
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 PG I: 21 September-17 December 2021
Tuesday 21 September |
Launch Night |
Wednesday 22-Saturday 25 September |
Compulsory lecture intensive |
Wednesday 22 September-Friday 17 December |
Teamwork, supervisions and research spell |
Wednesday 15 December |
Pitch Night |
Friday 17 December |
Assignment deadline |
EnterpriseTECH UG/PG II: 7 December 2021-11 March 2022
Tuesday 7 December |
Launch Night |
Wednesday 8-Saturday 11 December |
Compulsory lecture intensive |
Wednesday 8 December-Friday 11 March |
Teamwork, supervisions and research spell |
Wednesday 9 March |
Pitch Night |
Friday 11 March |
Assignment deadline |
What some of our supervisors have to say
Become a supervisor
Please fill out our online form if you’d like to get involved in supervising our EnterpriseTECH students.
Contact us
General enquiries
+44 (0)1223 765501
Proposal enquiries
Programme Manager
Dr Ghina Halabi