p2i Online Course
Take charge of your own career
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As an early career researcher, you are an innovator in training and you already share behaviors with entrepreneurs. By recognising the mindset and learning the skills associated with entrepreneurship, you can apply these in your chosen career - whether it is in academia, work as an employee outside academia or start your own company.
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The p2i partners have developed this online course to demystify the steps involved in entrepreneurship and support researchers create impact from research. The course takes a practical approach to develop entrepreneurial thinking and skills critical to take initiative and develop ideas into reality in any career. Includes insights from researchers turned academics, founders, and industry leaders.
Many postdocs from the p2i partners have already benefited from completing the course.​
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Testimonial
“I enjoyed the course and developed a much better understanding of entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurship and gained the confidence to present my ideas. The course is well structured, takes you through concepts step by step and the bitesize video interviews provided relatable inspiration and effectively relayed the key learning points.”
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See below for further details about the course content and for info on access to the course.
Postdocs from the p2i partner organisations can apply to join an 8 week long p2i cohort online learning community. Details below
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​ABOUT THE COURSE
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"Researcher to Innovator and Entrepreneur"
now available on edX​
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Update: The p2i partner course "Empowering researchers to Innovate" has changed name to "Researcher to Innovator and Entrepreneur". Same course, same content, but now on edX platform (*).
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Postdocs from the p2i partner organisations are encouraged to apply to join an 8 week long p2i cohort online learning community. (*)
Joining a cohort enhances the learning experience through deeper dive into some of the course content in online sessions and connects you to an international group of likeminded researchers. By joining a cohort for the 8 weeks of the course, participants are more likely to complete the course.
As participants in a p2i cohort, you can receive p2i's own Certificate of Achievement if you fulfil the course completion requirements. The p2i Certificate is something to prove to future employers or colleagues that you have fundamental understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship, and the mindset and competencies required to innovate.
There are currently 2 p2i cohorts per year, one starting around Oct and one around April time. By application only.
The next cohort will start 24 October 2025 with course end date 18 December. Want to know more about the content before you apply? Check out the course content below first.
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(*) Anyone can access the course on the edX platform. Access is free for 8 weeks from enrolment date. To receive a edX certificate, course participants can pay to upgrade from audit to certified.
Registering /Accessing the course directly on edX does not enable you to join the p2i cohort. Look out for the communications from the p2i network partners to apply to join the course as part of a cohort.
To join as part of a p2i cohort, postdocs commit to completing the course in 8 weeks from the official p2i cohort course start date.
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Ideal for all researchers who are one or more of the following:
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open to learning to think entrepreneurially in academia, industry and in ventures
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curious about entrepreneurship
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ready to develop their entrepreneurial skills & confidence
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keen to learn the process to take a/their business idea into reality
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keen to develop their networks internationally
Course testimonials
Through providing inspiration and the required tools, this course has given me the confidence to consider an entrepreneurial career outside academia
The course is good for academics that don't have knowledge about entrepreneurship - it is all in one place and structured, it takes you through step by step
The talking head videos provide context - real researchers that have made the step to entrepreneurship - this provides relatable inspiration