Shaping Futures:
A Campaign Update
Heriot-Watt University launched its landmark Shaping Futures campaign in October 2024, determined to rally our global network of friends, supporters, and alumni in support of our communities, our University, and our planet by focusing on four main themes: Empower through Education, Innovate with Business and Industry, Transform Healthcare, and Drive Sustainability. There are seven main projects across the four themes, encompassing Global Research Institutes (GRIs) and initiatives such as student scholarships, the Centre for Sustainable Brewing and Distilling (CSBD), and the Amphitheatre.
It has been almost a year since the campaign’s launch and, in that time, we’ve been overwhelmed by the huge show of support. So, how have things been going?
Transform Healthcare
Transform Healthcare is all about ensuring that Heriot-Watt continues to expand our growing expertise across healthcare technologies and to build upon our capacity to develop, test, and launch market-ready solutions to critical health challenges.
The Global Research Institute for Health and Care Technologies, just one of this theme’s major projects, was conceptualised as a means of building upon the internationally recognised expertise of Heriot-Watt’s Medical Device Manufacturing Centre. Professor Maiwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas, academic co-lead, explains that “our aspiration is to become a global powerhouse of medical technology engineering, scaling our innovative research capabilities to create more innovative and sustainable solutions to global health challenges.” The GRI celebrated with a showcase event in June 2025.
Our generous community of donors has rallied to support other projects, too. One donor in particular, Dr Helen Sayles CBE, was so moved after hearing about the pioneering cancer research being conducted by Heriot-Watt scientists that she offered to match donations by her fellow attendees up to $25,000!
in matched-giving funds was offered by Dr Helen Sayles in April 2025.
Innovate with Business and Industry
The Innovate with Business and Industry theme focuses on further building and acting on our University’s excellent relationships with local businesses and global industry partners, particularly those in sectors that Heriot-Watt is at the cutting edge of, including robotics and brewing and distilling.
Heriot-Watt University received the Innovation in Business Award at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2025 in recognition of our proactive and practical approach to business collaboration. On the University’s success, Professor Gillian Murray, Deputy Principal for Business and Enterprise, said, “Our success in the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards reflects a collective determination to inspire new ways of thinking about critical global challenges, accelerating technological breakthroughs, and shaping future talent pipelines.”
Then there’s Panmure House, the last home of Adam Smith, the father of capitalism. Baillie Gifford has pledged £1.25 million over five years to support the Adam Smith Lecture Series, the Panmure House Prize, a new debates series on sustainable capitalism, and the Panmure House Scholars-in-Residence Programme, which will run from 2025–2029. There are more opportunities for the public to engage with Panmure House than ever before, so make sure to keep an eye on its events calendar.
pledged by Baillie Gifford
Students work at the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD).
A robot dog holds a bone toy at the National Robotarium in Edinburgh.
Empower through Education
Opening the doors to education has been our ethos for over 200 years and, through the Empower through Education campaign theme, we’re working to channel £3 million into more scholarships and student enrichment initiatives. Our signature campaign scholarships are the Future Shapers scholarships, twelve postgraduate scholarships associated with each of the four University GRIs: the Lyell Centre, Health and Care Technologies, iNetZ+, and the National Robotarium.
Another project we’re very excited to have made substantial progress on is the Amphitheatre. An outdoor forum set within the lush greenery of our Edinburgh campus, the Amphitheatre is designed for performance, rhetoric, debate, and enrichment. We‘ve had a fantastic response from our University community so far in support of this project.
Tom Calder, President of the University’s Music Society, said: “Rarely available in Scotland, performing outdoors is an amazing and unique experience, giving our up-and-coming musicians an additional platform to entertain and allowing us to reach out to more students and bring music to a wider audience. I firmly believe the Amphitheatre will be a meaningful and valuable addition to Heriot-Watt."
“I firmly believe the Amphitheatre will be a meaningful and valuable addition to Heriot-Watt.”
Tom Calder
An architectural drawing depicting the upcoming Amphitheatre.
Drive Sustainability
At Heriot-Watt University we recognise sustainability and the push for net zero as challenges that require urgent and research-led solutions—hence our campaign theme, Drive Sustainability. Several key projects within this theme have made substantial progress over the past year, including the Centre for Sustainable Brewing and Distilling (a world-leading facility tailored to the needs and environmental objectives of the brewing and distilling industry), iNetZ+ (a GRI focused on achieving net zero and beyond), and many others.
In Dubai, our campus has become the first academic institution in the UAE to achieve the highly regarded My Green Lab (MGL) Gold Certification, recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign as the global standard for sustainable laboratory practices. Secured after an 18-month evaluation process, this milestone reflects our commitment to sustainability, resource efficiency, and a zero-carbon future, while also setting a benchmark for others in the region.
We recognise sustainability and the push for net zero as challenges that require urgent and research-led solutions.
Dr Sara Lombardo, Dr Emma Coutts, Mrs Ruth O'Hanlon, Professor Richard A. Williams CBE, and Ms Ruth Moir during Shaping Futures Celebration Week.
Heriot-Watt University Dubai.
This is just a small selection of the Shaping Futures campaign’s many exciting projects and successes. If you would like to learn more about any of the projects listed or about Shaping Futures more broadly, please contact us at giving@hw.ac.uk. To donate to the Amphitheatre and dedicate a seat of your own, please visit www.hw.ac.uk/shaping-futures/make-your-mark.
