Research Newsletter - Issue 115: Information and Updates
Dublin City University’s new research information management system, Pure, will launch over the coming days. Once Pure is live, an all-staff email will be sent, providing more information about the system and how to access it, along with details of available training resources and support.
While your public researcher profile will officially go live in September 2026, DCU researchers are being given early access. This will help ensure you have time to review and edit your profile in advance of the public rollout.
We are pleased to announce that DCU’s Dedicated Support for ERC Grants will run again in 2026. Full details of this internal support scheme will be announced over the coming months, and we expect to launch the internal call in August 2026.
This internal scheme provides additional support to ERC applicants planning to implement their project in DCU and is supplementary to the support available through Enterprise Ireland’s ERC Proposal Support Grant including:
- A guaranteed place on the annual ERC training course for DCU researchers provided by the team at Yellow Research, the leading consultancy group in Europe for ERC awards.
- Assignment of an experienced Research Development Officer and one-to-one research development support.
- One-to-one Research Project Administration assistance.
- An additional funding request for financial support from DCU Research Support Services to supplement the EI Proposal Support Grant.
It is anticipated that the 2026 DCU European Research Council Expression of Interest Call will support applicants who are preparing submissions to the ERC calls listed below.
|
Funding Scheme |
Provisional ERC Deadline (TBC) |
|
ERC Advanced ERC-2027-AdG |
August 2027 |
|
ERC Starting ERC-2028-StG |
October 2027 |
|
ERC Synergy Grant ERC-2028-SyG |
November 2027 |
|
ERC Consolidator ERC-2028-CoG |
January 2028 |
Owing to the highly competitive nature of ERC programmes, submissions require early preparation, well in advance of the call deadline. If you are planning an application under any of the above calls, please speak to your Head of School and Faculty Research Development Officer early, and watch out for the launch of the DCU 2026 ERC EOI Call.
DCU: Innovate Enterprise, the University’s Technology Transfer Office has recently re-located to the McNulty Building, DCU Glasnevin Campus (through the double doors to the right on entering).
As we enter into the summer months, there may be an increase in visiting researchers (staff and/or students) to your Faculties. In order to streamline the process by which the relevant Head of School or Unit is consulted and gives approval for such visits, we have put in place a new DCU Visiting Researcher Agreement.
This agreement is designed to cover researchers whose employment/registration with their home institution remains unaffected for the duration of their visit to DCU, meaning that no DCU employment contract is required to facilitate their time with us.
The new agreement has been approved by the Research Strategy Committee and should be utilised for all relevant proposed visits going forward. It is accessible via the Research Guidelines and Procedures page of the RD&S website.
If you have any queries relating to the Agreement, please contact research@dcu.ie.
Delivered by Alinea in partnership with InterTradeIreland, Invest Northern Ireland, and Enterprise Ireland under the Shared Island Enterprise Scheme, WeVenture is structured under three key strands:
- Capability building (WeVenture: Ideas & Opportunities & WeVenture: Resources programme)
- Ideation (WeVenture Ideation programme)
- Pre-Commercialisation (WeVenture: Pre-Commercialisation programme)
A Pre-Acceleration programme is also offered under the initiative for teams of 2-4 people, one of whom must be a woman, who wish to refine and test promising ideas and prepare them for commercialisation grant supports, including feasibility, proof of concept, Commercialisation Funds, or investment readiness.
Projections received from Irish Research eLibrary indicate that the following publisher APC allocations for 2026 are expected to run out before the end of the calendar year:
- Elsevier (expected expiry: November)
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (October)
- Oxford University Press (October)
- Springer (August)
- Taylor & Francis (July)
- Wiley (November)
It is the date of acceptance that counts for these agreements. So, for example, if an author is submitting an article now and the article is accepted for publication in November/December, the above allocations may be used up and we would be unable to provide coverage for an APC. These projections are updated as we receive them from IReL on the open access web page.
Any queries can be directed to Liam O’Dwyer, Open Research Librarian, liam.odwyer@dcu.ie.
PI: Dr Diarmuid Torney, Director of the DCU Institute for Climate and Society
About 250 people attended the sixth annual conference organised by the DCU Institute for Climate and Society, which took place on 12 May 2026 on the St. Patrick’s Campus. This year's conference invited attendees to 'Hold the Line' through innovative solutions, new farming paradigms, and, most importantly, through hope.
The conference's keynote speaker was the President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly. In her address, she identified climate change and environmental destruction as defining social and moral challenges of our time.
The conference embodied an overall theme of hope, evident in various panel discussions and in particular through Sean Ronayne, an ornithologist, wildlife sound-recordist, and award-winning author, who challenged himself to record the voice of every bird that still inhabits this island.
PI: Dr Gëzim Visoka, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, School of Law and Government, DCU. The Conflict Institute recently hosted a workshop focusing on the Irish Presidency and EU Enlargement in the Western Balkans, supported by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.
The workshop took place on June 4th and 5th and brought together civil society leaders from the Western Balkans and Irish diplomats to discuss EU enlargement in the region, and Ireland's upcoming EU Presidency priorities.
The event’s agenda included discussions of the state of peace, democracy, and European integration in the region, as well as pressing areas on which the Irish presidency could focus on, and proved an enriching experience for all attendees.
PI: Professor Fiona Regan, Director of the DCU Water Institute
From the 8th to the 11th of June, the RPA team supported the Water Institute which were proud to host over 200 members of the Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) for their annual consortium meeting.
PARC is at the forefront of developing next-generation chemical risk assessment to protect both human health and our environment. By providing new data, tools, and expertise, this partnership directly supports the European Green Deal’s “Zero Pollution” ambition and the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.
The event boasted an extensive agenda of keynote sessions, workshops, and strategic meetings with the aim of advancing chemical safety for a greener Europe.