Interface

July Highlights from Interface: Driving Innovation Across Scotland In this months newsletter we celebrated the impact of Scotland’s world‑leading research and the powerful collaborations shaping our innovation ecosystem. 🔬 Showcasing the Value of University Research - we welcomed Ben Macpherson MSP and partners to launch new Scottish Funding Council commissioned report finding that outside London, Scotland research is more actively linked to industry than in any other area of the UK with evidence of strong collaboration between Scottish universities and business. 🎾 Innovation in Sport - our summer of sport blog (part 2) explores how cutting‑edge academic expertise, from human performance labs to advanced motion capture, is transforming sports technology and creating opportunities far beyond the playing field. 🔐 Quantum Science Meets Product Security - Quantatrace and the University of Glasgow's Peveler Lab are redefining product authentication with bespoke quantum dot materials, strengthening supply chain trust and opening new research pathways. 🏢 Specialist Facilities - this months spotlight on 3D motion capture and digital media production housed with universities and colleges to support innovation across sport, creative industries, and beyond. ⚡ Tech Opportunity - Smart Building Management System - Glasgow Caledonian University is seeking partners to commercialise a real‑time energy optimisation system for smarter, greener buildings. 🌐 Ecosystem Spotlight - Shelley Breckenridge shares how businesses can tap into academic expertise to accelerate growth. 💡 Matched by Interface - Celebrating success stories from companies innovating through academic partnerships. https://lnkd.in/es6qxUbN

A thriving entrepreneurial nation nurtures talented founders at all stages. It requires a strong supporting infrastructure of innovation centres, research institutions, industry specialists, universities and ecosystem partners. This visual captures just some of the organisations that make up Scotland's innovation landscape. Together, they help businesses access world-class expertise, adopt new technologies, develop innovation capabilities and bring new ideas to market. By shining a light on the breadth of expertise available across Scotland, we can help more businesses connect with the right support at the right time and and unlock greater innovation-led growth. Scottish Enterprise

7 university-led projects designed to drive innovation, collaboration and long-term sustainability across Scotland’s tertiary education sector have been approved for support through SFC's University Transformation Framework. https://lnkd.in/etW4Eb2j

🌐 Turing Fest, in partnership with The University of Edinburgh, are bringing The UK Startup-Investor Summit to Edinburgh on 22-23 September. 🔎 About Turing Fest Turing Fest 2026 is a focused summit for Seed–Series A founders and investors who value time well spent in the right rooms, with the right people. Curated around connection, not pitches, Turing Fest concentrates founders and investors who are actively building and backing companies at the same stage — to stress-test strategy, trade hard-earned insights, and build relationships that continue to strengthen long after the final session. This event will include an Investor Day held at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and a Summit Day at the Biscuit Factory. For more insights and registration details visit: https://turingfest.com/ #TuringFest #Founders #Investors #EdinburghEvents

Join the next #ARCConversations: Digital Health - Human & Artificial Intelligence How do we harness rapidly evolving healthcare technologies responsibly? Prof Ophir Frieder from Georgetown University, Washington DC shares real-world insights. Digital health is not new, but the technologies enabling it are evolving rapidly. Uncritical adoption of emerging technologies can lead to wasted resources, and worse, potential harm. Professor Frieder will examine deployed, real-world AI healthcare applications and highlight key lessons learned from their development. 🎟️ Wed 26th August | 1600-1730 | University of Glasgow Advanced Research Centre 👉 Register for this event https://lnkd.in/dS8vKMxb

Looking to commercialise your research? Join the Driven Innovation Fellows 2026 Programme delivered by the Bayes Centre and Edinburgh Futures Institute

The weather might not be playing ball, but the athletes are still rising to the challenge... 🏅 The world of sport has long been an inspiration for the business world - read our latest blog in comments 👇 to find out how fan engagement, clever design and 5G technology is changing the playing field far beyond the arena. #CommonwealthGames #Glasgow2026 Howell Davies Abertay University The University of Edinburgh CoSTAR Network Kate McCheyne Professor Ross Tuffee Shelley Breckenridge

✍️ Sign up to join CoSTAR Realtime Lab’s 'Realtime Performance & Scene Intelligence' Q&A webinar - Wednesday 22 July, 11:00 - 12:00 BST: https://lnkd.in/e9YYnG9S This PPP funding call explores the future of digital production: the convergence of real-time performance capture, volumetric environments, and scene intelligence into unified, end-to-end creative pipelines. CoSTAR Realtime Lab invites UK businesses working across: 🌟 Creative technologies 🌟 Film 🌟 Gaming animation 🌟 Virtual production We are seeking ambitious R&D projects that combine motion capture, facial capture, volumetric scanning, digital humans, and AI-driven scene intelligence to create seamless workflows for on-set filmmaking, in-engine game animation, and real time streaming. This call offers: ✅ Up to £50,000 in grant funding per project ✅ Up to 20 days’ access to Realtime Lab’s advanced facilities ✅ Dedicated technical and R&D support 👉 Learn more about this call and apply by Wednesday 19 August: https://lnkd.in/eWKX6rZB CoSTAR National Lab | CoSTAR Screen Lab | CoSTAR Live Lab | CoSTAR Foresight Lab | Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) | Abertay University | The University of Edinburgh | Chroma Developments | CodeBase | Interface #CoSTARNetwork #CoSTARRealtimeLab #Realtime #Performance #DigitalProduction #Funding #Support #CreativeEconomy

#Postdocs from @p2iNetwork partners Final call! Ready to turn your research into real-world impact? Join like-minded researchers at the University of Liverpool and combine your research expertise with practical #business and innovation skills to develop ideas into impactful opportunities. Get inspired, build connections, and grow the confidence to take your ideas further. More information and apply➡️ https://bit.ly/p2iIA Max Reiter | The University of Edinburgh | University of Liverpool | University of Liverpool | Research, Partnerships and Innovation |

Don't delay apply to join the Venture Builder Incubator’s next cohort - closing 20th July. Open to students, researchers or academics at any Scottish university with a data-driven or deep tech idea. Applications are also open to people outside of Scotland working on oncology-related innovations. Bayes Centre