The 21st -century university makes entrepreneurship and innovation central aspects of scholarship, research, teaching, outreach and service. Preparation for work in the 21st -century university requires graduate students to not only master their discipline and become familiar with the demands of teaching, but also to become academic entrepreneurs and innovators.
The primary goals of the EF21U Fellowship Program are to provide opportunities for a diverse group of graduate students to:
- consider what entrepreneurship and innovation mean in the context of an academic career;
- examine the variety of institutional arrangements universities use to carry out their entrepreneurial and innovation missions in order to help graduate students evaluate the academic settings in which they may wish to work;
- connect graduate students to private entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who may be interested in their future work.
Students selected for this program will have the opportunity to engage issues of academic entrepreneurship and innovation in three settings:
- regular group meetings or workshops with fellowship recipients, outside speakers, and faculty members to discuss topics related to academic entrepreneurship and university-led innovation;
- individual mentoring with Center faculty;
- and the opportunity to participate in mentoring undergraduate students interested in entrepreneurship and innovation; and formal and informal networking sessions with private sector entrepreneurs, public sector officials involved in economic development, and venture capitalists/angel investors.
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