25 Sep 2025
At this year’s Immersive Technopreneurship Summer School 2025, participants experienced a milestone: an entire session built around Cognitive Performance Music (CPM)—an original framework developed by Dr Vik Perez, Associate Professor at the Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Hub.
While Dr Perez had previously integrated individual tracks into teaching, this was the first time CPM was delivered as a full session to an international audience. Students from Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Nordic region came together to explorehow music can enhance concentration, spark creativity, and transform entrepreneurial learning.
“I created Cognitive Performance Music to go beyond background sound,” explained Dr Perez. “The aim is to activate cognitive readiness, helping learners feel more present, motivated, and courageous.” The Summer School provided the first opportunity to trial the approach in a truly global setting.
Students from around the world participating in the first full Cognitive Performance Music session
Students Respond Across Cultures
Participants reported a variety of experiences, often relating to creativity, reflection, and energy.
Enrique from Brazil described the session as a turning point in his problem-solving process:
“The experience was very nice. I was having many ideas for my projects during the music—it was like reviving old parts of me. It gave me fresh energy for problem solving.”
For others, the music created a space for calm reflection. Milana, from Finland, shared:
“I think the experience was very comforting and very relaxing.”
Some highlighted the longer-term psychological effect. Jaiden, from England, explained:
“It was a very unique experience, and I think I can feel the psychological effects in the long term.”
Participants wearing blindfolds to enhance focus and reflection
The Invention Behind the Sound
Unlike ambient or entertainment music, Cognitive Performance Music is presented as a new neuro-driven approach to learning. Each track is intentionally composed to evoke specific mental states — such as confidence, resilience, curiosity that align with the demands of entrepreneurship and innovation.
“Entrepreneurship education often focuses on content,” Dr Perez noted. “But this approach shows that mindset activation must come first. CPM gives us a way to engineer those inner shifts with sound.”
The Summer School session demonstrated CPM’s ability to cross cultural boundaries, resonating differently with each student while producing consistent outcomes, such as sharper focus, renewed motivation, and greater emotional openness.
Looking Ahead
By hosting the world’s first dedicated international CPM session, XJTLU reinforces its role as a testbed for forward-looking educational methods. This marks another milestone for a framework that started as a classroom experiment and is now gaining interest across continents.
“Sometimes innovation doesn’t come as an app or a device,” Dr Perez reflected. “It comes as an idea—one that reimagines how we use timeless human tools, like music, to open new pathways for learning.”
Content provided by Victor (Vik) Perez
Edited by Jiayan Ji
25 Sep 2025