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University of Wolverhampton hosts
Festival of Research & Innovation 2026-27
University of Wolverhampton
Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LY
The University of Wolverhampton is thrilled to announce the Beyond futures: Festival of Research and Innovation events for 2026-27.
The Festival will showcase the exceptional research, knowledge exchange and public engagement conducted across all faculties and the wider University highlighting our commitment to innovation, creativity, academic excellence and public and community engagement.
Beyond Futures highlights include the annual Research Student Conference and the Research & Enterprise Awards dinner.
The programme features an exciting line-up of speakers and offers attendees the opportunity to engage with cutting edge ideas and collaborative projects. For any queries, please contact beyondfutures@wlv.ac.uk
Festival Events 2026
Find out more about this year's events.
When: Thursday 24 September 2026, 8 AM – 10 AM
Where: National Brownfield Institute, Wolverhampton
About this event
How can AI help your business work smarter, grow and stay competitive? Join the University of Wolverhampton at the National Brownfield Institute during Wolverhampton Business Week for a practical morning exploring how businesses can adopt AI with confidence.
Hear from experts working in the field, and explore the opportunities - and challenges - of bringing AI into your organisation.
What to expect:
- Get practical insight from AI experts on where to start and how to identify opportunities
- Share your challenges and hear how others are approaching them
- Explore where AI could make a real difference in your business
- Take part in an interactive survey to help identify the opportunities and support businesses need
- Network with fellow businesses over breakfast
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Hear a high-level opening from the University of Wolverhampton
With short, focused sector sessions and an interactive format, this is an opportunity to move beyond the hype and have a practical conversation about what AI could mean for your business.
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1999661388041?aff=oddtdtcreator
Breakfast and networking included.
Places are limited — book your place and join the conversation around the future of AI and business.
When: Thursday 8 October 2026, 9 AM – 4:30 PM
Where: 4th Floor, Millennium City Building, Wolverhampton
Guests are warmly invited to attend, engage, and support our talented research student community as they showcase their research.
Through inspiring keynotes, oral and poster presentations, the conference will explore how our research students are driving forward research in:
- Green innovation and sustainability
- Health and social care
- Inclusive communities
This is a free event. Lunch and networking included. Join us for part or the whole day, there is no need to book.
Agenda
Full programme to follow.
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08:45 |
Registration & Networking (MC437) |
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09:10 |
Welcome: Professor Prashant Pillai, Pro-Vice Chancellor Research & KE |
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09:20 |
Keynote: TBC |
Stepping up to a Research Degree: a Guide for Aspiring Doctoral Students |
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10:00 |
Oral Presentations |
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11:15 |
Break (MC437) |
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11:30 |
Oral Presentations |
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12:50 |
Networking Lunch (MC437) |
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13:30 |
Poster Presentations (Gallery & Engagement Session) |
Zine Session |
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15:30 |
Keynote: Dr Martin Khechara - Public and Community Engagement: Purpose and Practice for Research |
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16:15 |
Conference closing & prizes – Professor Laura Caulfield, Dean of Research Culture & PGR |
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16:30 |
Close |
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When: Thursday 8 October 2026, 6 PM – 11 PM
Where: Grand Station, Wolverhampton
We are extremely pleased to announce the shortlisted entries for this year’s Research & Enterprise Awards 2026.
This year’s competition saw an overwhelming response, with submissions showcasing the breadth and brilliance of research and enterprise across our university community. The judging panel, made up of academic and professional peers, had the difficult task of selecting from an exceptional pool of 118 entries.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to share their outstanding work and to nominate their colleagues. Congratulations to all those shortlisted- we look forward to celebrating with you at the awards ceremony.
Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony. Attendance is by invitation only.
