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Career Catalyst

The Career Catalyst programme offers a unique opportunity to 'catalyse' your career by using digital technology. We will use LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning to drive your career development and create career opportunities, engage with your relevant audience, raise your visibility and expand your professional networks.

Programme aims and outcomes

Aim

Career Catalyst aims to help the researcher community create and enhance their LinkedIn profiles, utilising the tools and features available on LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning to advance their careers.

Outcomes

  • Understand how to create a compelling LinkedIn Profile that highlights your academic and professional expertise and experience.
  • Start to build a personal brand that reflects your expertise and career goals.
  • Develop key strategies for connecting with academics and professionals, employers and recruiters.
  • Learn methods to raise your visibility for your profile and research.
  • Maximise the LinkedIn job search tools and LinkedIn Learning courses to continue to develop and acquire new skills.

Who is this programme for?

This programme is aimed at our researcher community - Technicians, PGRs, Postdocs and Fellows, Research Professionals and Academic staff.

Dates and delivery

Applications are open until 5pm on 28 October 2025 to join our next cohort, which starts November 2025.

The programme runs annually from November to the beginning of March (4 months) and is predominantly self-paced learning but with touch points for additional support and guidance.

Participants will be directed to self-paced learning material to work through each topic. After each topic, there will then be an online session to discuss the materials, offer support and guidance in putting the learning into practice and provide an opportunity for Q&A.

All sessions will be for 1 hour and take place online, except for the introduction session that will last for 1 hour 30 minutes. Sessions for the November 2025 - March 2026 programme run on the following dates:

  • Thursday 13 November 2025, 10–11.30am
  • Thursday 27 November 2025, 11am–12 noon
  • Wednesday 10 December 2025, 10–11am
  • Thursday 15 January 2026, 10–11am
  • Thursday 29 January 2026, 10–11am
  • Wednesday 11 February 2026, 10–11am
  • Tuesday 24 February 2026, 10–11am
  • Wednesday 11 March 2026, 10–11am

We estimate that the time you will need to commit to the programme over the course of 4 months will be approximately 25 hours (this includes the live online sessions and time to the complete self-paced learning topic). We also offer an in-person 3-hour session focused on profile feedback and support. This is optional but we find that participants benefit significantly from attending.

Sign up for Career Catalyst (Deadline: 5pm, 28 October 2025)

Case studies

Hear from previous participants about how the programme has helped them build confidence and skills using LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning, and how it’s supporting them to create career opportunities, engage more effectively with relevant audiences, raise their visibility and expand their networks.

Listen to the podcast

If you would like to hear more about the programme, listen to the dedicated episode on the Research Culture Uncovered Podcast.

In this episode the course facilitators Ruth Winden and Rachael Clark discuss how the programme began, the benefits of having a diverse cohort and the positive outcomes that the participants achieved by the end of the session. The episode also includes some of the participants' perspectives of the programme.

Testimonials from previous participants

"The Career Catalyst Programme truly lives up to its name. It was an enriching experience that provided valuable insights into managing a career and networking effectively through LinkedIn. Whether you're new to LinkedIn or have been using it for years, there was something to learn. The sessions were well-structured and interactive, allowing us to learn not just from the presenters but from each other as well. I also discovered several powerful yet often-overlooked tools on both LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning that will be highly beneficial for my career growth. A big thank you to the presenters, Rachael and Ruth, and to the 2025 cohort for a wonderful experience!"

- Nnenna Ariakpomu, Postgraduate Researcher

Read more testimonials

Julia Sandrin Gauer, Postdoctoral Researcher

I had often heard about the benefits of LinkedIn as a professional platform but did not know how to create a strong profile that would increase my visibility and grow my network. The programme provided a comprehensive guide of LinkedIn and its features, which greatly improved my profile and had a significant impact on my engagement with the community. The programme leads were wonderfully supportive and knowledgeable. I highly recommend the programme to anyone wishing to broaden their knowledge of LinkedIn and use it to support their careers.

Lubna Shaf, Facilities Manager

I would highly encourage staff members to take part in this programme. It provides a unique insight into the capabilities of LinkedIn. My profile would not have gained the visibility it has had it not been for what I have learnt from the programme. I'm glad I took part in it.

Sofia Reppou, Postgraduate Researcher

I never thought that my information on LinkedIn was so important until I had this course and I understood that my LinkedIn profile is actually my personal promotion to the world out there and how is structured and filled in is very important.

Sarah Alderson, Associate Professor

A really helpful and supportive course that has helped me increase my network and collaborations and promote my research.