New Professor Entrepreneur Fellowship supports McMaster start-up founders

Are you a McMaster faculty member and start-up founder seeking more time to focus on your company?

The Office of the Vice-President, Research and Office of the Provost have launched a new fellowship program designed to support professors pursuing entrepreneurship.

The Professor Entrepreneur Fellowship releases full-time faculty who have started companies that involve McMaster intellectual property (IP) from teaching one course or equivalent for one year. The fellowship may be renewed for an additional year at a discounted academic rate.

As part of the program, fellows will also have the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurship programming and quarterly mentorship and support meetings.

Leyla Soleymani, McMaster’s Associate Vice-President, Research (Commercialization & Entrepreneurship), says the fellowship will enable faculty entrepreneurs to dedicate more time to fundraising, team building and prototype development for their ventures.

“We’re excited to offer this new program in support of McMaster’s professor-entrepreneurs. Collectively, their inventions have had an incredible impact in our local communities and in the lives of many around the world. This program will give them the additional time and resources they need to advance their research, grow their companies and contribute to McMaster’s dynamic innovation ecosystem,” she says.

The fellowship is one of several initiatives currently in development aimed at enhancing support for McMaster’s entrepreneurs through increased multi-disciplinary collaboration, mentorship opportunities and access to lab space.

Soleymani says the initiatives will contribute to McMaster’s circular entrepreneurial training, research and translation pipeline, enhancing the University’s local and global reputation for excellence in research and commercialization.

“Each initiative will aim to inspire, support and reward faculty and students – both established and aspiring entrepreneurs – as they transform their research breakthroughs into high-value products and services,” she says.

Interested in applying for the fellowship? Learn more and apply online by February 15^th, 2024.