Raise awareness about ECR challenges at the institutional level through taking “bottom-up” and collaborative approaches (e.g., by consulting with ECRs about their experiences).

Initiate proactive assistance for at-risk ECRs.

Ensure optimal career development and support for ECRs by training principal investigators to recognize signs of distress.

Improve access to specific support with adequate funding (mental health, child care, international student support, etc).

Treating inclusiveness as a tick-box exercise.

Failure to follow-up with ECRs who are in distress, increasing disappointment.

Forcing unethical disclosures of vulnerable peoples.

Foster transparent, open, and timely two-way communication between ECRs and managers.

Appoint dedicated personnel to take responsibility for communications at various institutional levels.

Provide training and resourcing for those who are responsible for communication.

Treating communication strategies as an after-thought.

Burdening junior staff or ECRs with communication roles.

Allow part-time work from home.

Facilitate hybrid modes of teaching and learning.

Create shared working spaces that can foster collaboration.

Evaluate new working conditions collaboratively with ECRs.

Implementing paternalistic strategies that ultimately undermine flexible working.

Favouring those who are able to attend in-person work.

Ensure equal opportunities for ECRs and senior researchers to attend face-to-face conferences and workshops in the future.

Connect ECRs with peers and colleagues.

Use a mix of formal and informal structures for networking.

Financially support ECRs to attend networking and social engagements.

Wasting time with too many events that have no follow-up or concrete outcomes for participants.

Networking and social spaces are not inclusive.

Provide greater flexibility in funding opportunities, especially in relation to extension of funding in light of delays caused by the pandemic.

Implement approaches that facilitate security of tenure for ECRs.

Reduce the incidence of unpaid work in marine sciences.

Reconsider the short-term contract model for research projects.

Create more research grant opportunities for ECRs to act as principal investigator.

Disadvantage those who rely on short-term contracts for flexibility.

Place an unfair burden of responsibility on ECRs.

Acknowledge set-backs in career progression caused by the pandemic (e.g., CV and publication gaps).

Consider other metrics and research outputs (e.g., Altmetric, engaged scholarship, public communication).

Provide ECRs with adequate transferable professional skills and teach them to communicate these in alternative job markets to facilitate transition to non-academic careers.

Assess a candidate based on their complimentary and life skills.

Focus on h-index, publication number, citations and amount of funding obtained only.

Support international networks and organizations that create online networking possibilities for ECRs in addition to face-to-face and hybrid events.

Give ECRs a voice at decision-making level within marine science networks.

Connect ECRs with senior researchers in marine science networks.

Offer financial and professional benefits to contributing ECRs.

Organize and structure the events to benefit a diverse audience.

Seek professional technical support for larger events.

Increase administrative workload for ECRs.

Treat this as tick-box exercise for public perception.

Treat ECR networks as a “kid’s club”.

Encourage ECR engagement with global opportunities for change (e.g., UN Ocean Decade).

Train and support marine ECRs to work with policy and decision makers.

Increase voluntary and unpaid workload of ECRs.