through their ideas and participation. We will announce more information on the Mentoring Sessions series and the affinity groups in the upcoming weeks. If you have not registered to join our Emerging Scholar CIRCLS, please fill out this registration form.

We look forward to meeting you and working with you!