CISPA Founders Fellowship

YOU

are a postdoctoral researcher, Ph.D. student or MSc student
have both technical and business expertise
bring a team of max. 3 people (in total) who aim to commercialize their research at CISPA
ideally have a promising business case
your idea has been confirmed by implementing a prototype and testing it in a lab setting (TRL 3-4), but the company has not yet been incorporated
have the explicit support of at least one CISPA faculty member

WE

pay you full-time for the duration of twelve months
give you 20.000 euros per fellow for software, hardware, business trips, training, and other expenses
organize mentoring from CISPA faculty and the Startups & Entrepreneurship team throughout the course of the program – and beyond
give you access to CISPA's cutting-edge facilities, equipment, and resources in Germany as well as to its global research network
invite you to workshops, seminars, and community events
guarantee you Alumni status and certification after completion

How it works

The objective of the CISPA Founders Fellowship is to give small teams the opportunity to prepare the incorporation and finding product-market fit. We help you to acquire the required knowledge, skills, and networks needed to be successful entrepreneurs. The team is given the necessary resources and support to achieve these goals. It is our priority to promote the commercialization of innovative research in the fields of iinformation security, privacy, and AI/ML. We specifically focus on establishing a culture of entrepreneurship at CISPA by creating a community of entrepreneurial scientists that can support each other, share best practices, and will help us build an innovation ecosystem.

fellowship milestones

Build a prototype (“proof-of-concept”) of the proposed product or service. Obtain feedback by at least three potential customers / partners to validate the idea and verify that the business idea fits the needs of the market. The business idea can be refined during the duration of the fellowship.

Develop a technical whitepaper and pitch deck to document the business idea. These documents are needed to prepare for funding opportunities after the fellowship ends. CISPA’s department "Startups & Entrepreneurship" will support the team to obtain additional funding.

Participate in at least two workshops for business planning and/or entrepreneurship.

How to apply

Submit an application, including a motivational letter explaining the product/ service idea and business case (3-4 pages), a CV, and a letter of support from either academia or industry. Teams are allowed to submit one motivational letter and one letter of support followed by the corresponding amount of CVs.
Invitation of promising candidates for an interview, consisting of a presentation (15 minutes) and an open discussion with the Program Manager and the Advisory Board (15 minutes).
Selection of the fellows based on their ideas’ degree of innovation, market potential, entrepreneurial interest, and fit with CISPA's research focus.
Kick-Off together with the scientific advisor and program team.

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