We wrapped up the final workshop of the 2026 UL Navigate: Researchers Beyond Academia programme this week! Delivered by University of Limerick HR Talent Development, this programme supports postdoctoral researchers in exploring career opportunities both within and beyond academia. Through a mix of workshops and 1:1 sessions – covering CV development, interview skills, job search strategies and career planning – participants define their goals and gain practical tools to support their next steps.
At our final session, we were delighted to welcome former Navigate participant Nasrin Ghanami Gashti (She/her), who shared her journey into R&D at BD and Waters Corporation through the Research Ireland Enterprise Fellowship. Nasrin highlighted the benefits of working with cutting-edge technology, acting as a PI and maintaining strong links with academia through collaboration with UL. Her key message resonated strongly: “Nothing is impossible for postdocs – be open to all opportunities.” Thank you, Nasrin, for taking the time to speak with us.
We also extend our thanks to Anne Murphy Duggan, who joined an earlier workshop to share insights on transitioning to industry. Drawing from her experience as Global Director of Talent Acquisition Strategy at VMware and her current role in UL as BIO-FIN EU Project Manager and Researcher at XTREME Living Lab, Anne provided valuable perspectives. Anne also managed to recruit some participants for her research during the workshop – unfortunately, we were so busy talking that we forgot to get a photo!
A huge thank you to Marguerite Leen and the UL HR Talent Development team for delivering such an impactful programme – and to all the researchers for their openness, commitment and engagement. It’s great to see the connections and friendships formed along the way.
Sharing a photo of the Navigate 2026 group below – while a few people are missing, we managed to capture those who made it to the final workshop! Thank you Sabya Sachi Das for providing the photo!
Abey Jose Arathy Kottapurath Fatima Khalique, PhD Ehsan Parandi Kishor Das, PhD Rose Oluwaseun Adetunji Sabya Sachi Das Syed Abdul Ahad
Interviews are a crucial part of the recruitment process – for both candidates and employers. It was a pleasure to work with ADVANCE CRT PhD researchers on practical strategies to approach interviews with clarity, confidence and self‑awareness. Thank you to the ADVANCE CRT team for inviting me to be part of the Beyond the PhD: Career Readiness Series.
In an AI-driven world of work, critical thinking, governance, ethical awareness, a growth mindset and the ability to translate data into meaningful business outcomes have become more important than ever. Final-year PhD researchers from Research Ireland Centre for Research Training in Foundations of Data Science possess highly developed skills in these areas, along with many other strengths, including outstanding communication skills and resilience developed during four challenging years of PhD research.