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Exceptional Research and Enterprise Partnership |
| Building Sustainable Health Systems for the Management of Non-Communicable Diseases in Low and Medium Income Countries, Dr Opeolu Ojo |
| Global Dementia Prevention: A Collaborative Research and Enterprise Partnership, Prof. Ruoling Chen |
| Inclusive Education in Indonesia: advancing disability inclusion across sectors, Prof. Zeta Williams-Brown and team |
| Strategic inclusion: Sustaining EDI progress during the Russo-Ukraine war, Prof. Zeta Williams-Brown and team |
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Excellence in Public Engagement |
| Enhancing Cybersecurity Awareness Across Black Country, Cyber4Me |
| From Engagement to Impact: Co-Producing Dementia Support with Under-Served Communities, Dr Karan Jutlla |
| Maximising the reach of Historical Research at the University of Wolverhampton through Public Engagement, Prof. Keith Gildart |
| The STEM Response Team - A sustainable intervention for community focused knowledge exchange and research impact. Dr Martin Khechara & Dr Sotiria Boutsi |
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Transformative Impact in Knowledge Exchange, Enterprise, Industry and Innovation |
| Engineering Excellence at Scale: Transformative Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing Research, Enterprise and Knowledge Exchange, Professor Arun Arjunan |
| ReACTIVE Too: Building a Global Innovation Ecosystem through a University of Wolverhampton-Led International Network Delivering Innovation, Enterprise and Societal Impact (ReACTIVE Too – IGNITE), Dr Fideline Tchuenbou-Magaia |
| Transforming Policy and Practice through Research on SME Digitalisation, AI Adoption and Inclusive Enterprise, Dr Samia Mahmood |
| UK Sport-accredited Elite Training Centres (ETC), Dr Ross Cloak |
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Transformative Impact in Green Innovation and Sustainability |
| Driving Sustainable Smart Innovation for the Future, Prof. Suresh Renukappa |
| Room-Temperature Copper and Zinc Metal-Organic Frameworks for Sustainable Carbon Capture, Ikemefuna Collins Nwanze |
| Transformative Impact in sustainable additive manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing Group and ECMS |
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Transformative Impact in Health and Social Care |
| From Laboratory Discovery to Global Health Impact: Advancing NCD Care in Low-Resource Settings, Dr Opeolu Ojo |
| Health of Dancers, Dancing for Health, Prof. Matthew Wyon, Dr Ross Cloak, Dr Alex Dallway, Dr Gavin Ward, Dr Tina Smith |
| Transforming Health and Social Care Through Research Excellence, Prof Tonny Veenith |
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Transformative Impact in Inclusive Communities |
| Chinese Think Brain Health Project - Engaging with UK Chinese communities about dementia and prevention, Dr Jennifer NW Lim |
| Co-producing change: Transforming inclusion through research and community action, Dr. Mahuya Kanjilal |
| From Evidence to Equity: Transforming Education for Marginalised Learners in Zimbabwe, Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) |
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Exceptional Contribution to University Culture, Community and Environment |
| Celebrating the That’s Me project team – A whole university project looking at Improving access and participation for black, Asian and minority ethnic groups in postgraduate research (PGR), Whole Uni-wide That's Me Project team |
| CIRCLE: Collaborative Inclusive Research Culture through Leadership and Engagement, Prof. Subashini Suresh |
| The Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) Culture Network, Dr Kiranpreet Kaur |
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Research Supervision |
| Prof. Andrew Lane & Prof. Matthew Wyon |
| Dr Jennifer NW Lim |
| Dr Lizana Oberholzer |
| Dr Opeolu Ojo |
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Rising Star - Postgraduate |
| Chandrashekar Subbarao |
| Ezekiel Olatunji |
| Siting Guo |
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Rising Star - Early Career Researcher |
| Dr Ahsan Abbas Shah |
| Dr Chameekara Tharumal Wanniarachchi |
| Dr Zeeshan Ahmad |
Why Attend the Festival of Research & Enterprise?
- Inspiring Keynotes and Expert Panels
- The Research Student Conference
- Theme-Aligned Exhibitions and Informal Talks
- Networking with Researchers, Innovators & Partners
- Live Demonstrations and Research Showcases
- Opportunities to Connect, Learn and Collaborate
Welcome
At the University of Wolverhampton, our research activities impact positively on business, the environment, society – and our students.
Research at the University of Wolverhampton is now at its highest ever level. In the Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF 2021), which evaluates the quality and impact of research at UK universities across all disciplines, the University of Wolverhampton demonstrated that it has significantly grown its research output, and in fact submitted four new subject areas with 75% more staff than in REF2014. The results showed that more than half of the university’s research is judged as being internationally excellent (3*) or world-leading (4*).
Our growing number of dedicated research centres and interdisciplinary research institutes cover a variety of research topics. Working with commercial and civil society partners, as well as producing first-class research outputs, they bring together scholars in a programme of research projects, conferences/seminars, and knowledge exchanges.
We hope this event provides you with an introduction to the great things the University of Wolverhampton has to offer.
Professor Prashant Pillai MBE
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange)
