New Program: Ignite Postdoc for Ventures – Info Session 1

The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI) has launched Ignite Postdoc for Ventures, one of the three signature programs of the Ignite series to turn promising academic research into viable startups founded by Postdoctoral Fellows and soon-to-be graduating Ph.D. students.

The program will provide resources for entrepreneurial-minded postdocs to form new technology ventures based on Cornell inventions. The program adheres to a 1+1 model: 12-month phase in a Cornell lab, supervised by Cornell faculty, and 12-month phase in a business incubator, mentored by the incubator.

• Selected projects will be funded approximately $120K a year to support the compensation of the postdoc and basic experiment expenses
• All Ignite Postdocs will be Cornell employees during both phases I and II of the program under full-time commitment
• Postdocs will work at the faculty inventor’s lab for technology development and will have access to the incubator as an associate member for business development and connections during both phases
• An Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) will work closely with the Ignite Postdocs in both phases.