Historically physiology students have undertaken a laboratory-based, fieldwork or literature project as their final year undergraduate research or Honours project, a requirement of the QAA Biosciences Benchmark statement.  However, very few students are going onto careers in research. Our aim therefore, was to develop alternative educational experiences to research projects, which better prepared our students for the diversity of careers they go onto. We have adopted and implemented capstone experiences, a high impact education practice1, with its focus on student personal and professional development rather than gaining research experience. Over the last 15 years we have progressively developed, in a collaborative partnership with students and external partners, a sector-leading portfolio of traditional research projects offered alongside science or industry-focused capstones (e.g. stakeholder opinion, commercial reports, and those with a civic or societal focus (e.g. science in schools, educational development), in the same module or course2. Students select the project that best addresses their individual developmental needs and/or future career intentions. By offering a broad inclusive portfolio of opportunities, each developing different skills and attributes, there is something for every student, an opportunity to excel irrespective of background. To enable them to fully showcase both their project outputs, and their knowledge, skills and understanding to us as educators, potential employers and most importantly themselves, we give them free choice of their primary assessment tool e.g. an academic paper, commercial report or reflective e-portfolio. Students have wholeheartedly grasped this opportunity, excelling academically.  Their module marks are significantly higher than students undertaking traditional research projects (2020: mean ± SD = 71.4±4.4% vs 68.4±5.8%, p<0.05, capstone vs research). In 2020-21, 27% selected capstones as their first choice of project, a massive cultural shift given laboratory projects have traditionally been viewed as the “gold-standard”. Similarly, 44% of educators contributing to the module mentor one or more capstones. Our work has had significant impact beyond our Institution, leading to revision of both the Royal Society of Biology3 and the Institute of Biomedical Sciences’ project accreditation criteria. To support colleagues globally during the 2020-21 Covid pandemic, we delivered online workshops and created guides for both students and educators4,5. These have had 11,000 views from over 50 Countries in 9 months. This case study has showcased the potential of capstones to provide an inspirational, transformative and translational educational experience for students. However, it is only the start of a journey. Capstones are traditionally conservative in nature, a taught course, extended essay or senior seminar series. In order for educators globally to fully realise the transformative and translational potential of capstones, and develop global graduates equipped with the skills and attributes to become leaders in whatever field they go onto, we collectively need to engineering in additional purposes e.g. interdisciplinarity, global grand challenges, trans-national educational experiences.