SPIRe Early Career Researcher Forum 2025-26
The SPIRe Early Career Researcher Forum is a series of events at the School of Politics and International Relations. The Early Career Researcher Forum provides guidance to early-career researchers and facilitates informal discussions between SPIRe faculty and PhD students.
SPIRe faculty members will provide a short overview of the topic and reflect on their experiences. The remaining time will be devoted to questions and answers.
Events usually take place in a hybrid format on Tuesdays from 12:00–12:50 in the SPIRe boardroom (F301). Please contact (opens in a new window)caitriona.dowd@ucd.ie for options to join via Zoom.
The Early Career Researcher Forum is organised by Dr Caitriona Dowd.
Events in the Academic Year 2025-26
Autumn Trimester 2025
- Tuesday, 21st October 2025 (12:00-12:50, F301): Building your online professional profile, Guest: (opens in a new window)Dr Farsan Ghassim
- Tuesday, 11th November 2025 ( 12:00-12:50, F301): Navigating the current academic job market, Guest: (opens in a new window)Dr Elisa D'Amico
Participation is limited to current PhD students, postdocs, and faculty members at SPIRe.
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Past Events
Academic Year 2024-25
- Tuesday, 5th November, 2024 (12:00-12:50, F301): Choosing the right publication format and outlet for academic work. Guest: Dr Dawn Walsh
- Tuesday, 3rd December, 2024 (12:00-12:50, F301): Conducting and responding to peer reviews. Guests: Dr Sam Brazys & Dr Alexa Zellentin
Autumn Trimester 2023
- Tuesday, November 7th, 2023 (13:00-13:50: F301): The publications process and dealing with reviewers and editors. Guests: David Farrell & Supriya Garikipati
- Tuesday, November 21st, 2023 (13:00-13:50: F301): CV building and academic website. Guests: Stefan Müller & Lucía Tiscornia
Spring Trimester 2023
- Thursday, 2 February 2023 (13:00): Effective Presentations. Guest speaker: (opens in a new window)Joshua Alley
- Thursday, 16 February 2023 (13:00–13:50): How to identify suitable outlets for your paper or book project? (opens in a new window)Alona Dolinsky & (opens in a new window)Stefan Müller
- Thursday, 2 March 2023 (13:00–13:50): Promoting your work and writing about your research. Guests: (opens in a new window)Heidi Riley & (opens in a new window)Alexander Dukalskis
- Thursday, 30 March 2023 (13:00–13:50): Differences between postdoc positions, and how/when to apply for them. Guests: Pinar Documaci & (opens in a new window)Brian Boyle
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Autumn Trimester 2022
- Thursday, 6 October 2022 (13:00–13:50): How to Deal with Setbacks. Guests: (opens in a new window)Joshua Alley & (opens in a new window)Natalia Umansky
- Thursday, 20 October 2022 (13:00–13:50): Cross-National Differences in Academic Jobs and University Structures. Guests: (opens in a new window)Yoo Sun Jung and (opens in a new window)Stefan Müller
- Monday, 24 October 2022 (13:30–14:30): Roundtable Discussion: How to Get Published in Journals. Guests: (opens in a new window)Richard Katz, (opens in a new window)Maria Spirova & (opens in a new window)Paul Webb
- Thursday, 24 November 2022 (13:00–13:50): Networking, Co-Authoring, and Attending Conferences: (opens in a new window)Samuel Johnston & (opens in a new window)Lucía Tiscornia
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Spring Trimester 2022
- Thursday, 27 January 2022 (13:00–13:50): Career paths beyond academia. Guests: (opens in a new window)Melanie Hoewer & (opens in a new window)David Hallinan
- Thursday, 10 February 2022 (13:00–13:50): Writing grant applications. Guests: Sinéad Moriarty & (opens in a new window)Ben Tonra
- Thursday, 24 February 2022 (13:00–13:50): How to write a peer review report for an academic journal. Guests: Eleonora La Spada & (opens in a new window)Joseph Lacey
- Thursday, 24 March 2022 (13:00–13:50): When and how to say “no” in academia. Guests: (opens in a new window)Niamh Hardiman & (opens in a new window)Alexa Zellentin
- Thursday, 7 April 2022 (13:00–13:50): How to ensure and improve transparency in qualitative and quantitative research. (opens in a new window)Richard Maher & (opens in a new window)Stefan Müller