Research-relevant networks

Networking beyond your immediate research area can be useful to gain inspiration and further your career. Here are just a few ideas.

Forums

There are numerous online forums for PhD researchers, UK based and worldwide. Here are just a few:

Public engagement and outreach activities

Getting involved in public engagement is great for your research profile and can put you in touch with a huge number of potentially interested people. The following groups and websites might be of interest:

Entrepreneurship

If your research has “spin out potential”, you have a great idea for a business or you just think that one day you might want to be your own boss, joining entrepreneurial activities will open the door to a wide range of options, people and skills. The following groups and websites might be of interest:

Edinburgh Innovations for students, a free University support service, provides students—from undergraduates, to PhDs and recent alumni—with one-to-one help from a business advisor on all aspects of setting up a business.

Their website also has details of upcoming competitions for entrepreneurs.

Edinburgh Innovations - for students website

Edinburgh Innovations - student events calendar

Innovator Networking

Converge Challenge Scotland’s universities are hotbeds of innovation and talent but turning great ideas into commercial reality is tough – especially without a road map, funding and a network to guide you along the way. 

Working in partnership with Scotland’s world-class universities, Converge Challenge help staff, students and recent graduates with game-changing business ideas navigate the journey ahead.

Converge Challenge website

Global Entrepreneurship Week is the world’s largest campaign to promote entrepreneurship. Each year, it plays a critical role in encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs to consider starting up their own business through events. Their aim is to create a collaborative, local and practical week which enables people to learn more about the wealth of support that is available to entrepreneurs in the UK.

Global Entrepreneurship Week website

The University’s Business School runs events covering a spectrum of business topics including finance, entrepreneurship, climate change and corporate governance.

Twitter: @uoebusiness

Events run by the University of Edinburgh Business School

Informatics Ventures - a partnership of the University of Edinburgh, Scottish Enterprise and the European Regional Development Fund - was established to nurture Scottish entrepreneurial talent and fuel innovation in the high tech sector. Through their practitioner led education programmes, they aim to enable aspiring entrepreneurs to translate ideas into successful commercial ventures.

Informatics Ventures: support for high-tech business start-ups

The Edinburgh Entrepreneurs - Student Society 

Edinburgh Entrepreneurs - EUSA society webpage

Interdisciplinary groups

Finding (or founding) an interdisciplinary groups can be a great way to meet people and broaden your horizons. A great example is:

The ASCUS arts-science collective - ASCUS Art & Science is a non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing together art, science and beyond in the name of play, curiosity and experimentation.

If you can’t find a group or network in the area you want - why not try setting up something yourself?

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