Online and Free to Join
EDGE Series is a fast, practical, lunchtime webinar series exploring how entrepreneurship, digital capability, growth and education can support prosperity.
When: Wednesdays, 12:30–13:30 (UK)
Format: 5 minute introduction, 30-minute talk • 15-minute Q&A • 5-minute takeaway
Who it’s for: University leaders & staff, founders, investors, civic partners, skills providers, policy shapers, and anyone building entrepreneurial universities.
What you’ll get
- Real case studies and toolkits you can use tomorrow
- Fresh evidence from research and evaluation
- Lived-experience voices and practical lessons
Series themes
- Entrepreneurial Universities & Partnerships
- Digital Transformation & AI for Good
- Scaling Impact: From Pilot to System
- Skills, Inclusion & Regional Growth
- Public–Private Collaboration & Finance
- Policy that Works (and what to avoid)
Register once, attend many: One sign-up gives access to the full series.
Call to action:
Sign up for the EDGE Series (free) Propose a talk (speakers welcome from academia, industry, public and third sectors) – contact karen.biscombe@ncee.org.uk
Upcoming sessions celebrating the UK and Ireland's Times Higher Education Outstanding Entrepreneurial University 2026, sponsored by NCEE
7th October: Professor Paula Whitehouse, Director, Aston Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
Scaling Entrepreneurship for Inclusive Growth: Aston’s University‑Wide Model, Policy Evidence, and Leadership Impact
Discover how Aston embedded entrepreneurship support across the institution, and how leadership and management programmes have driven measurable business growth based on research evidence and influenced teaching practice across the sector.
14th October: Emma Dunbar, Associate Director & Head of Knowledge Exchange, Swansea University
From Regional Catalyst to Global Impact: Swansea University’s Agile Approach to Entrepreneurial Excellence
Swansea University demonstrates that you don’t need to build bigger to become more entrepreneurial — you just need to connect better, empower people and embed innovation at the heart of the institution.
Over the past three years, Swansea University have moved entrepreneurship from a specialist activity to an institution-wide capability — embedding enterprise, innovation and sustainability across their teaching, research and civic mission. Rooted in their identity as a university “created by industry, for industry,” and driven by three strategic priorities — Unlock Talent, Create an Enabling Environment and Deliver Impact in Place – they have built an agile, connected and resource-efficient ecosystem that empowers people, strengthens partnerships and delivers measurable impact. The result is a university where entrepreneurship is not an add-on, but a core part of how they create opportunity, drive innovation and deliver lasting economic, environmental and social value.
21st October: Jeff McCarthy, Principal Lecturer in Digital Marketing, Liverpool John Moores University
Industry-ready graduates: Scaling micro credentials and assessment centres to increase digital literacy, student confidence, and employability skills
Discover how micro credentials can be scaled up across an entire University from only £1,000. And how the organic pilot approach to demonstrating effectiveness led to scaled up initiatives that rolled out across an entire University or Faculty. Most importantly, how these initiatives increased digital literacy, student confidence, and industry readiness through employability skills.
28th October: Ben Mumby-Croft, Director of Entrepreneurship, Imperial College London
From Basement to Front Door: The Next Chapter for Imperial Enterprise Lab
One year on from winning THE’s Outstanding Entrepreneurial University Award, Imperial Enterprise Lab is entering its next phase. Ben Mumby-Croft will share how Imperial is building on that success through a new 2030 strategy and a flagship new home for entrepreneurship at the heart of its South Kensington campus. The session will explore the ambition to create a visible, welcoming front door for entrepreneurship, connecting students, researchers, founders and partners, while scaling E-Lab’s reach and impact without losing the human-centred culture that has underpinned its success.
4th November: Prof Gary Packham, Dr Beverley Vaughan, Polly Sullivan and Catherine Foottit, Anglia Ruskin University
Becoming Entrepreneurial: Insights from ARU’s Transformational Journey
This presentation examines how Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has embedded entrepreneurship as an institution-wide strategy spanning education, research, innovation, civic engagement and public-sector transformation. It highlights measurable impacts in student enterprise, business innovation and regional development, demonstrating how entrepreneurial universities can create economic, social and public value through a committed and integrated approach.
