Ph.D. Commercialization Program Timeline and Commitment

What Does the Curriculum Include?

While the fellowship is offered by Cornell Engineering, the curriculum is provided in conjunction with Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Fellows will participate in regular workshops, and each fellow will receive one-on-one mentoring from Cornell faculty with entrepreneurial experience. During the course of the semester, students will work with their mentors to identify potential market opportunities for their technology and to develop a strategic business plan for scaling up and going to market. They will be required to regularly report on progress, and must present their final business plan as they would a thesis. Students will learn business strategies and best practices for:

  • Marketing
    Bill Bedell
    "I joined the Commercialization Fellowship because I wanted to get more exposure to thinking entrepreneurially about highly technical problems."

    Fellow Bill Bedell
    PhD Candidate, Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
  • Fundraising
  • Entrepreneurial Strategy 
  • Customer Development
  • Going to Market
  • Supply Chains
  • Intellectual Property Management 

Program Timeline and Commitment

  • Applications and Interviews: Early spring semester

  • Interviews: Mid-February 2022

  • Participate in an I-Corps Regional Course at Cornell: Early-mid spring semester (applicants can also inquire about applying for an I-Corps regional course before or concurrently with the Commercialization Fellowship)

  • Offers made and fellowships accepted: Mid-spring semester

  • Participate in NSF I-Corps Teams: Summer

  • Work with a dedicated board of advisors regularly and engage with Cornell's robust entrepreneurship ecosystem of events and resources: Late-fall semester

  • Share your final presentation to a panel of entrepreneurs, investors, and program alumni: Late-fall semester

*Dates subject to change as additional information becomes available

Students will also have access to alumni, entrepreneurs and business experts in fields related to their product. Access will come in the form of lectures, small Q&A sessions, and 1:1 meetings, and other existing programs at the University.”