Converge Challenge 2026
Converge 2026: applications now open!
Are you a UHI student, staff member, or recent graduate with a groundbreaking idea, research insight or innovation?
Converge 2026 is now open for applications and is seeking Scotland’s next generation of academic innovators to join this prestigious entrepreneurial programme, designed to help you develop your idea into a real-world business.
As the only initiative of its kind in Scotland, Converge provides the training, expertise and connections needed to build a successful, sustainable venture. Since 2011, it has partnered with universities across Scotland, supporting hundreds of academic entrepreneurs to turn breakthrough research and creativity into thriving businesses.
Open to university staff, students and recent graduates, Converge offers a supportive space to test and validate your business idea, taking your innovation from the lab to the marketplace through bespoke training, professional networks, peer support and funding opportunities.
Participants gain access to:
- Expert-led business training tailored for academics
- Feedback as you develop your business proposition
- Peer-to-peer networks and a community of founders
- Generous equity-free funding for the strongest projects
- National visibility through the Converge platform
Completing your application is the first step. Successful applicants will join a cohort of like-minded innovators shaping the future through entrepreneurship.
Deadline for applications: Thursday 2 April 2026
Eligibility
Eligibility
The competition is open to:
- Students and staff across the UHI partnership
- Recent graduates (within 36 months of graduation)
The competition is free to enter. Participants must commit to taking part in Converge training sessions, events and programme deadlines.
The Challenges
The Challenges
The Challenges in the programme are tailored to your stage of development, sector and mission.
1. Converge Challenge: £85k prize fund
For novel business propositions with solid IP foundations, high commercial potential and scalability.
2. Net Zero Challenge: £60k prize fund
For green entrepreneurs developing innovative solutions in energy transition, with a focus on power generation and electricity infrastructure.
3. Create Change Challenge: £50k prize fund
For creative, cultural and social impact projects looking to become sustainable businesses.
4. KickStart Challenge: £40k prize fund
For aspiring entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas they’d like to test, validate and prepare to launch.
5. Hydrogen Challenge
Places for 10 early-stage academic entrepreneurs developing hydrogen projects with commercial potential are available in the KickStart Challenge, funded by the Royce Hydrogen Accelerator.
6. Performing and Production Arts Challenge: £5K prize pot
For performers, producers and technicians to transform their artistic talents into business opportunities, co-designed with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Special prizes
Special prizes
With generous support from a group of sponsors, there are additional sector-specific prizes to help boost your business. These awards include both cash and, where relevant, in-kind business support.
IBioIC Award - Sponsored by IBioIC
For the best innovation in the industrial biotechnology space. £20k cash prize for the university where the project originated.
The Data Lab Award - Sponsored by The Data Lab
For data science and/or AI powered innovations addressing real market needs. £20k cash prize fund plus in-kind support.
Ventures Lab Award - Sponsored by Challenges Group
For innovative ideas which address societal issues, with potential for scale. £10k cash prize plus tailored package of in-kind support.
Blue Economy Awards
For game-changing ideas in areas such as aquaculture, marine renewable energy and coastal tourism. £35k prize fund.
How to apply
How to apply
You can explore the different challenges, decide which one is right for you, and apply online via the Converge website.
Converge also hosts regular workshops on key aspects of business creation, and the team can provide tailored advice to support your application.
Application information sessions
Application information sessions
Make your bright business idea a reality with the help of Converge.
Join an information session to learn more about the application process, what judges look for, and how to make your proposal stand out from the crowd! The Converge team can also offer practical tips and tailored guidance.
The one-hour workshops will be delivered online.
Register now:
Any questions?
Any questions?
If you would like to discuss the opportunity, find out more information, or need support with your application, please contact:
Darlene Russell Knowledge Exchange, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer
UHI Converge success stories
Christopher Kaan Caudwell
In 2025, Christopher Kaan Caudwell, a computer science student at UHI Perth, won both the KickStart Challenge (£10,000 cash) and the Data Lab Early-Stage Award (£5,000 cash) for his project, Gestura.
Gestura is an AI-powered app that translates sign language into speech, and speech back into sign language, in real time. Designed for everyday use in hospitals, banks and public transport, the app aims to break down communication barriers for millions of people worldwide.
Dr Szabolcs Pap
Dr Szabolcs Pap, Research Fellow at UHI Environmental Research Institute in Thurso, won the IBioIC Award, securing a £20,000 cash prize for UHI alongside tailored support, including membership and mentoring from IBioIC.
His project CassioPeia, is a low-cost, chemical-free filtration system to recover valuable phosphorus from wastewater. Using a carbon-based ‘sponge’, the technology prevents nutrient pollution while recycling phosphorus back into agriculture, supporting the UK’s Net Zero and zero-waste ambitions.
Dr Georgina Robinson
In 2023, Dr Georgina Robinson, a research associate at SAMS, a partner of UHI, was crowned the Converge Challenge winner and received £50,000 in cash and £20,000 in in-kind business support!
'N-ovatio-N' helps meet Scotland’s Net Zero targets through a circular economy solution that upcycles waste into high value feed ingredients in the form of marine worms. Their solution centres around net zero solutions for the Scottish salmon farming sector and global aquaculture industry.
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Ciara Bow
Ciara Bow made it through to the 2024 Create Change Challenge final with her project to bring craft distilling back to Sutherland at Gledfield Distillery.
Ciara studied sociology and criminology at UHI Inverness, and later fabrication and welding with performing engineering operations at Nigg Skills Academy. Inspired by her great-great-grandmother Marjorie MacBeath, who was born in 1884 and lived on a croft where she distilled spirits illicitly, Ciara is set to bring her family’s age-old botanical spirit recipe back to life. The spirit is similar to gin but is made using oats, which she is led to believe is a world first.
.jpg "Aleksandra Czech-Seklecka in a colourful gown, standing in front of a sign for Van Fill")
Aleksandra Czech-Seklecka
Aleksandra Czech-Seklecka, who studied English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) at UHI Inverness, made it to the semi-finals of the Net Zero Challenge in 2024, with her project VanFill.
VanFill is an app that will help to connect anyone searching to transport their goods with transport providers who have empty spaces in their vans and trucks. By doing so, VanFill aims to reduce transportation costs, save time, and cut carbon emissions thanks to optimising and reducing the number of empty and half-empty runs of transport providers.
Roma Gibb
Roma Gibb, a UHI nursing graduate and founder of Person Centred Solutions, created the 'Bed Band' to improve sleep for people with mobility issues, She developed the device while working on hospital wards as part of her degree. She noticed that getting a good night’s sleep is a major challenge for people with mobility issues as they struggle to maintain a comfortable and safe position in bed.
She was a runner-up in the 2022 KickStart Challenge, receiving £7,500 to develop her product. And in 2023, she was a finalist in the Create Change Challenge.