Ideas to Innovation (i2i), delivered through the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship, has been designed for ambitious final year PhD and post-doctoral researchers looking to unlock their entrepreneurial and creative potential. This programme encourages research students to consider the social and economic relevance of their research.
Within the i2i programme you will:
- Explore entrepreneurship as an option for corporate innovation and new venture creation.
- Gain a fundamental understanding of business.
- Develop knowledge of how to commercialise your research.
- Develop a network of likeminded researchers facing similar challenges.
- Have the opportunity to apply for a digital Entrepreneurship: Impact of Research badge to recognise your accomplishment.
This course encourages researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and business professionals from multiple disciplines to talk to each other “outside the box”. The programme helps you explore your desire to take your research to market, understanding creative methods, team building, cultures and communications and the fundamentals of business. By the end of the course you will have had fun, learned about yourself and your ideas and how to communicate them effectively.
You will have met a huge network of smart entrepreneurial people, feel that you are amongst people with shared values and hopefully feel encouraged to take your research forward into society.
Within this three-day entrepreneurial programme, we combine large scale plenary sessions with small group activity. Each group has two facilitators to transfer the learning from the plenary – to guide and support you. We feel that this format enables you to consider the social and economic relevance of your research and will equip you with the skills and know-how to turn your ideas into action.
Agenda
Dates: 21 – 23 January 2026
i2i Programme Summary
Day One enables an understanding of personal values, motivations and direction.
Day Two focuses on the importance of building teams, as well as generating potential impact pathways for your research.
Day Three looks at the basic elements of taking an idea and turning it into a product or service and how to communicate it with passion.
Speakers
Dr Orsolya Ihasz
Dr Orsolya Ihasz is the Programme Director of Ideas to Innovation. She is a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship, and a Fellow at the . Her research interest focuses on responsible innovation management and social impact measurement especially in public health. As well as leading Ideas to Innovation (i2i), aimed at the researchers and early-career researcher community across disciplines to support entrepreneurial ventures geared towards finding solutions to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she is also an external advisor to the WHO on the scaling digitally enabled health interventions for tackling globally.
More speakers to be confirmed.
Facilitators
Dr Stuart Grant
Dr Stuart Grant is a Chartered Engineer and founder of Archetype MedTech, a consultancy and innovation studio helping medical device start-ups and scale-ups transform early clinical unmet needs into market-ready products. With nearly 25 years at DePuy Synthes, Stuart has led global teams across the UK, US, China, and emerging markets, delivering breakthrough innovations in hip, knee, shoulder, and trauma surgery. A highlight of his career was establishing the ASPAC Innovation Centre in Suzhou, where he built R&D capability from the ground up and launched a pioneering total-knee instrument system that dramatically reduced time to market.
He is the co-founder of C-True Surgical Ltd, developing advanced surgical navigation and robotics solutions, and serves as Innovation Director at LumiPenPro, a novel surgical lighting device progressing toward EU and UK market approval. Stuart has led complex regulatory transitions, including J&J’s response to the EU MDR, and is the named inventor on multiple market-leading patents. He also mentors with the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme and lectures on medical innovation at Hull University.
Academically, Stuart holds a PhD in MedTech Innovation (Cranfield School of Management), an MSc in Project Management (University of Wisconsin), and a BSc (Hons) in Product Design (Bournemouth University). Passionate about advancing medical technology and mentoring future engineers, he bridges creativity, engineering, and regulation to accelerate safer, smarter med-tech innovation worldwide.
More facilitators to be confirmed.
Who should attend?
i2i is for:
- Researchers within Centres of Doctoral Training and partner institutions.
- Third year/final year doctoral candidates across multiple disciplines.
- Postdocs from multiple disciplines.
If you are unsure if i2i is for you, please contact Orsolya Ihasz at Orsolya.Ihasz@cranfield.ac.uk鈥痜or more information.
Location & travel details
The Gallery - CMRI Building 38, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL
Download a visitor guide鈥痠ncluding map, directions and health and safety information.
Accommodation
Please contact Cranfield Management Development Centre directly +44 1234 751122 for accommodation bookings.鈥疨lease note, all participants will need to cover their own accommodation costs.
Cranfield Enhance: Digital badges
The opportunity to showcase your skills to prospective employers via your social media profile has become increasingly important and on successful completion of i2i and a short assignment, you can earn this digital Entrepreneurship: Impact of Research badge to recognise your accomplishment. The badges are widely recognised by employers as a mark of expertise and dedication.
This badge is part of the Cranfield Enhance Entrepreneurship offering hosted by the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship. Become more resilient, cultivate your problem-solving skills, encourage creative thinking and resourcefulness, and learn valuable soft skills such as communication, negotiation, leadership, and teamwork, which are essential in your personal life and professional career.
