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 coming to the UK has allowed her to have a more varied career
• Her goal of getting 100 rejections a year

Hear some of Emily’s compositions on her website
Connect to Emily via her Royal Conservatoire profile
Find out about Emily’s interdisciplinary collaborations via SHARE

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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 funding
• Celebrating small wins and gradual progress
• Redefining creativity and entrepreneurship

Connect with Kavi on LinkedIn or X
Find out about Health Design Collective on their website, Facebook or X

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This podcast was a collaboration between the University of the West of Scotland, Converge and Sarah McLusky. The podcast team includes Orla Kelly, Adam Kosterka, Jen Black and Sarah McLusky. Proudly supported by the Scottish Ecosystem Fund 2023-24.

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 to potential customers to make sure they actually want the product
• Why they are only now considering a new spin-out opportunity
• How university support for spin-outs has improved since their first attempt

Connect with Duncan on X
Connect with Karen on X

Follow the Academic Adventures podcast on LinkedIn

This podcast was a collaboration between the University of the West of Scotland, Converge and Sarah McLusky. The podcast team includes Orla Kelly, Adam Kosterka, Jen Black and Sarah McLusky. Proudly supported by the Scottish Ecosystem Fund 2023-24.