Graduate and PhD Students

The Collaboratorium unites UChicago students with researchers, technologists, and faculty who want to explore the commercialization opportunities and business applications of their work. A great opportunity for Chicago Booth students, other graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, alumni, and faculty to connect, the program includes an opportunity for scientists and researchers to pitch as well as network with students about their cutting-edge research and technologies.

The Polsky I-Corps program empowers UChicago scientists, researchers, and students to test the commercial potential of their research and ideas. Supported with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and run by the Polsky Center, the I-Corps program is specifically designed for participants working on projects related to the STEM fields.

More recently, currently-enrolled graudate students can apply to take a UChicago science and technology startup through the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC), Polsky’s top-ranked accelerator program. Phlaxis, a company founded by Eugene Bell Professor in Tissue Engineering at UChicago Jeff Hubbell, is developing a vaccine to prevent and treat peanut allergies. With the support of students, the company won second place and received nearly $280,000 in investment through the 2021 NVC.

Built on a 25-year history of launching successful ventures, Compass is the Polsky Center’s deep tech accelerator program for University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory researchers interested in launching new startup companies. Graduate students can join one of the Compass teams either as a Business Development Fellow or a Science Innovation Fellow.

Managed by the Polsky Center, the George Shultz Innovation Fund provides up to $250,000 in co-investment funding for early stage tech ventures coming out of University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, and the Marine Biological Laboratory. Graduate students can join a startup team and develop the business plan for these early-stage science and technology companies.

Polsky Science and Technology Fellows will participate in many aspects of the technology commercialization process, with a focus on screening new invention disclosures for potential intellectual property (IP) protection, and analyzing the commercial landscape. Working with the PST team provides valuable technology management experience from scientific, legal, and business perspectives along with exposure to some of University of Chicago’s newest and most exciting technologies.

The Resurgence Fellowship program offers a limited number of fellowships to University of Chicago students and provides them with an opportunity to support innovation and business development in the clean energy and sustainability space. Student fellows work with startups participating in Resurgence, the Polsky Center’s cleantech accelerator program, to support key aspects of business development.