2026 Arqus PhD Week for Careers Beyond Academia

The 6th Edition of the Arqus PhD Week for Careers Beyond Academia will be held at Maynooth University in June 2026. The Arqus Career Week is a 5-day programme intended to support PhD researchers in exploring and pursuing career paths beyond university research.

The programme offers talks and workshops, led by a group of career experts with international backgrounds, to help participants recognise their labour market skills and give insight into application and hiring processes, as well as company cultures outside academia. We will partner with two Irish-based doctoral programmes for some of the activities during the week.

The next Career Week will take place at Maynooth University, Ireland, from Monday, 8 June to Friday, 12 June 2026.

Applications are open until Saturday, 31 January 2026, 23:59 CET (more information below). Some local variations in the deadline may apply.

What is the Arqus Career Week?

The Career Week is a combination of expert input and participatory approaches, focused on discussion and self-exploration. A draft schedule for the week is available here. This schedule is subject to minor changes. Topics to include:

• The Skills Audit: Mapping Your PhD Talent Development to New Career Paths
• Unlock Your Career Capital: Assess and Grow Your Professional Power
• Effective Communication
• Generative AI use in cover letters and CVs
• Industry and Academic Roundtables – small roundtable discussions with PhD graduates in industry and academic positions
• LinkedIn profile and marketing yourself
• Should I stay or should I go: How to handle being uncertain about your academic career
• Job Interview Skills
• Research Funding Pathways and Grant Funding
• Fiasco Fest

The Career Week also provides the opportunity to meet and exchange with other early-stage researchers as well as professionals in career development from different countries and disciplines.

What is the Fiasco Fest?

The Fiasco Fest provides an open, festive environment in which participants talk about highlights and failures of their careers so far. They subsequently analyse what they have experienced as “fiascos” and why. Together, the participants then explore which resources they have already used to overcome inevitable setbacks and they receive psychological insights and more tools for personal development from professional trainers. The Fiasco Fest concludes with an exercise in letting go and an opportunity to mingle and exchange further. It will be incorporated in the PhD Week as a 3-hour workshop.

Who is this for?

The Arqus Career Week is intended for PhD candidates (beyond the first year) who are considering a future career beyond academia and do not have a lot of experience in non-academic professional environments (service industry and other student jobs excluded). The programme is open to early-stage researchers from all disciplines.

While we do not require any proof of English proficiency, you should be able to carry a conversation and be able to work together in this language.

Due to funding requirements, you must be enrolled as a doctoral student or have an active employment contract at one of the Arqus universities.

How to apply?

If you want to apply for the Arqus Career Week, please do so via this online Google form.

Only fully completed forms will be considered.

• Prepare a (300-500 word) description of why you want to participate in the programme, what your expectations towards the programme are, why you are interested in (potentially) moving beyond academia in your career, which topics you would particularly like to learn about more/need support with etc. – this statement of motivation will be key in the selection process.
• Send your Curriculum Vitae (in PDF form) directly to Stephen Carroll, as detailed above. The selection of participants will be made by local committees at the home university. Depending on the number of applicants and available funding, each university will be able to send 3-4 participants. You will be informed about the outcome within 3 weeks after the application deadline. 

Please note: If you use any supporting tools such as DeepL or ChatGPT, make sure that the application consists solely of your own thoughts and motivations and reflects the level of your English language skills.

Funding for travel and accommodation from different sources will be available through your home university, however, please be aware that you might have to prepare a separate funding application after the selection process (your local Arqus contact person will inform you about the process).

The application deadline is Saturday 31 January 2026, 23:59 CET. Some local variations in the deadline may apply.

For questions, please contact phd-pursuit@arqus-alliance.eu or stephen.carroll@mu.ie.

Call published on 19 Dec 2025