the institute

/ˈɪn.stɪ.tjuːt/ v. from the Latin instituere — to establish; to instruct. Something you do, not somewhere you go.

the verb, not the venue—where I institute the patterns of thought, feeling, and action worth having: keynotes, masterclasses, and one-to-one coaching, grounded in brain and behaviour science.

I speak, and I coach.

Dr Dorian Minors — brain scientist, Cambridge PhD, Associate Professor at Sandhurst.

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I’m a brain scientist. Cambridge PhD, a decade of clinical practice, a former infantry officer, and now an Associate Professor at Sandhurst, where the British Army trains its officers. I’ve spent fifteen years looking for the instruction manual for the device in our heads. It doesn’t exist. But the patterns are visible once you know where to look, and I’ve made a career of showing them to people—officer cadets to FTSE executives, Unilever companies, Sainsbury’s, the Fashion Pact.

If you want me to do that for your people, this is where. Two ways: I speak, and I coach.

I speak

Keynotes, masterclasses, and guest lectures. I teach the patterns of thought, feeling, and action that shape how people lead, decide, and relate—why brains do what they do, and what follows for the patterns we live by. Audiences leave with something that shifts, not just something they heard.

Talks I get asked for, each adapted to the room:

  • Most of what you believe, you didn’t choose—where our ideologies come from, and which ones are worth keeping.
  • The device in your head—what brains are actually for, and why that changes how you lead.
  • When groups go bad—the machinery of tribes and teams, and the things they do that no member would.
  • Calm is a skill—what pressure does to a brain, and what training does to pressure.

Commercial keynotes from £5,000. I discount for universities, charities, and interesting problems.

I coach

One-to-one, grounded in brain and behaviour science. Not motivational platitudes—baseline diagnostics, evidence-based frameworks, and honest conversations about what’s actually driving your patterns. We measure where you start, and whether you move.

From £550/hr.

Consulting

Organisational work—culture diagnostics, leadership measurement, programme audits—I do with a colleague through Black Cortex. If the problem is a team rather than a person or an audience, start there.

I take on pro bono work—high-impact problems, interesting questions, aspiring leaders—capacity permitting.

And the long game, since you ask: the speaking and the coaching fund the research. I always wanted to build an independent institute for the science of living better. The name was taken. The ambition wasn’t.

scholarship into wisdom

Dr Dorian Minors

Associate Professor, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

get in touch

dorian(at)btr.mt

Tell me the date, the audience, and the problem you want solved.

Or find me on LinkedIn.