DRS2018, hosted by the University of Limerick and the Limerick Institute of Technology is the first international biennial conference of the Design Research Society since the 50th anniversary conference in Brighton. This represented both a challenge and an opportunity; a challenge to meet the high standards set in 2016, but an opportunity to contribute to a growing design research field.The balance between these has translated into the conference theme of Catalyst. A catalyst is something that precipitates events; it is the coming together of different entities to generate something new; it is the spark for wider change. Framed by the Catalyst theme, these proceedings explore existing and emergent areas at the intersections of design research, practice, education and policy.