DCU Elevate
Empowering DCU’s next generation of researchers through skills, innovation, and career readiness. The DCU Elevate programme captures the spirit of progress, transformation, and discovery that defines the doctoral experience.
DCU Elevate is built around three spokes encompassing: Transversal Skills Development, Career Readiness, and Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship. Doctoral researchers can dip into multiple offerings in each of these spokes to bolster their career development as needed over their time as an early-career researcher.
DCU Elevate: Supporting all DCU doctoral students in navigating their unique career journey, blending skills, creativity, and purpose. Through this new integrated framework, participants are encouraged to shape their own path forward, contribute meaningfully to society, and carry Ireland’s long tradition of innovation and scholarship into the future and across boundaries.
Below you will find a description of the three spokes and more information about the programme.
Transversal Skills for Career Readiness
Build essential, transferable capabilities that underpin research excellence and professional success. Gain training in project management, leadership, essential communication skills and conflict management skills. All these elements are directly relevant to the doctoral experience and development as a researcher but are transferable to all other career settings.
| Project Management Skills | Introduction to Project Planning |
| Getting Unstuck: Procrastination Busting Techniques | |
| The Doctoral Journey: A Strategic Risk Management Perspective (NEW in 2026) | |
| Leadership & Teamwork Skills | Leadership for Future Leaders |
| Critical Thinking for Research Students | |
| Influencing without Authority | |
| Communication Skills | Presenting your Research Effectively |
| Presenting a Conference or Seminar Paper | |
| Articulating Research Impact | |
| Presenting a Conference Poster | |
| Conflict Management Skills | LinkedIn Conflict Management Course |
| Collaborating Effectively with Others |
All Graduate Studies Training sessions are advertised on the Workshops and Events Page.
Take charge of your career readiness by availing of expert workshops on career planning, preparing for the future of work, networking and researching employer perspectives.
| Career Planning, Decisions & Career Resilience |
Engaging with the career planning process (with design principles) |
| Reflecting on factors influencing your career decisions | |
| Building and managing your career wellbeing & resilience (adaptability, growth mindset) | |
| Utilising AI effectively in Career Planning | |
| Future of Work, Your Skills & Effective Job Search | Navigating the future of work in the age of AI |
| Identifying and Articulating your Skills and Unique Selling Point | |
| Searching for and applying for jobs in academia and industry | |
| Networking & LinkedIn Skills Session | |
| Building an effective network and building relationships /connections for the benefit of your Career | |
| Utilising LinkedIn effectively as a key tool for your job search and future Career | |
| Speed Networking Employer Event | |
| Building connections with employers and developing professional communication skills | |
| Articulating skills and experiences and translating them to employers and the jobs market. Career Confidence. | |
| CVs and Interview Skills for Industry & Academia | Industry vs Academic CVs: How to build standout applications |
| Interviewing for Success: Developing your Interview Skills for Industry and Academia | |
| These sessions will include utilising AI in job applications and interview preparation | |
| Employer Insight Panels | Alternating Academic (including academic-adjacent and research adjacent) as well as Industry focus Panel events |
| Exploring career paths based on employer perspectives | |
| Building labour market knowledge to support career development and next steps |
Link to DCU Careers page
Not limited to business development or commercialisation, this arm of the programme is suited to all types of entrepreneurship, broadly defined. Explore how creativity and research can lead to real-world impact and learn how to engage effectively with industry, public-sector partners, and innovation networks
| Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship | ICE Skills for Doctoral Students |
| Collaboration with Enterprise and the Wider Innovation Ecosystem | Innovation & Enterprise Lunch & Learn Seminars |
| Industry Collaboration & Funding Opportunities (Seminar) | |
| Entrepreneurship and Pathways to Venture Creation | Customer Discovery |
| Conception X Accelerator (or similar) - competitive application | |
| Founders Forum Lunch & Learn Sessions |
DCU Elevate is a new career development programme designed to equip all DCU doctoral students with the skills, confidence, and insights to thrive both within and beyond academia. Structured around three interconnected spokes and delivered by the Graduate Studies Office, the Careers Service and DCU Innovate, the programme guides participants through a holistic career development journey. Doctoral candidates from any year can pick and choose from all elements, as their needs dictate and evolve.
In keeping with Ireland’s IMPACT 2030, Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy, DCU Elevate seeks to support Early Career Researchers in developing diverse career paths within and beyond academia. DCU Elevate will support DCU’s strategic goal of transformation for an unscripted future by providing an outstanding student experience, focusing in particular on two of the drivers: Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise and Agility. This programme will act as a strong selling point for early-career researchers at DCU.