11th November: Professor Kiran Trehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise, Partnerships and Engagement, University of York
Making Enterprise Everybody’s Business
The next great founder at your university isn’t in the business school. They’re in the lab. The library. The lecture hall. And right now, nobody has told them they could.
Enterprise isn’t a talent. It’s a belief. And beliefs can be changed. York has stopped treating enterprise as a specialism and made it everybody’s business.
500+ students building ventures to solve real sustainability challenges.
880+ SMEs backed by our network.
23,562 fewer self-employed women than men in our region, and a £2.6 billion opportunity hiding in that gap. So they didn’t just report it. They acted.
Here’s what they learned: the biggest barrier for most founders isn’t ideas. It’s connections, access, and someone who believes in them first. It takes a community to raise a business. So they built one.
Join Kiran for this NCEE webinar to hear what worked, what they’ve learned, and what you can take from their journey. Somewhere on your campus, a founder is one conversation away from starting. Be that conversation.
16th November: Albert Dermagne, Head of Commercialisation at InnovationRCA, Royal College of Arts
Transforming creativity and innovation into successful ventures
The creative industries is the fastest growing sector of the UK economy, bringing in over £ 130 billion in economic value each year. The webinar will offer a whirlwind tour of how a small specialist university such as the Royal College of Art (and Design – RCA) contributes to that sector and supports creatives across a broad range of disciplines. Working both with RCA graduates and staff but also with organisations internationally, the RCA helps turn creative innovation into ventures that are sustainable and impactful.
18th November: Marek Tokarski, Head of Student & Graduate Enterprise, Durham University
From Small Beginnings: Building an Enterprise Centre at Durham University
Drawing on Durham University’s experience of growing student enterprise from a small base into a more established university-wide offer, this webinar will explore the practical lessons learned along the way. It will consider how universities can define success in ways that fit their own context, build connected pathways, use evidence to improve and demonstrate impact, and use ambition to bring colleagues, alumni and supporters with them.
Past Sessions
30th September: Richard Maybery-Woolfe | Division Lead & Director of Customer Services | CU Academic Services, Coventry University
How do you redesign student services so they do more than respond to problems – and instead help prevent them?
Richard will explore how entrepreneurial thinking can transform core university operations – using data to identify where intervention is needed, designing services around students rather than structures, and combining digital tools with human support to create impact at scale.
4th February: Dr Rajab Ghandour, Senior Lecturer Business Intelligence and Data Analysis | Senior Fellow HEA, Liverpool Business School
AI and digital transformation of universities
This session offers a focused exploration of how AI is driving digital transformation within entrepreneurial universities and their wider regional ecosystems. It highlights how universities can extend this digital capacity to support SMEs through knowledge exchange and skills development.
11th February: Zeineb Djebali, Senior Lecturer (Entrepreneurship) University of Liverpool
Beyond Business: Embedding Entrepreneurship Education Across Disciplines
Embedding entrepreneurship education (EE) across disciplines remains an ongoing challenge, particularly for entrepreneurship educators who continue to grapple with how to design, position, and sustain multidisciplinary EE within complex institutional contexts. This interactive lunchtime webinar introduces a Stakeholder Engagement Methodology (SEM), drawing on Stakeholder Management Theory (SMT) and the Interest–Influence Matrix to illustrate how a cross-disciplinary approach to EE has been successfully embedded at the University of Liverpool (UK).
25th February: Richie Turner, Incubator Manager, University of South Wales
How Placed-Based Entrepreneurship Programmes can Add Value to all a University’s Priorities
This session highlights how the University of South Wales delivers place-based entrepreneurship by supporting students, graduates, and local communities across South Wales. It showcases inclusive programmes, incubator support, and partnerships that drive social and economic regeneration, while extending this community-focused model internationally through collaboration with Tumkur University in India.
4th March: Sasha Kenney, Entrepreneurship Coordinator (Enterprise and Engagement), Wrexham University
Entrepreneurial Mindset: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Cultivate It
This session will explore the concept of entrepreneurial mindset – what it really means, why it is valuable beyond starting a business, and how it can be learned. Sasha will draw on her experience as an entrepreneurship coordinator at Wrexham University, her own entrepreneurial journey, and her PhD research into Entrepreneurial Mindset.
