Converge

Today sees an expansion of our 2025 Programme with the launch of two new limited-edition challenges focused on hydrogen and the performing arts. Driven by recent collaborations with the Henry Royce Institute and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, both initiatives will run in parallel with our existing challenge categories allowing us to train and support an additional 20 academic entrepreneurs this year. Fuelling the Future: Driving Hydrogen Innovation: Created in partnership with the Royce Hydrogen Accelerator, an initiative supported by the Henry Royce Institute, our new limited-edition Hydrogen Challenge is aimed at academics developing hydrogen projects with commercialisation potential. Empowering the Performing Arts: Co-developed in association with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, our new limited-edition Performing & Production Arts Challenge is aimed at students, recent graduates and university staff looking to transform their creative skills into sustainable enterprises. Successful applicants can expect bespoke business training, a strong peer network and the chance to compete for equity-free funding to progress their business ideas. Winners will be announced at the 2025 edition of the Converge Awards on 2 October. Applications are now open until Wednesday 30 April. For more information, please visit: Our Hydrogen webpage: buff.ly/tjTddLm Our Performing & Production Arts webpage: buff.ly/QBKWpxL Ian Johnson Adam Robinson Deborah Keogh Stephanie Edwards Prof. Vicky Gunn Nicola Duncan Simon Fraser SigH₂t: Strathclyde Incubator for Green Hydrogen Technologies PNDC Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) Mark Symes Alasdair McDonald Paul de Leeuw Stuart Simmons School of GeoSciences John Underhill Energy Technology Partnership (ETP) Natasha Madeira Hydrogen Accelerator Hydrogen Scotland Women in Hydrogen Scotland Rachael Arnold

Academic innovator in Hydrogen or the Performing & Production Arts? Discover how our new Challenges can accelerate your breakthrough idea or innovation. Ready to explore the possibilities? Join us online at our Application & Information Sessions on 23 and 25 April for an in-depth look into these limited-edition opportunities. We'll explain who’s eligible, how our programme can propel your innovation forward and give you hints and tips on what our judges look for in a standout application. We’ll also be on hand to answer your questions and provide bespoke advice to help you decide if this opportunity is the right launchpad for you. Open to students, recent graduates and university staff across Scotland, each one-hour session is free to attend. Register now to secure your place: 23 April: Hydrogen Challenge Info Session buff.ly/qq12rQo 25 April: Performing & Production Arts Challenge Info Session buff.ly/f3cK57V Or, for more information, visit www.convergechallenge.com Henry Royce Institute Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Ian Johnson Deborah Keogh Stephanie Edwards Adam Kosterka Lissa Rocha Herron Natasha Madeira Hydrogen Scotland Hydrogen Accelerator SigH₂t: Strathclyde Incubator for Green Hydrogen Technologies Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) Stuart Simmons Paul de Leeuw

Exciting news! Converge has just launched a new limited-edition Performing & Production Arts Challenge to help students, recent graduates and university staff across Scotland navigate the entrepreneurial realities of the performing arts industry. Co-designed in partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and open until 30 April, successful applicants will benefit from bespoke business training from leading practitioners across Scotland’s creative industries. There is even a £5,000 cash prize to be won! Early-stage projects are eligible across a range of disciplines including music, dance, stage & screen, technical production, production design, interdisciplinary practice and community-based performance. For more info and to apply visit: https://lnkd.in/erM8TP5c Alternatively, for hints and tips on what our judges look for in a standout proposal, why not register for our upcoming Application Info Session taking place online on 18 April: https://lnkd.in/efDmYqQW

We're on the lookout for a dynamic Enterprise Manager who can play a pivotal role in developing and growing our entrepreneurship programme to students, staff and recent graduates across all Scottish universities. Based at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, you'll be at the heart of a collaborative effort to transform cutting-edge research, ideas and inventions from Scotland's brightest minds into real-world impact. If this sounds like you, then we want to hear from you! Apply by 23 April. For more info and to apply visit: buff.ly/8ibkYHf

Developing a hydrogen project with commercial potential? Then don’t miss our new limited-edition Hydrogen Challenge. Powered by the Royce Hydrogen Accelerator, an initiative supported by the Henry Royce Institute, successful applicants will benefit from expert business training, a strong peer network, industry connections and the chance to compete for a £20,000 prize pot of equity-free cash. If your project shows material development across any stage of the hydrogen supply chain, then this opportunity could be for you! For more info and to apply visit: buff.ly/gaiAF61 Alternatively, for hints and tips on what our judges look for in a standout proposal, why not register for our upcoming Application Info Session taking place online on 17 April: buff.ly/8ZRmN56

