Professional Skills for Research Leaders (PSRL) Programme
Leading research
Want to enhance your research leadership, management and engagement skills? Expand your professional research network?
DCU's Professional Skills for Research Leaders (PSRL) is a blended-learning programme for researchers designed by researchers, academics and learning and development professionals.
Postdoctoral researchers and early-career academics
This programme will help you develop your career strategy in a broader research context. On successful completion of this programme, you will be able to:
- Recognise steps to take to keep your careers on track
- Advance your grant writing skills
- Build your capabilities as a team leader
- Navigate DCU's research support structure and funding landscape
- Establish and maintain fruitful research collaborations
- Develop your research communication skills
The programme comprises a blend of 6 Oxford University Press online modules complemented with attendance at the first workshop on Getting the Best from the PSRL and 4 out of the 6 remaining workshops lasting 1 to 3.5 hours each.
Application Process:
To register for the PSRL, please only sign up for the INTRODUCTION workshop below.
The 4 workshops are chosen after the Introduction workshop and you an also opt out then if you so wish.
Online Course |
Workshop |
| Introduction to Professional Skills for Research Leaders |
INTRODUCTION: Getting the Best From the PSRL – Date TBC To apply for the programme, sign up for this workshop (you can opt out after).
|
| Developing and Consolidating your Research Career |
WORKSHOP 1: Developing and Consolidating your Research Career – Date TBC - You can choose between an AM session (9-12.30) or a PM session (1.30-5) in CORE | Both sessions are the same | One-to-ones timeslots TBD
|
| Funding your Research |
Funding your Research (2 workshops) WORKSHOP 2: Developing your Research Funding Plan – Date TBC WORKSHOP 3: Grant writing - Date TBC
|
| Managing a Research Team |
WORKSHOP 4: Managing a Research Team – Date TBC
|
| Research Collaborations |
WORKSHOP 5: Research Collaborations – Date TBC
|
| Communicating your Research |
WORKSHOP 6: Communicating your Research - Date TBC
|
These interactive workshops extend and discuss the online content and present new and up-do-date material and research relevant to the theme of focus.
Contributors include Principal Investigators and experts on the topics. Participants must achieve a pass mark of 70% for the course by completing an online quiz for each of the on-line elements
Group mentoring (when available)
Group mentoring is a hugely beneficial approach of sharing knowledge with peers, exploring career paths and challenges, and receiving advice from seniors in the field of research.
All participants on the programme will be invited to take part in group mentoring, led by a Principal Investigator as mentor. The group will meet monthly to explore solutions to challenges that mentees face and potential areas for career development. Mentees will also benefit from peer to peer support and the opportunity to network and build relationships.
Fee: 100 euro charged to your school or research centre
If you have specific questions on the PSRL, please contact learning.development@dcu.ie
Key Contributors
After many years as an academic zoologist, Dr Steve Hutchinson moved to the field of training and development now working at the forefront of researcher development practice. He has led researcher development centres at the Universities of both York and Leeds, is a Vitae course director and tutor and an associate and programme director for the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. In 2006 Steve established his own company going on to design and deliver highly-acclaimed researcher development programmes across a range of institutions all over Europe.
Janet works as a career specialist teaching on the Birkbeck University of London Career Coaching and Management Masters programme and as Academic Supervisor at Kingston University. She works across the practitioner / academic boundary, connecting career research and theory into the world of career coaching. She runs her own Career Consultancy working with organisations to manage and develop careers and also coaches individuals in career transition. Janet consults to career agencies, trains and supervises experienced career coaches in the UK and Ireland and is a fellow of the National Institute of Career Education and Counselling.
Dr Robin Henderson is a higher education consultant with a strong track record in delivering leadership and management development, and in supporting change-management initiatives within research-intensive universities. He works with a wide spectrum of staff within HEIs, including academic staff (from PhD students to senior professors) and professional service staff. He has worked with over 20 research-intensive universities within the UK and Europe. Find out more.
Dr Ni Mhuirthile is Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Convenor, Associate Professor in Law in DCU. she contibutes to the PSRL session on Research Collaborations.
Dr. Tanya Ní Mhuirthile joined the School of Law and Government in September 2015, having previously held positions in both Griffith College and University College Cork. A graduate of University College Cork (BCL 2000, LLB 2005, PhD 2010) and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (MDra 2002), Tanya teaches undergraduate modules in the ares of Equity, Trusts, Irish Legal System and Law and Body Politics.
Dr O'Hanlon is the Research Development Officer (Institute of Education) in DCU. She supports on both the Grant Writing and the Developing your Research Funding Plan sessions.
Dr O'Hanlon works within the Research Development and Support team. The mission of this team is to provide professional support for research across all fields in a proactive, researcher-centric way, in order to facilitate the development and funding of research at DCU and assist in the implementation of DCU’s research strategy.