#MyMBAStory - From CERN to Startup: how an EDHEC Global MBA is Helping to Fuel this Physicist's Fusion Energy Dream
Discover how physicist Rustem Ospanov transitioned from CERN to leading Firefly Fusion, leveraging his EDHEC Global MBA experience to advance clean energy innovation.
Realisations that sparked a career shift
As he approached the start of his 15th year at CERN, the European Institute for Nuclear Research, several realisations dawned on Rustem Ospanov at once.
The first was that he enjoyed starting projects from scratch, building teams, motivating people, and seeing them succeed.
The second was that climate change had become a very high personal priority and a subject he spent a lot of time discussing — but words were no longer enough. What was needed was action.
The third was around personal development: “I realised that, to build a high-performance team, you had to learn the skills to do so,” Rustem says.
“An MBA seemed like the right way to go about it.”
“At EDHEC, they say they care about the climate and they care about start-ups. That’s what I like about EDHEC. It means what it says.”
Pursuing an MBA for Personal and Professional Growth
For the Kazakh physicist, the decision to swap the lab for the classroom wasn’t an easy one: in no small part because it meant that he would definitively hang up his coat at CERN, where he had continued his research career straight after defending his PhD in experimental particle physics at the University of Texas at Austin.
He had set up a home on the French border near Geneva just as news of CERN’s pioneering particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, broke around the world in 2008.
But Rustem had spent years building up to this point.
“When the time was right, it felt natural,” he says. “It’s a hard place to leave, but if anything, I overstayed slightly.”
As he considered his study options, he knew there were certain non-negotiables: “I wanted it to be in-person, a full-time MBA rather than an executive MBA,” he says. Scholarship support (“I’m a scientist, I’m not super rich,” he smiles) was also a nice-to-have.
Early on, he zoomed in on EDHEC’s Global MBA.
Fulfilling both these criteria, the 10-month, full-time programme became an early front-runner, particularly after he visited Nice and found a city that lived up to its name. He also liked the student diversity the programme offered, in terms of age, nationality, and experience.
What sealed the deal, however, was the Global MBA’s focus on entrepreneurship and climate (in 2024, The Financial Times ranked the programme 4th worldwide for ESG and net-zero teaching, for the fourth year in a row).
“I was also convinced by its hands-on career services, a very close support from the Global MBA Career Development Office which was of huge benefit,” he says, adding that he is still in contact with them, even though he completed the programme nearly 18 months ago.
Harnessing the GMBA's potential
Rustem signed on as one of the September 2022 cohort.
Before the programme had even begun, he knew the outcome would be the inception of a start-up in the climate space: exactly what, however, had yet to be defined.
He also understood the importance of harnessing every tool the Global MBA provided as he inched forward in his entrepreneurial journey.
“I’m a scientist, so the first thing you do is review the field to see what already exists or what has been done before,” he says. During the first few months of the Global MBA, he looked at different areas in renewable energy and sustainability as he tried to identify where he, as a physicist, could be useful.
Then a major breakthrough in the United States captured the world’s attention in nuclear fusion — what the International Atomic Energy Agency defines as the “process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy”.
As he read the reports and publications, Rustem was able to see the scientific progress, and the potential of fusion energy as a clean energy source to complement renewable energies such as wind, solar, and hydro. "It has showed us how to make fusion a reality," he explains.
But he also saw a business opportunity, as a single compact fusion reactor has the potential to power a city safely and with minimal environmental impact.
How EDHEC’s Global MBA Shaped Firefly Fusion’s Vision
The start-up that was just a germ of an idea back in 2022 today has a name: Firefly Fusion. Its mission is twofold: to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy and develop commercial fusion reactors.
“Once it’s mature, fusion is going to be a big and complex industry with a specialised supply chain with different companies innovating in different aspects,” he says.
The vision behind Firefly Fusion is to be a market maker.
“We want to be the first in Europe to create a market for fusion technologies and solutions, because, in 10 to 15 years, we’re going to be seeing the roll-out of pilot plants to demonstrate fusion energy production.”
For Rustem, it’s “very clear” that he would not be in the position he is now without the experience of the Global MBA.
“The programme opened me up to the business and strategic thinking necessary to approach an ambitious project of such a large scale,” he says. “Without its insights, I don’t think I would have been able to motivate myself to take up this challenge.”
What’s also clear is how crucial his choice of school was. “At EDHEC, they say they care about the climate and they care about start-ups,” he says. “That’s what I like about EDHEC. It means what it says.”
Ready to write your own success story?
Discover how the EDHEC Global MBA’s unique blend of professional development, personalised learning tracks, and diverse cultural experiences can propel you to new heights in your career.
