The Academic Adventures Podcast

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The Academic Adventures Podcast Podcast

This podcast is all about people who have embraced the opportunity to combine their academic work with entrepreneurial ventures. You’ll hear about the highs and lows, juggling responsibilities whilst grabbing opportunities, and gain plenty of valuable advice along the way.

Episodes

  1. MAY 21

    “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 combines these different roles including:Why she identifies as stubborn rather than entrepreneurialThe ways that her academic and freelance work are intertwinedHow coming to the UK has allowed her to have a more varied careerHer goal of getting 100 rejections a yea...

    30 min

  2. MAY 14

    ‘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.Kavi shares the company’s journey to date including:The huge value of mentoring and supportHow applying for enterprise funding differs from research fundingCelebrating small wins and gradual progressRedefining creativity and entrepreneurship Connect...

    27 min

  3. MAY 7

    ‘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 learned from both starting and closing the company including:Their long, slow journey to try and make D3 Technologies a viable businessThe importance of talking to potential customers to make sure they actually want the productWhy they are only now considering...

    30 min

  4. APR 30

    ‘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 long career in technology transfer and business development including:The art and science of successful commercializationWhy everyone needs sales trainingGetting satisfaction from helping develop talented entrepreneursEncouraging academics to take advantage of th...

    27 min

  5. APR 23

    ‘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 business in 2019.Anton shares what he has learned from his journey including:How his entrepreneurial dreams were inspired by an ex-girlfriend’s mum When he realised that his first business One Cherry wasn’t viableTaking advantage of all the support...

    36 min

  6. APR 16

    ‘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 he uses this business experience to support the next generation of entrepreneurs including:Why he often relates more to his students than his academic colleaguesFinding the synergies between his teaching and business rolesHow bankruptcy taught him the importan...

    28 min

  7. APR 9

    '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 Catriona shares the journey to developing palm oil substitute Palm-Alt and what she has learned about collaborations between academia and industry including:The challenges of industry collaboration during COVIDWhy she cares more about the research process than com...

    26 min

  8. APR 2

    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 episode Andy shares the highs and lows of 20 years in academic entrepreneurship from his first big venture Haptogen to the portfolio career he has today, including:Why his first business venture was more about preventing brain drain than making moneyHow a Royal So...

    31 min

  9. MAR 26

    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 she has learned along the way including: Why she always wanted to be an entrepreneur and why Earth Blox was the right business at the right timeThe importance building an agile team that can learn fast, fail fast and pivotSurrounding herself with experts and...

    28 min

  10. MAR 19

    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 from it including:The deeply personal mission behind Pre-Site Safety and why he is ultimately grateful that it didn’t work outHow important conversations and customers are to a budding ventureWhy you’ll never be able to map the road ahead unless you take that fi...

    35 min

  11. MAR 12

    The Academic Adventures Podcast Trailer

    This podcast is all about people who have embraced the opportunity to combine their academic work with entrepreneurial ventures.This is a short introduction to the series. It includes a taster of some of the upcoming interviews, the story and the people behind the podcast, who we hope will listen and what we hope they will get out of it. Follow the Academic Adventures podcast on LinkedIn.[This podcast was a collaboration between the University of the West of Scotland, Converge and Sarah McLus...

    6 min

Trailer

About

This podcast is all about people who have embraced the opportunity to combine their academic work with entrepreneurial ventures. You’ll hear about the highs and lows, juggling responsibilities whilst grabbing opportunities, and gain plenty of valuable advice along the way.

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