The NOVA University of Lisbon (UNL) is a public HEI situated in Lisbon with around 20,000 students and 2,000 PhD candidates. The UNL Doctoral School was launched in 2013 with two specific aims, to reinforce personal and professional development of PhD students through transferable skills training and to establish an open space for networking and discussion among PhD students and supervisors from the university’s nine schools. So far, the doctoral school offers 13 courses for students, open to researchers and non-academic staff, and one course on supervisory skills. The UNL Doctoral School has disseminated its programme and outcomes nationally and internationally and its ambition is now to network with similar institutions in Europe. Additionally, a consortium of HEIs and non-academic organizations (stakeholders in the private and public sectors) represents an employment-oriented opportunity to establish bridges with the world outside academia’s walls.