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Innovation & Entrepreneurship

MIT was founded with the aim of providing students with an education that combines rigorous academic study with practical, hands-on learning. This emphasis on practice is infused into the Institute’s innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) curriculum, student groups, I&E hubs, and programming. Collectively, these contribute to MIT’s vibrant and growing I&E ecosystem.

MIT promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in I&E by elevating opportunities for community members who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM and innovation through Inclusive Innovation Programs and the Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT.

The Institute offers more than 150 courses that intersect with I&E as well as a minor in entrepreneurship and innovation, an MBA E+I Track, and Independent Activities Period and summer opportunities.

MIT has more than 50 I&E student clubs and initiatives, including the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition and the MIT Clean Energy Prize, and events such as Hacking Arts and Hacking Medicine.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hubs

MIT InnovationHQ (iHQ) is a home for the Institute’s thriving community of innovators and entrepreneurs. Offering 25,000 ft2 (2,323 m2) of workspaces, meeting rooms, and event spaces, iHQ encourages the cross-pollination of ideas among MIT students, faculty, staff, and the global innovation community.

The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship provides frameworks, courses, co-curricular programs, facilities, advisory services, and processes to create a rigorous, practical, customized, and integrated educational experience.

Programs

More than 85 resources are dedicated to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship at MIT. Here are just a few:

  • The Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation awards research grants and provides other types of assistance to faculty members whose work shows the potential to benefit society, transform markets and industries, and improve the quality of life for people across the globe.

  • The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship runs a fellowship program for students with a commitment to building ventures through principled entrepreneurial leadership and provides grants for students looking to experience global entrepreneurship opportunities.

  • Through more than 15 MIT classes and student research and fieldwork opportunities, MIT D-Lab works with people around the world to develop and advance collaborative approaches and practical solutions to global poverty challenges.

  • MIT IDEAS Global Challenge is a social entrepreneurship program that enables MIT student-led teams to apply their education and expertise in collaboration with community partners to address social and environmental challenges around the world.

  • The MIT Office of Innovation supports MITs innovative people, programs, and partnerships by catalyzing the iHQ infrastructure, providing platforms for innovation programs, and stewarding the wider I&E community.

  • The MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program provides seed funding, mentorship, and tailored entrepreneurship education that empowers student innovators to explore ideas, take risks, and prepare to launch.

  • The MIT Startup Exchange actively promotes collaboration and partnerships between MIT-connected startups and industry, principally members of MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program.

  • MITdesignX is a design innovation and entrepreneurship program that empowers students to build new business ventures and forward-thinking solutions designed to address critical challenges facing the future of cities and the human environment.

  • Mission Innovation X enables mission-driven organizations and dual-use ventures to better solve the world’s biggest challenges. It also runs high-impact venture development programs such as Proto Ventures.

  • The Venture Mentoring Service is a confidential service for entrepreneurs in the MIT community that connects entrepreneurs with teams of carefully selected mentors to help turn their ideas into ventures.