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2026-2027 Early Career Scientist Representative to the Board Application
The GSA Board of Directors understands the unique needs and challenges of scientists because they are scientists themselves. This group of dedicated volunteers works in tandem with Society staff and committee members to create GSA’s strategic plan and oversee GSA programs. The role of the Early Career Scientist (ECS) representative is to be a voice for early career scientists in the GSA. These representatives communicate with GSA’s ECS community via Slack, attend the monthly ECS Steering Committee meeting and participate in other ECS training opportunities throughout the year. ECS Board representatives work closely with Engagement staff and the Executive Director to determine topics to discuss during Board meetings.
If you are interested in joining the Genetics Society of America Board as a graduate student Early Career Scientist representative, please fill out this application.
Characteristics of successful candidates:
Demonstrated understanding of the myriad issues affecting early career researchers and an ability to contextualize these issues for the GSA Board and staff.
Effective communicator with colleagues from a variety of institutions, backgrounds, and career stages.
Interest in, passion for, experience advocating on behalf of scientists.
Record of professional service, including active membership in and a commitment to scholarly societies and similar organizations.
Respectful of open discussions and consensus-based decision making.
Ability to maintain the confidentiality of sensitive or proprietary information, including financial and strategic.
Position responsibilities and time commitment:
Attend an annual one-day virtual GSA Board meeting in late spring or early summer [~8 hours plus preparation time]
Attend an annual two-day in-person GSA Board meeting in November or early December [two days plus travel and preparation time]
Attend virtual topic-specific GSA Board meetings [~2 hours plus preparation time] if available
Give a brief presentation at GSA Board Meetings outlining select issues of relevance to early career scientists
Provide insight, guidance, and ideas to the GSA Board of Directors and Staff, as requested
Agree to complete a Board member’s duties of care
Open-ended answers are restricted to 300 words, so we recommend composing your answers in a word processing program before entering them into this application.
Some applicants may want to use large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT to enhance their written responses. This is acceptable; however, please note that applications are not judged on technical writing proficiency but on content. Writing training is available to ECS Representatives to the Board who are interested, and we most prefer a writing sample representative of the applicant’s current writing skills.
Please note that when an applicant uses an LLM to generate their entire response, specific phrases will be repeated across multiple applications, revealing this use to applicant reviewers. We will also compare AI-generated responses directly to applicant responses. Applicants who are found to have used an LLM to generate their answers will receive a lower overall application score and be less likely to receive an invitation to interview.
