University of Aberdeen projects have claimed three prizes at this year's Converge Awards, an annual awards ceremony designed to celebrate and reward the pinnacle of Scottish academic innovation.
At the event held in Edinburgh last night (October 2) and attended by Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, Converge presented 22 prizes to Scottish universities across multiple award categories, with a total prize fund in excess of £400,000.
PhD student Jani Shibuya achieved dual recognition, winning both the Net Zero runner-up prize, sponsored by SSE, worth £10,000 plus in-kind business support and one of two Blue Economy Awards worth £17,500 with Hychor. The company is developing revolutionary technology that produces hydrogen directly from seawater without the need for desalination, streamlining hydrogen production and reducing costs while offering the potential for implementation anywhere in the world with access to the sea. The breakthrough addresses the growing demand for clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels.
Graduate Soham Mitra secured a KickStart Challenge runner-up prize worth £7,500 with CAnswer Biosolutions, developing a portable punch biopsy kit to help surgeons perform cancer diagnostics outside traditional hospital settings. Priced at under £50 compared to conventional £500+ alternatives, the solution includes biopsy tools, sample collection, and room-temperature transport to pathologists, aiming to reduce NHS waiting periods of 6-9 months while improving cancer diagnostic accessibility and helping save lives as global skin cancer cases continue to grow.
The awards announcement comes as Converge secures its largest-ever funding commitment of £1.26 million from the Scottish Funding Council over the next three years, alongside a new strategic partnership with Scottish Enterprise to create enhanced pathways for university entrepreneurs from concept to commercial success.
Adam Kosterka, executive director of Converge, commented: “At Converge, we believe Scotland's universities are home to the next generation of world-changing innovations. This year's winners exemplify exactly what's possible when brilliant academic minds are equipped with the business expertise and networks to transform their ideas into commercially successful, impactful companies.
“With our new record funding from the Scottish Funding Council and strategic partnership with Scottish Enterprise, we're creating an even stronger foundation to support university entrepreneurs on their journey from laboratory to market. Together with Scotland's universities and our corporate supporters, we're building an innovation ecosystem where transformative ideas can flourish into the businesses that will define our future economy.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “Coming hot off the heels of the Scottish Government’s Proof of Concept funding this increased, multi-year backing for the Converge Programme provides a real injection of support for our university researchers, startups and spin-outs. Critically, it also brings added weight to our ambition to convert more of the world-leading innovations being generated in Scotland into successful business.
“To ensure we capitalise on the innovation and ingenuity within our academic institutions, it is vital that we work together across organisations and across sectors to create a supportive environment for our spinouts to start-up and scale-up. I am delighted that a strategic partnership between Converge and Scottish Enterprise is being developed, helping drive the joined-up support required to help our university entrepreneurs thrive.”
Converge is funded by the Scottish Funding Council, a network of seven corporate partners and all 19 of Scotland's universities. Since its launch in 2011, the programme has trained over 830 aspiring founders and supported the creation of over 450 companies that enjoy an above-average three-year survival rate of over 86% (Beauhurst data, as of September 2025).
Open to students, recent graduates, and staff, Converge supports new businesses through intensive business training, networking, 1-2-1 support, generous equity free cash prizes and expert, professional advice from its roster of industry partners.