The Academic Adventures Podcast
This podcast is all about the journey from teaching, research and innovation to real-world solutions. In season 1 we heard from people who embraced the opportunity to combine their academic work with entrepreneurial ventures. In season 2 we are joined by experienced founders who work alongside university staff and students to help create and support a culture of enterprise on campus.
Episodes
18 episodes
“You can build anything you want if you conspire together.” With Mark Logan
Mark Logan is an entrepreneurship advocate and advisor. Formerly Mark was the Chief Operating Officer of Skyscanner and Chief Entrepreneurial Advisor to the Scottish Government. He now supports entrepreneurship education at the University of Gl...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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31:18
“Students are rarely taught about the social enterprise landscape.” with Kirsty Thomson
Kirsty Thomson is a charity and social enterprise consultant. She has founded several organisations including The Circle and was recently CEO of The Big House. Kirsty is also a Professor of Practice at the University of Dundee and Chair of the ...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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30:08
“How do we, as a nation, commercialise the innovation that happens in our universities.” with Polly Purvis
Polly is Chair of Converge and the Digital Xtra Fund as well as being a board member of Edinburgh Science. This follows a long career in banking, economic development and digital technology. Polly has an honorary doctorate from the University o...
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28:40
“We need bolder strategies and greater ambition.” with Mark Zwinderman
Mark Zwinderman is a strategic advisor who specialises in helping high-growth technology companies. He is CEO of SAS Environmental Services (which started as a university spinout), runs the Moonshot Factory programme at the Higgs Centre for Inn...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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31:26
“If the barriers aren’t broken down, we’re missing out on a lot of talent and potential.” with Diana Gormley
Diana Gormley is the Founder of business consulting firm Danu Solutions Ltd, as well as being an Entrepreneur in Residence at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.Diana explains why she wants to break down barriers and get more people in...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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26:27
“I’m able to identify pitfalls and bottlenecks.” with Christopher Leburn
Christopher Leburn is the Technology Exploitation Director for the Photonics & Quantum Accelerator (PQA) programme based at the University of Strathclyde, but working across Scotland’s central belt. He focuses on supporting and mentoring ac...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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31:15
“I was often the only woman in the room, and I wanted to do something about that” with Gillian Fleming
Gillian Fleming is Co-Founder and Managing Director of women-led angel investment network Mint Ventures. She is also an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Stirling.Gillian shares the rewards and challenges of being an Entrepr...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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28:34
“You always have to be looking for different ways of making it happen” with Emily Doolittle
Emily Doolittle is a lecturer and research fellow at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. She is also an independent composer, working on commissions and personal projects alongside her academic work.Emily shares how she comb...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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29:33
‘If you’re not feeling insecure, you’re not learning’ with Dr Kavi Jagadamma
Kavi Jagadamma is a senior lecturer in physiotherapy at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. He is also one of four directors at Health Design Collective, a social enterprise which co-creates shoes for people with long-term health conditions.<...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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26:40
‘Make sure you are selling a technology that the world needs’ with Prof Duncan Graham and Prof Karen Faulds
Duncan Graham and Karen Faulds are both chemistry professors at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. They were part of the team which founded the diagnostics spin-out company D3 Technologies in 2007.Duncan and Karen share what they...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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30:09
‘It's a lot more than just the product’ with Anne Muir
Anne Muir is Director of Portfolio at EOS, an organisation that invests in university spin-out companies. Prior to that she was Head of IP and Commercialisation at the University of Dundee.Anne talks about what she has learned from a lo...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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26:50
‘You just have to be willing to walk that path’ with Dr Anton Puzorjov
Anton is the founder of Quas Drinks, a company he set up in 2021 whilst completing a PhD in synthetic biology at the University of Edinburgh. A serial entrepreneur, he established his first venture while still a Masters’ student but closed the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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35:42
‘It's not who you know, it's who knows you’ with John Storm
John Storm is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen Business School, as well as being an independent consultant. He lived and worked in China for 10 years and continues to work with companies all over the world.John shares how ...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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27:51
'Not every academic wants to start their own company' with Catriona Liddle
Catriona Liddle is Head of the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. Before this Catriona spent over 20 years as a product developer in the food industry. In this episode Cat...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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26:10
I’ve learned more from my failures than from my successes - Andy Porter
Professor Andy Porter is a part-time academic and director of the Scottish Biologics Facility at the University of Aberdeen. He also holds exec and non-exec positions in several life science and drinks businesses in Scotland.In this epis...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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31:11
Learn fast, fail fast with Dr Genevieve Patenaude
Dr Genevieve Patenaude is an environmental scientist (formerly University of Edinburgh) and CEO of environmental mapping company Earth Blox. In this episode Genevieve shares how she evolved from academic to entrepreneur and what sh...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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28:12
Why taking the first step is a victory with Dr Marc Reid
Dr Marc Reid is a chemist, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, podcast host and author based at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.In this episode Marc shares the story of his first business venture, Pre-Site Safety, and what he learned f...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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35:00