Deadline: 2 January 2023.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Entrepreneurial Fellowship Program 2023
The Department of Medical Physics is accepting applications for the inaugural Entrepreneurial Fellowship program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Applicants must be existing PhD students in the last year of their PhD or post-doctoral fellows in Medical Physics, within or planning to join the department. The Fellowship provides dedicated salary support and personalized entrepreneurial training and company incubation, including idea generation, opportunity evaluation, planning, networking, financing, company formation and launching. The first year of support focuses on entrepreneurial training while the second year focuses on company incubation.
The program is supported and funded by the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) and will utilize the extensive resources of the UW campus networks, Madison area opportunities and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) programs. Program co-Founders are Dept Chair Brian Pogue, PhD and Program Director Robert Jeraj, PhD. The program is supported by Advisory Board Chair Rock Mackie, PhD, and Advisory Board Chair Eric Holer, MBA.
Competitive application review will begin on January 2, 2023.
Program Rationale
The Entrepreneurial Fellow program was created in 2022 to fast-track select senior PhD students and postdocs towards startup incubation and formation. The program invests in emerging inventors to translate ideas into ventures, that will improve technologies in healthcare. The program focuses on customized training pathways for those who want to make real products out of innovative academic ideas.
Program outline
The program provides two years of focused mentoring and guidance on utilizing the vast resources of the University of Wisconsin entrepreneurial training ecosystem, combined with the personal mentoring from the local business leaders that fast-tracks incubation and creation of a successful startup.
1st Year Entrepreneurial training – Focused on entrepreneurial training using the existing UW programs that involve active mentorship from a seasoned entrepreneurial medical physics faculty and alumni, and dedicated financial stipend support for the participant.
2nd Year Venture incubation – Focused on networking into the Madison entrepreneurial ecosystem while still stipend funded. These next steps focus on active mentorship from local and regional start-up business leaders, active fund raising via SBIR grants, angel or seed round interviews, engagement with accelerator programs (i.e., WARF, Madworks), and consideration for a dedicated seed funding from other local resources.
Applications due January 2, 2023
Eligibility – Senior PhD students (within 1 year of graduating) or postdocs with clear interest in an entrepreneurial pathway. Competitive applicants will have demonstrated experience patenting their ideas and will already have be actively engaged in the entrepreneurial training opportunities at UW and outside at the time of application.
Application – A written application outlining interest, patents, innovative ideas, business experiences and networks (no more than 2 pages) with biosketch/resume, and a documented letter of support from their faculty advisor. Applications due January 2, 2023.
Selection – Selected candidates will be invited to an interview to pitch their idea to the Entrepreneurial Fellowship program Advisory Board. The selected applicants will enter the individually-crafted Entrepreneurial Fellowship program. Other applicants may also be allowed to enroll into the program, benefiting from all the resources, infrastructure and established entrepreneurial networks, however, without funding.
Interested applicants should contact Robert Jeraj – [email protected] to inquire.
