The Academic Adventures Podcast

This special episode was recorded at a live event in Edinburgh on 2 October 2025. We gathered to discuss the role of external experts in commercialising research and how to recruit and support a more diverse pool of experts.  Elad Katz is the co-founder and chief technology officer for Navigate Precision Biology, a spinout from University of Dundee. Rachel Connolly is an Enterprise Executive at He...

Nicola McMillan leads the High Growth Spinout Programme at Scottish Enterprise. The Programme provides funding and support to help commercialise research which has the potential to make an impact globally. A core part of this programme is matching potential companies with commercial champions. Sarah and Nicola talk about Why commercial champions are the ‘secret sauce’  What makes an excellent comm...

Hamish McAlpine is Director of Policy & Engagement at innovation consultancy Oxentia. Hamish is working on a report, due out in September 2025, which explores how Scottish universities currently work with external experts to support research commercialisation and what could be done better in the future. Sarah and Hamish talk about The inherit tensions between how entrepreneurs think and how un...

Nanik Ramchandani is an entrepreneur with over twenty-years’ experience in the financial services industry all around the world. Now based in Edinburgh, Nanik has worked with Edinburgh Napier University for many years. He was an Entrepreneur in Residence in 2023/24 and helped establish the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Digital Trust. He is now working alongside academic co-founder Zakwan Jarouc...

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 Glasgow, the University of Strathclyde and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Sarah and Mark talk about How a love of building things evolved into a love of...

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 university’s Business School advisory committee. Kirsty and Sarah explore Her professional journey from academic to founder and back again The support that...

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 of Abertay and an OBE for services to industry. Polly and Sarah discuss: Why she has always enjoyed working at the leading edge of innovation The challenges...

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 Innovation and is a commercial champion at the University of Strathclyde.  Mark shares his thoughts on: Why people and business culture matter more than the te...

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 involved in entrepreneurship including: The Women in Business course that helped her transition from engineering to running her own company Making entrepreneurial c...

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 academics to boost research commercialisation. Christopher shares his vision for filling the spin-out pipeline with exciting opportunities including: Why Scot...

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 Entrepreneur in Residence including Why supporting women-led businesses is so important to her How working in university commercialisation got her interested in investin...

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 entrepreneurial The ways that her academic and freelance work are intertwined How...

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 support How applying for enterprise funding differs from research fundi...

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 business The importance of talking...

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 commercialization Why everyone needs sales training Getting...

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...

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 colleagues...

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 challenge...

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: W...

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 time The importance building...

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 out How important conversations and cust...

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...