11th March: Ben Mumby-Croft, Director of Entrepreneurship at Imperial College London and Site Lead for Creative Destruction Lab (CDL)
Building an Outstanding Entrepreneurial University – The Imperial Experience
This session uses Imperial College London as a live case study of how a science and technology-led university can systematically turn curiosity into impact. The session explores the design choices behind the Imperial model and what other universities can practically borrow, adapt, or avoid when building entrepreneurship at scale.
18th March: Catherine Foottit, Student Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Manager; and Jo Living, Entrepreneurship Development Manager, Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)
Scaling Impact
ARU will set out how it has re-imagined its approach to enterprise education over the last 3 years to transform graduate entrepreneurship. The session will focus on ARU’s Freelancer Fast-Start Programme as a case study, sharing good practice on delivering impactful and inclusive start-up support to a diverse student body.
25th March: Professor Stephanie Hussels, Professor in Entrepreneurship, Director of Business Transformation and Growth and Director of the Business Growth Programme, Cranfield University
Accelerating SME Growth and Decarbonisation via Partnerships
Stephanie will share lessons learned from the programme, delivered with Central Bedfordshire Council, Wenta, the Chamber of Commerce and the University of Bedfordshire. The multi‑partner approach supported 1,349 businesses with over 14,400 hours of tailored assistance, created 91 new enterprises and 178 jobs, and advanced regional decarbonisation.
1st April: Professor Adel Ahmed, Professor of Accounting, Ethical and Sustainable Finance, Amity Business School, Amity University Dubai
From Academic Excellence to Entrepreneurial Impact: Designing the Sustainable University Business Model
This session explores how universities can evolve from traditional knowledge providers into entrepreneurial ecosystem leaders—integrating sustainability, finance, digital capability, and public–private collaboration to drive long-term regional prosperity.
Drawing on Professor Adel Ahmed’s experience as Academic President (UK–UAE branch campus), Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Dean of Business, and Professor of Ethical and Sustainable Finance, the session will present a practical framework for building financially resilient and impact-driven universities.
The discussion will share lessons from leading sustainability integration initiatives, developing triple-helix partnerships, embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into curricula, and aligning institutional strategy with industry and policy ecosystems across the UK and MENA regions.
The session will cover:
- Why traditional university business models are increasingly fragile
- The shift from compliance-led governance to impact-led institutional design
- A practical “Entrepreneurial Sustainability Flywheel” model for universities
- Actionable steps university leaders can implement within the first 90 days
Participants will leave with a concise diagnostic framework and implementation toolkit to help reposition their institutions as engines of innovation, growth, and societal value.
15th April: Adam Doyle, Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor (Careers And Employer Engagement)
University of East London
Partnership and Leadership in Place for Glocal Impact
In this upcoming session, Adam will explore how the University of East London is positioning itself as a leader within its ecosystem – bringing together partners across industry, government and communities to drive shared outcomes.
He will also also touch on how understanding the ecosystem is key: mapping stakeholders, identifying opportunities, and aligning around common goals.
6th May: Oliver Hatton, MSc student studying Applied Statistics and Data Science at the University of Liverpool
Barriers to Entrepreneurship: Structural Inequalities between the Global North and South
When discussing the question: “What makes an entrepreneur”, the discussion often shifts to “What makes someone entrepreneurial?”, yet these are two fundamentally distinct questions. The former requires us to consider both the external structures and individual capabilities that impact the likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur, whilst the second restricts the conversation to the purely internal influences of personality. The prolific literature on entrepreneurial traits tends to dominate the conversation, magnifying individual differences and inviting wide-reaching consequences, even in seemingly unrelated fields such as economics or politics. However, when observing the global distribution of entrepreneurial ventures, a clear imbalance emerges: we find that there is a concentration in the global north, and an enterprising deficit in the global south.
This presentation shifts the focus from who entrepreneurs are to the external and internal factors under which entrepreneurship becomes possible. Drawing on a multidisciplinary perspective, it will explore the methods in which different countries are mobilising to address the most significant barriers, and conclude on some achievable short-term methods to help the most economically marginalised groups at becoming entrepreneurial.