The application is now open for MBA students, MHA students, and doctoral level applicants for the 2025-2026 cohort. See full eligibility details below. The Life Sciences Technology Innovation Fellows Program at Cornell, offered by the SC Johnson Graduate School of Management, is an Empire State Development-funded entrepreneurship initiative aimed at developing the next generation of life science startup leaders. The program provides business students, graduate research students, and postdocs with an interest in health, pharma, med tech biotech, veterinary tech, molecular bioscience, and agritech from across Cornell’s colleges an opportunity to immerse themselves in the practice of technology-based startup creation. Participants receive the entrepreneurial training, mindset, and judgment to launch their own startup or become the next set of leaders working in the growing life science technology economy. Students may also receive a certificate from the SC Johnson Graduate School of Management. The full program website can be found here. Who can apply?The Life Sciences Technology Innovation Fellows Program admits Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral fellows, as well as business students in equal numbers, in order for all participants to form project teams upon enrollment in the program course NBA 5175:Life Science Entrepreneurship in Practice.
Ph.D. candidates in the program are restricted to those in the 3rd year and higher conducting graduate level research on a topic related to health, pharma, med tech biotech, veterinary tech, molecular bioscience, and agritech or similar. Postdoctoral fellows in the same research areas are also welcome to participate. Research participants can be from across Cornell’s Ithaca and NYC campuses, as well as from Cornell’s Tri-Institutional partners (Memorial Sloan Kettering and The Rockefeller University).
MBA students are restricted to residential (Ithaca) MBAs and EMBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership MBAs, all in the final year of their degrees. MHA students are also welcome to apply.
TimelineApplications are now open for the 2025-26 cohort! Applications will be reviewed in the late-spring before the start of the subsequent cohort.
A new cohort begins the program every August. Program workshops take place on weekends on a monthly basis during the academic year, alternating between Ithaca and NYC.
Questions?
Contact the program team at
techinnovation@cornell.edu