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Careers and Enterprise

QIncubator

Are you starting or thinking about starting your own business?

QIncubator will open in Autumn 2024

Gain or develop your critical thinking and innovation skills

Register your interest

If you have a business idea but are not sure where to begin, or if you want to use your entrepreneurial skills in an exciting and creative role in a start-up or innovative company, QIncubator is for you: the perfect testing ground for a project at idea stage or to develop your intrapreneurial skills.

Learn more below...

 

 

 

Acquire high-level entre/intrapreneurial skills

Knowing where to start can be daunting, which is why this programme will help you define your ambitions, set goals and get you going. This entre/intrapreneur-led, 8-week programme combines enterprise training, expert coaching and peer-learning to accelerate success.

 

About the programme

QIncubator takes a lean approach to entre/intrapreneurship, with an emphasis on identifying problems and assumptions, testing them and iterating your business/solution accordingly, as quickly as possible. This is reflected in the programme, which supports you in formulating your business model or employer-led solution and customer value propositions before testing these on potential customers, partners, mentors and industry experts.

This round, the intrapreneur pathway will be working with 2 organisations including a sustainability innovation challenge with QMUL sustainability team. 

Following completion of the programme, you can apply for one of our funding awards: Try It (£500), Grow It and Launch It (up to £3,000) or Build It (£10,000). You can find more information on each on our funding page.

QIncubator is eligible to be listed on your HEAR, meaning you can leave QMUL with an enhanced record of your achievements. The HEAR shows employers an overview of everything you have gained from your time at Queen Mary – a breakdown of modules and marks, and a way to have all your extracurricular activity officially authorised.

 

That's the first time I've tried to develop my business idea and QIncubator helped me to accelerate my learning significantly.
— Maciej Jarosiewicz, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science graduate

When and where

Applications are currently closed. Applications will open in Autumn 2024.

Programme structure

Please note: this may be subject to change

  • Week 1: Introduction, Design Thinking and Mentoring
  • Week 2: Risks and Competitors
  • Week 3: Customer Development
  • Week 4: Value Proposition at Experience Haus studio
  • Week 5: Business Model and Product Roadmaps
  • Week 6: Experiments and MVP
  • Week 7: Stakeholders, Development, Team Building
  • Week 8: Pitch your project at Experience Haus studio

The intrapreneur pathway will work with 2 organisations including QMUL Sustainability team on a sustainability innovation challenge. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is this programme for?

This programme is for QMUL students and recent graduates who:

  • have an idea but are not sure where to begin, or
  • have started their business but are struggling to make it work, or
  • want to gain or develop your problem-solving, critical thinking or innovation skills or
  • have attended our QHack or another entrepreneurship bootcamp/networking events and want to further your learning.

You will need:

  • To be from any QMUL school or Institute
  • To have either a business idea or an interest in solving a problem using innovation and creativity for a start-up or a company
  • Enthusiasm, creativity and the will to share your experience and knowledge

But the main objective is for you to be equipped with entrepreneurial skills, knowledge and confidence to either launch your business or excel in a start-up!

All applications will need to be submitted through QM Careers Hub (Target Connect). Please click on this link and you will be taken to this webpage where you will be able to start, complete and submit your application form. 

If you have just graduated, you can still access QM Careers Hub, however your student details will no longer work and you will need to register for an alumni account. Once you have registered, the Careers team will approve this and merge your existing student account with your new alumni account so you don’t lose any of your profile. If you have any questions, please contact careers@qmul.ac.uk.

Dates: 7th February to 27th March 2024 6.30pm - 8.30pm iQEast 

 

What do previous participants say?

“That's the first time I've tried to develop my business idea and QIncubator helped me to accelerate my learning significantly.” — Maciej Jarosiewicz, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science graduate and currently using their intrapreneurial skills at Kaluza

“QIncubator really changed my perception of what I thought starting a business would entail…the programme covered all the essentials an entrepreneur must be familiar with before starting a business.” – Shafaq Ashraf, Global Development Masters graduate and owner of Breaking Barriers

Discussing your idea with other likeminded entrepreneurs is a great way to share the pitfalls and achievements along your journey and can help alleviate the loneliness that comes with being a solo entrepreneur. – Isaac Greenway-Tambini, Geography with Business Management graduate and owner of Pola Poles 


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