Innovations in performing arts to widen access and transform audience insight shortlisted for Converge Awards

Record 15 Scottish universities represented as 34 ventures compete for £410,000 prize fund

Performing arts ventures designed to open theatre to underrepresented voices, put communities at the heart of filmmaking and help artists better understand their audiences are among the ventures shortlisted for this year’s Converge Awards.

Thirty-four projects have been selected as finalists from a competitive cohort of 123 participants in the 2026 Converge programme, recognised for their innovation, commercial potential and ability to address major real-world challenges.

Representing the widest spread of institutions in Converge’s 15-year history, finalists come from 15 of the 18 universities participating in the programme, reflecting the growing strength of innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation across Scotland’s university sector.

Adam Kosterka, Executive Director of Converge, said: “It’s an extraordinarily diverse group of finalists this year. Not only do we have the largest number of universities represented among the finalists, but we’re also seeing strong representation from institutions right across Scotland’s higher education sector.

“Innovation, research commercialisation and entrepreneurship are now firmly embedded within universities across the country and we’re seeing a growing pipeline of ventures with the potential to create significant economic and societal impact.

“Reaching the final is a major achievement, but these successes are also testament to the collective effort behind them. Universities, industry, government, funders and Scotland’s wider entrepreneurial ecosystem all play an important role in helping talented innovators turn their ideas into ventures with the potential to make a lasting impact.”

Among the performing arts innovations reaching this year’s final are:

• Four Door Theatre (Queen Margaret University), which delivers accessible workshops for adults and young people across acting and theatre production. Acting a feminist-led creative hub for theatre-making, learning, and collaboration;

• World of Ill Picture Company (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), whose work aims to create films rooted in place and community by involving local people and businesses throughout the filmmaking process;

• Stage Analytics (Queen Margaret University), which has created a data intelligence platform that transforms box office, review and audience data into real-time insights to help performing artists make informed decisions around scheduling, marketing and pricing.

The finalists were selected following a rigorous judging process involving university enterprise specialists, with judges assessing both the strength of the underlying innovation and its commercial potential.

Collectively, the shortlisted ventures demonstrate how university research is being translated into solutions for some of society’s most pressing challenges. From widening participation and giving communities a greater role in the creative process to helping artists understand audiences and build more sustainable careers, the finalists highlight the growing contribution of Scotland’s universities to tackling major performing arts and creative challenges.

The finalists will now progress to the Converge Awards, where they will compete across six Challenge categories and a number of special awards, with a combined prize fund of £410,000 available.

Winners will be announced at the Converge Awards ceremony at Glasgow’s Barony Hall on 1 October.