Become a supervisor for EnterpriseTECH

Supervising a team of students and researchers with entrepreneurial aspirations allows you to expand your teaching and mentoring repertoire around early-phase innovation development and commercialisation processes. Our cohorts are largely STEM-based PhD students and postdocs across Cambridge but this does not mean you have to have a STEM background yourself.

Our student teams conduct a commercial feasibility study on an early-stage technology (submitted by an inventor) and produce a 3,000-word report at the end of the programme. Your role is to guide the team in line with our suggested structure for supervisions. In addition, students attend an intensive 40-hour lecture series to help them grasp key concepts of entrepreneurial processes, and you will help them bring that to life in the application of this learning material to their projects.

Role of the supervisor

Supervisions are the standard method of teaching at Cambridge, and you will provide three supervisions to your student team during the programme on these themes:

• Technology and opportunity evaluation.
• Developing the business proposition.
• Refining the research and analysis.

The purpose is to build on the lectures the students have using a learning-by-doing approach. Each supervision lasts up to two hours and should provide a rich and intellectual learning environment. You will also provide detailed feedback for the management team on your team’s assessments.

What background should I have?

We look for people who have a broad set of teaching skills in established and emerging sectors that can enrich EnterpriseTECH with professional experience and expertise. Our supervisors are a mix of academics and external professionals, and we match projects and supervisors to maximise the experience for participants.

You will be a good fit if you have a PhD or equivalent scientific or technical experience and/or an MBA plus experience in supervising students, coaching startups, setting up your own business or advising other people on their businesses. We are currently building our pool of supervisors with science, medicine, data/AI and engineering backgrounds.

What will I need to do?

In addition to the three supervisions you will have, you will also be asked to:

• complete the online apply to become a supervisor form detailing your experience
• attend an information session before the programme begins (online)
• attend the Launch Night and meet the student team and the inventors (in person or online)
• attend Pitch Night to support your team (preferably in person)
• provide written feedback for your team on the commercial feasibility report, pitch deck and video infomercial.

Programme dates

EnterpriseTECH Cohort 11: 22 November 2022 – 17 March 2023

EnterpriseTECH Cohort 12: 28 February – 26 May 2023

What some of our supervisors have to say

“

EnterpriseTECH is an exciting new programme at Cambridge Judge Business School aimed at engaging a broad range of Cambridge staff and students in much more entrepreneurial ways than is traditional. I am impressed at the substantial application rate, indicating this programme is meeting a very relevant and timely need as Cambridge increasingly embraces innovation. With engaging short-term high-throughput learning across the year, EnterpriseTECH could substantially improve the innovative and entrepreneurial capital embedded within the Cambridge environment. ”

Dr Simon Forbes, Head of COSMIC, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge

“

My experience of supervising a team of PhD and postdoc researchers as part of the EnterpriseTECH programme here at Cambridge has been very positive. As an experienced mentor, having taught and supervised on several similar programmes at some of the world’s leading business schools, this programme stands out by the quality of both teaching and feedback. I was also impressed by the quality of the materials and how efficiently the programme is run, supporting students throughout the process, promoting a collaborative culture. It is a pleasure to be part of this community. ”

Dr Nicholas Ibery MB BS, LLB, MBA, MSc, DIC, MRCS, DOHNS, FRSA, FFMLM