Networking is critical for career advancement in research, but many EQUS members who were women, or who were from other groups under-represented in physics, had found existing environments unwelcoming or inaccessible. In response, EQUS’s equity committee (EQUIP) developed a national conference focused on safer, more inclusive connections.

The solution was inSTEM: a national conference focused on safer, skills-based networking and career development for underrepresented researchers and their allies.

The inaugural inSTEM conference, hosted by EQUS in Meanjin/Brisbane in 2022, brought together 150 early- and mid-career researchers from across Australia. With strong support from the Department of Defence, eight other ARC Centres of Excellence and an ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre, the event provided practical career advice, skills training and safe networking opportunities. A parallel stream of talks and panels tackled the broader question: how can institutions create real change that supports retention and success?

The following year, the inSTEM baton passed to the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS), with a second conference held in Naarm/Melbourne in 2023. This time, 10 Centres of Excellence were involved. The program expanded to cover disability inclusion, neurodiversity, mental health and psychological safety, in line with evolving workplace standards. The event featured on-site counsellors, a sensory safe space, and keynote talks on inclusive science communication and allyship. EQUS members helped shape the program and lead sessions, reflecting the Centre’s continued commitment to equity – even as it approached the end of its funding term.

The legacy will continue: inSTEM is now an annual conference hosted by a consortium of eight STEM-focused ARC Centres of Excellence. The 2025 program included leadership workshops, sharing circles, and structured commitments to safe and inclusive participation.

inSTEM exemplifies EQUS’s contribution to cultural change in Australian research. It began with a conversation among early-career researchers and grew into a national initiative that fosters retention, community, and structural change. The conference’s success has ensured it will continue – sustained by a cross-ARC Centre coalition committed to building a more inclusive STEM ecosystem.