Looking to make your research count? Join fellow researchers from across Scotland’s universities for our upcoming Ideas to Impact workshop series. Kicking off online on 9 April, this is your chance to access the skills, information and support to take your idea from paper to practical application. Over the course of four workshops, you’ll learn how to effectively translate your work, the importance of research impact and how ideas and knowledge can be turned into thriving businesses. For more info and to register, visit: https://lnkd.in/e_y26GqH

Passionate about commercialising research? Then why not join our team! Based at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, we’re looking for an experienced Enterprise Manager to play a key role in developing and growing our entrepreneurship programme to students, staff and recent graduates across all Scottish universities. Apply by 23 April. For more info and to apply visit: buff.ly/8ibkYHf

The Converge 2025 deadline is just around the corner! Don't miss the chance to apply for a place on our prestigious programme - where expert training, funding, networking and peer support help university staff, students and graduates across Scotland build impactful businesses. Whatever difference you want to make – from tackling global challenges like climate change to developing innovative healthcare solutions – we can help maximise the impact of your innovation. Here’s a quick reminder why you should apply: - Expert-led business training for university entrepreneurs - Strong peer network of future founders - Access to business professionals - £305,000 of equity-free cash prizes - New special prizes across AI, data science, blue economy & more Apply online by 2 April (12 noon) - www.convergechallenge.com

Many congratulations to our Chair, Polly Purvis, OBE, who is among this year’s cohort of new Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows.   Recognised for her contributions to the Scottish technology sector, Polly joins a distinguished community of leading experts and influencers in Scotland’s science, research and business sectors. For the full list of new Fellows, visit: https://lnkd.in/epUmjsrj Adam Kosterka Lissa Rocha Herron Paul A. Leah Pape Liz Rattray Derek McGhee James Miller FRSE Helen Cross

At Converge we’re driven by a passion to transform groundbreaking ideas into impactful businesses. That’s why we’re excited to spotlight the University of Glasgow, a hub of world-leading research that’s driving positive change locally, nationally and globally. Imagine transforming pioneering quantum sensing technologies into revolutionary medical devices or developing social innovations that address inequalities and create community-based solutions to social challenges. The University's research excellence in areas like global health, quantum technologies and social science provide a rich environment for entrepreneurial innovation. Since our launch in 2011, we’ve been privileged to work with numerous brilliant researchers, students and graduates from the University of Glasgow, seeing their research and ambition evolve into businesses that are creating a real difference. Here are just a few examples: Dr Elijah Nazarzadeh, Co-founder and CSO of Nebu~Flow , a medical spinout that reached the finals of our Converge Challenge category in 2019. The company is developing a new generation of nebulisers to enable inhalation delivery of life-changing treatments. Professor David Manlove, Scientific Advisor at KEPsoft Collaborative CIC, the first not-for-profit social enterprise company to spin out of the University. Runner-up in our 2024 Create Change Challenge category, KEPSoft will help save lives by providing software and services to better match kidney patients with donors.   Susanne Mitschke, a serial entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Citruslabs, a contract research organisation providing consumer brands with affordable clinical trials to back up product claims. Susanne took joint first prize in our Converge Challenge category in 2016 with her first business, MindMate. If you’re a University of Glasgow member of staff, student or recent graduate looking to turn your research, idea or invention into a thriving business, then don’t delay as our application deadline is fast approaching and 2 April is your final call. Here are just a few reasons to get started on your application: ·      Over £400,000 in equity-free cash awards & in-kind business support ·      New special prizes to support Blue Economy, Data Science & AI projects  ·      Bespoke business training delivered by experts with real-world experience For more details visit convergechallenge.com. Application deadline 2 April (12 noon) 2025. Helen Harkness Michael King Uzma Khan Kay Guccione Marion Anderson Melville Anderson Fiona Heatlie Ian Marland University of Glasgow Student Enterprise Glasgow University Union William Pettersson Vijay K. Luthra MSc FRSA ChPP FAPM ChMC FCMI Natasha Tian Gavin Adams Matthew Leeper, PhD FRSA Russell Dalgleish Pooja Katara Marwa Ebrahim Lissa Rocha Herron Sheik Abdul Malik Adam Kosterka