CEAS Innovation & Entrepreneurship

The goal for CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science Innovation & Entrepreneurship is to cultivate a community of scholars with entrepreneurial mindsets who can partner with government and industry to drive economic growth in the state, national and global economy.

"I have the chance to shape the vision, mission and strategic actions that will define this role for future leaders."

Professor Wil Srubar, first Deming Associate Dean for Innovation & Entrepreneurship

CU Boulder's history of innovation is reflected in its groundbreaking research and entrepreneurial spirit. With established strength in the innovation and entrepreneurship arena and immense potential for continued growth and impact, the timing couldn’t be better.

CEAS Innovation & Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program

The College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) and Venture Partners are pleased to announce the 2025 CEAS Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) Fellowship Program. In line with the CEAS Strategic Vision, this fellowship program is designed to engage CEAS faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students in the °µÍø½ûÇø (CU Boulder) I&E commercialization ecosystem. The fellowship program will provide funding for CEAS faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students at critical points of inflection to engage in entrepreneurship training, team building, and customer discovery related to a disclosed invention and to position them well for follow-on funding and commercialization success.

The fellowship program consists of two tracks.

2025 CEAS I&E Faculty and Graduate Student/Postdoctoral Fellowships

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The vision of the CEAS I&E Faculty, Postdoctoral, and Graduate Student Fellowship Program is to support teams consisting of 1 faculty member AND 1 postdoc OR 1 graduate student to engage in the CEAS I&E ecosystem at CU Boulder. Teams must submit one combined application for consideration. 

Fellowship Awards

  • Faculty Fellowship: 10% AY (Spring and Summer 2025) 
  • Graduate Student Fellowship: 50% GRA (Summer 2025)
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship: Salary/Benefits (Summer 2025)

Anticipated Number of Fellowship Awards

Up to 5 Team Awards

Eligibility

Teams must be affiliated with the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Teams must have disclosed an innovation or software to Venture Partners by the application deadline (December 13, 2024). Teams awarded Lab Venture Challenge, OEDIT, and/or SBIR/STTR funding for their innovation or secured a dilutive investment into a startup that will commercialize their innovation will be considered too advanced for the program and are ineligible to apply.

Requirements

Minimum requirements for recipients of the CEAS I&E Faculty, Postdoctoral, and Graduate Student Fellowships include: 

  • Completion of the NSF I-CorpsTM Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Workshop (April 2025) (facilitated by Venture Partners); 
  • Completion of the NSF I-CorpsTM Research-to-Market (R2M) Customer Discovery Program (May 2025) (facilitated by Venture Partners);
  • Submission of an NSF National I-CorpsTM Application (Summer 2025) (for a chance to receive $50,000 in non-dilutive commercialization funding); and 
  • Submission of a 2025 Lab Venture Challenge Application (August/September 2025) (for a chance to receive non-dilutive commercialization funding);
  • Submission of an application to the 2025 CatalyzeCU Accelerator Program (Summer 2025) (for a chance to receive $25,000 in non-dilutive commercialization funding);
  • The cohort of teams funded by this fellowship will be invited to participate in additional workshops and meetings to discuss progress, to receive additional entrepreneurship education, training, and mentorship support, and to learn more about follow-on commercialization funding opportunities.

Deadline Extended

December 20, 2024

For application questions, please contact Prof. Wil Srubar, Associate Dean for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

2025 CEAS I&E ASCENT Fellowships

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The vision for the CEAS I&E ASCENT Fellowship is to support CEAS faculty, graduate students, and postdocs participating in the 2025 ASCENT Deep Tech Accelerator in Spring 2025. Participants will work toward milestones focused on company formation, paths to market, entrepreneurial finance, and fundraising, which will prepare them for a final pitch to a community of investors, entrepreneurs, and industry experts at the Ascent Investor Showcase. The program is expected to take 3-5 hours/week for four months (February-June 2025).

Award

$5,000 Stipend

Anticipated Number of Awards

10-20

Eligibility

Applicants must be a current CEAS faculty member, graduate student, or postdoc. Individual applicants must be working to commercialize technologies based on CEAS innovations and software that have been previously disclosed to Venture Partners. Individual applications must have completed significant customer discovery in their target market by participating in Venture Partners’ NSF I-CorpsTM Hub: West Starting Blocks and Research-to-Market programs (Fall 2024 or earlier). Multiple participants from the same team are eligible to apply.

Requirements

The minimum requirements for the recipients of the CEAS I&E ASCENT Fellowships include (a) acceptance into and (b) completion of the 2025 ASCENT Deep Tech Accelerator (Spring 2025) (facilitated by Venture Partners). Fellowships will be awarded upon successful completion of the ASCENT Deep Tech Accelerator program (June 2025).

ASCENT Deep Tech Accelerator Deadline

November 24, 2024

Fellowship Deadline Extended

December 20, 2024

For application questions, please contact Prof. Wil Srubar, Associate Dean for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.