We aim to establish a multi-national doctoral training network in Cognitive Innovation, both as a new field of scientific investigation and a strategy for research and innovation. Cognitive Innovation adopts a transdisciplinary approach that promotes creative thinking in parallel with rigorous scientific training. In developing an educational program that stimulates creativity and finds new ways to link research with social and technological innovation, CogNovo will address important challenges identified in the EU Innovation Union initiative and produce a cohort of researchers well-equipped to contribute to the European Research Area. To demonstrate its commitment to this proposal and further enhance the impact of the CogNovo network, Plymouth University will fund an additional 12 PhD students to complement the group of EU–funded Early Career Researchers.Research within the network will be built upon an extensive multi-disciplinary base, ranging from the neuroscience of creativity, through computational modelling of cognitive processes, to investigations of group creativity, social innovation and decision making. Research training will be structured around a wide-ranging series of workshops that enrich the research experience of students beyond the confines of their specialized research topics. CogNovo students will gain advanced expertise in core disciplines and complementary skills to help them forge successful careers in academia, industry and the public sector. Students will actively shape their professional and personal development through individualized skill plans, and negotiated supervisory teams.The international network of academic and private sector partners, that forms the intellectual core of CogNovo, combines a range of expertise and resources not previously connected. Through the creation of this innovative research training program, CogNovo will produce a group of highly creative researchers who will become productive and insightful innovators.