With the Bio & MedTech Entrepreneur Fellowships funding, training, lab facilities and expert advice are provided to young researchers who intend to start up a company based on UZH research.

Bio & MedTech fellows are employed at the University of Zurich and work full-time to further develop a technology or novel service towards a marketable solution and to develop strategies for the commercialization thereof.

The goal of the Fellowships is to lay the basis for university spin-offs and to support motivated researchers to gain the skills and experience needed to become confident entrepreneurs in the health sector. 

A Bio & MedTech Fellowship amounts to CHF 150’000 and is given for a period of 18 months. Fellows are free to decide on how to spend the money (e.g. for their own salary, the employment of co-workers or for consumables).

The fellows are supported throughout the program by the experienced coaches of the Therapy Development Accelerator (TDA). TDA support fellows on project management and business development and in areas such as fundraising and industry relations.

Unitectra supports the fellows on commercialization issues, such as the protection of intellectual property and the creation of spin-off companies.

The fellows participate in the BioEntrepreneurship & Innovation (BEI) Program, a hands-on training course for life scientists that are eager to translate scientific results into real applications. Experienced entrepreneurs and experts share their knowledge and coach how to establish a first business plan and setup a successful start-up company.

As an entrepreneur fellow you are employed at the UZH and hence have access to all the IT and library resources offered by the university. In addition, you have access to a fully equipped research infrastructure at the UZH IncubatorLab. The laboratory is located in the Bio-Technopark in Schlieren and hosted by the Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Applications for the Bio & MedTech Entrepreneur Fellowships can be submitted twice a year until April 15th and October 15th. The next application window opens on March 15th.

For the application you need to submit a description of your project, a 3 min pitch video, the project budget, your CV and a letter of support by your host professor at UZH. Find more information on how to apply for the fellowships here.

Selected candidates will be invited for an interview with the expert jury.

Jury members

Dominik Escher      Partner Pureos Bioventures, President Swiss Biotech Association

Jess Snedeker        Professor for Biomechanics, UZH, ETHZ, Balgrist

Sandra Neumann    CEO & Founder Peripal

Simon Hoerstrup     Professor for Regenerative medicine, UZH, Jury head

Onur Boyman          Professor of Clinical Immunology, UZH

Jan Lichtenberg      CEO Insphero