title: Challenges and opportunities for ELSI early career researchers.
abstract: Over the past 25 years, there has been growing recognition of the importance of studying the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) of genetic and genomic research. A large investment into ELSI research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Human Genomic Project budget in 1990 stimulated the growth of this emerging field; ELSI research has continued to develop and is starting to emerge as a field in its own right. The evolving subject matter of ELSI research continues to raise new research questions as well as prompt re-evaluation of earlier work and a growing number of scholars working in this area now identify themselves as ELSI scholars rather than with a particular discipline.
  
  
  
  Due to the international and interdisciplinary nature of ELSI research, scholars can often find themselves isolated from disciplinary or regionally situated support structures. We conducted a workshop with Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in Oxford, UK, and this paper discusses some of the particular challenges that were highlighted. While ELSI ECRs may face many of the universal challenges faced by ECRs, we argue that a number of challenges are either unique or exacerbated in the case of ELSI ECRs and discuss some of the reasons as to why this may be the case. We identify some of the most pressing issues for ELSI ECRs as: interdisciplinary angst and expertise, isolation from traditional support structures, limited resources and funding opportunities, and uncertainty regarding how research contributions will be measured. We discuss the potential opportunity to use web 2.0 technologies to transform academic support structures and address some of the challenges faced by ELSI ECRs, by helping to facilitate mentoring and support, access to resources and new accreditation metrics.
  
  
  
  As our field develops it is crucial for the ELSI community to continue looking forward to identify how emerging digital solutions can be used to facilitate the international and interdisciplinary research we perform, and to offer support for those embarking on, progressing through, and transitioning into an ELSI research career.
authors.affiliation: HeLEX - Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. jessica.bell@dph.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ancillotti
authors.affiliation: HeLEX - Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Coathup
authors.affiliation: HeLEX - Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Coy
authors.affiliation: VU University Medical Center, Dept. of Clinical Genetics, Section of Community Genetics, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tessel
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rigter
authors.affiliation: Dynamics Lab - UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Travis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tatum
authors.affiliation: CELLS - Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Jasjote
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grewal
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Bioengineering, International University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
authors.forename: Faruk Berat
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Akcesme
authors.affiliation: Centre for Developing Pharmaceutical and Biochemical Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Jovana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brkić
authors.affiliation: Bosnalijek Joint Stock Company, Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industry, Jukiceva 53, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
authors.forename: Anida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Causevic-Ramosevac
authors.affiliation: DiploFoundation, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Milovanovic
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nobile
authors.affiliation: University of Patras, Rio, Western Greece, Greece.
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pavlidis
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Finlay
authors.affiliation: HeLEX - Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaye
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation; D001675:Bioethics; D002321:Career Choice; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D026822:Ethicists; D032984:Ethics, Research; D036281:Genetic Research / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007391:International Cooperation; D020407:Internet; D012108:Research Personnel; D013038:Specialization; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States
keywords: Collaboration; ELSI; Early career researcher; Interdisciplinary; Mentoring; Networks; Web 2.0