Academic biography

Dr Gillian Lake is an Assistant Professor in Early Childhood Education and Chair of Postgraduate Studies  by Research at DCU Institute of Education. She is also a Fellow of Advance HE, (FHEA) in the UK.  She was a Primary Teacher in Ireland for many years before first undertaking an MSc in Child Development & Education (University of Oxford). She was then awarded the Elfrida Talbot Scholarship to undertake a PhD in Education at University of Oxford, focusing on language development and Early Childhood Education.  She has continued to work in this area, both as a lecturer (DCU & Oxford Brookes University, UK) and a researcher.  Her current research projects in the area of Early Childhood Education have allowed her to collaborate with industry (Expert Advisor to Child Paths Ltd), the early childhood sector and international research partners (collaborators here).  She was recently invited to join the review panel for the International Journal of Early Years Education and  is a regular reviewer for the European Early Childhood Education  Research Journal. Gillian was shortlisted for both the DCU President's  Award for Excellence in Teaching and the DCU President's Award for  Engagement in 2021.  She was presented with a Research Ally Prize from the Irish Research Council in December 2022 for her work in supporting and supervising research students.  She is DCU's representative on the National Academic Integrity Network.  Most recently, she and her colleague Dr Fiona O Riordan completed a project which investigated Awareness of Academic Integrity across all DCU stakeholder (National Forum for the  Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education).