UCLA's Faculty Innovation Fellows Application for 2021 Cohort

Application for 2021 Cohort

Open informational office hours are being held to answer your questions about the program. Stop by using this Zoom link at the following times:

November 4, Wednesday, 12 - 1 pm

November 13, Friday, 3 - 4 pm

November 20, Friday, 12 - 1 pm

You may also schedule a 1:1 meeting with Deanna Evans or Glentrez Thornton to discuss your project prior to applying. Schedule venture consulting meeting here.

Application Deadline: November 29, 2020, 11:59 pm
Pitches/Interviews: scheduled between December 7 - 11, 2020
Notification of Acceptance: December 18, 2020
Program begins: January 13, 2021
Pitch Showcase: May 2021 (date TBD)

UCLA's Faculty Innovation Fellows is a campus-wide program aimed at advancing entrepreneurial excellence and startup culture among faculty. Due to COVID-19, the program has transitioned to a virtual experience for the 2021 cohort.

Open to all UCLA faculty, 8-10 faculty-led teams will be invited to participate during winter and spring quarters 2021. The program is designed to advance innovative faculty projects into new startups, centers, or non-profits through a series of workshops and 1:1 venture consulting meetings. Postdocs and project scientists may apply for program with a letter of support from their faculty supervisor.

The program culminates in a virtual public Pitch Showcase to the UCLA community and a network of local entrepreneurs and investors.

Responsibilities
1. Attend all virtual program events:

January 13: Orientation & Customer Development Workshop
February 3: Legal Formation Workshop
March 3: Fundraising Workshop
Week of March 29: Pitching Workshop
Week of April 12: Pitch Coaching Workshop
One-to-one Venture Consulting Meetings with Startup UCLA staff (four 30-minute sessions)
Meeting with assigned Mentor
Meeting with TDG, as needed
Pitch Showcase practice session
May 2021 (date TBD): Present at Pitch Showcase

2. Commit roughly three hours minimum per week to developing your project/startup
3. Stay involved with Faculty Innovation Fellows and its alumni network after the program

Qualifications
1. All UCLA Faculty (both senate and non-senate faculty, academic administrators, and lecturers) may apply for the program. Visiting faculty are not, however, eligible. A list of senate and non-senate titles can be found here: https://www.senate.ucla.edu/about/academic-senate-membership
2. Postdocs and project scientists may apply for program with a letter of support from their faculty supervisor
3. Faculty/postdocs/project scientists must have a project/startup to work on during the program
4. Project/startup must have demonstrated proof-of-concept at time of application
5. Open to receiving feedback and willingness to iterate on project/startup

Perks & Benefits

1. $2,000 per team for faculty research support funds (may be used for design work for web/print media, brand development, consultations/travel, etc.)
2. Collaborate with program leaders, Startup UCLA staff, and colleagues across the University
3. Meet with a mentor with relevant experience to your area of interest
4. Raise your project's visibility in the UCLA community and beyond
5. $5,000 in Amazon Web Services credits
6. $20,000 in Google Cloud Platform credits
7. Complimentary legal guidance from a premiere law firm

Faculty Innovation Fellows is a collaboration between Startup UCLA, the UCLA Technology Development Group, and, the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research & Creative Activities.

If you have any questions about the application or any of the above, please email InnovationFund@tdg.ucla.edu.

TEAM

Primary Contact (Faculty Founder or Postdoc) *

First Name Last Name

Email *

Phone *

Academic Appointment (indicate current series)

List any additional team members, their role in the project/startup, and their UCLA affiliation. *

Briefly describe what skills and expertise each person brings to the project/startup, and note if any team members have technical expertise. *

0/150

What skills, if any, is your team lacking? How does this affect your ability to execute? Do you plan to remedy this before program begins on January 8, 2020, and if so how? *

0/150

Project/Startup

Project/Startup name *

Describe your project/startup. What is your product or service? What is your target market? *

0/150

Who is your competition and what is your competitive advantage? *

0/150

Detail the timeline of your project/startup development. When did you begin working on it, when did you complete the first prototype (and/or beta, launch, etc.), what stage is at it now, and what are your next steps? *

0/150

If your project/startup is a website, app, etc., link here to a version we can use/test.

0/250

Required pitch deck, bio, and resume

Upload a single PDF file containing a current pitch deck for your project/startup, a (one-page) faculty bio, and, a resume for each team member. Postdocs must include a letter of support from faculty supervisor. *

A pitch deck is a series of slides that explain your idea/startup. Pitch decks can take on many forms given the audience, purpose, situation, etc. In this case, it must stand on its own as you won't be around to provide further explanation as we read through each application. (The Airbnb and Intercom decks here are good examples.) You must include a pitch deck. Applicants that fail to include a pitch deck will not be considered.

Program Objectives

Why do you want to participate in UCLA's Faculty Innovation Fellows program? What do you hope to accomplish by the end of the program? *

0/150

Intellectual Property

Current status of project/startup intellectual property: *

Not yet disclosed to University (if this box is checked, please use link for IP disclosure: https://tdg.ucla.edu/ucla-community/invention-disclosure) Disclosed to UCLA

If intellectual property disclosed to UCLA, indicate case number(s)

I acknowledge that the subject matter disclosed in my application was developed as part of my employment at UCLA and is governed by UC policies concerning copyright, patents, and other intellectual property.

For more information on UC policies, please click links below:

UC Copyright

UC Patent

*

Acknowledgement