Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program

The Sarafan ChEM-H Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program helps undergraduate students understand how their knowledge of chemistry and biology can enable the discovery and development of therapeutic products for unmet clinical needs. Participating students will work with a student team to develop a technical and business plan for a new biotechnology company over the course of the fall quarter. Each team will work closely with a mentor to help them choose a suitable project and to guide their scientific and business plan development during the course of the program. Mentors will include local biotechnology professionals and entrepreneurs. 

Students will attend weekly program meetings throughout the fall quarter. Meeting topics will include presentations from the mentors, as well as practice team pitches. In addition to weekly meetings, students will spend approximately five hours per week in individual and group preparation work.

At the end of fall quarter, each team will present their business plan pitch to the mentors, local entrepreneurs, and select members of the ChEM-H community. The winning team will be provided a grant to enable implementation of the early stages of their project plans and will be expected to work on their project part-time during winter and spring and full-time during summer.