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Transforming invention to innovation

i2i

Graduate Certificate in Science & Technology Commercialization

Invention to Innovation (i2I) is a unique and rewarding entrepreneurship program that helps scientists and engineers build translational skills and an entrepreneurial mindset to create comprehensive and compelling plans to overcome challenges and bring their research to impact. The one-year, part-time program provides graduate and post-doc research scientists, faculty, start-up ventures or personnel in existing science-based firms with essential frameworks, perspectives and techniques to contribute to the translation of knowledge to real-world applications, start ventures, lead business development or new product development and increase commercialization in labs or industry.

Applicants must complete the Mitacs i2I Skills Training Program to apply and proceed with the Graduate Certificate in Science and Technology Commercialization (GSCTC) Program.

Please visit the Mitacs i2I Skills Training website for more information.

Who it’s for

Researchers with translational skills are potent agents of impact and are needed for many roles across the innovation ecosystem. The three main paths include:

Scientist-entrepreneur: Found science-based university spinoffs that are set up for success

  • Enhance chances of successful application of research in society
  • Create and capture societal and economic value through impactful companies
  • Create your opportunities and career trajectory

Champions of innovation: Increase science-based innovation in Industry

  • Lead new product development initiatives
  • A bridge between industry and the university to increase the adoption and support of meaningful scientific innovations
  • Support innovation through a career in government, policy and more

Translational scientist/knowledge mobilization: Increase meaningful translational research in academia

  • Increase success in winning translational grants to fund meaningful science-based research
  • Create sustainable business models for labs and other academic facilities
  • Better support your lab with new training and career paths for graduates

What you’ll learn

In this program, you’ll:

  • Create a refined business plan for the commercialization of a unique product or service
  • Validate your business model: test and retest business assumptions and hypotheses
  • Develop an entrepreneurial pitch
  • Gain proficiency in frameworks and skills relevant to science and technology commercialization
  • Develop a network within our regional technology ecosystem
  • Participate in the New Ventures BC entrepreneurship competition

Where can it take you

At the conclusion of the program, you will be equipped with the theory, frameworks, mindset and skills to transform your research into impact and create new career opportunities including industry roles in new product development, business development, leadership in science-based companies, commercialization through yours or other startups or increased ability to lead knowledge translation in academia.

Your journey begins online in the Mitacs i2I Skills Training program, where you will study part-time from September to April, with one online module per week, in learning groups with participants from across the country.

Upon successful completion of the Mitacs i2I Skills Training, you will have the opportunity to ladder into the i2I Graduate Certificate in Science and Technology Commercialization to earn University credit at SFU’s Beedie School of Business. Credit from this certificate can also be applied toward the Management of Technology (MOT).

Visit the Mitacs i2I Skills Training Program to learn more and apply online.

There are several funding resources available to students in the Mitacs i2I Skills Training and the i2I Graduate Certificate programs.

These include research funds, grants, awards, scholarships and self-funding. You do not need to submit a separate funding application. Candidates are assessed for all funding opportunities based on the merits of their application and the strength of their innovation proposal as outlined in your Innovation Statement.

For more information about funding, please contact i2i@sfu.ca to learn more.

Scholarships

There are entrance awards and grants available through the university. For more information about grants and scholarships, visit our Funding Resources page.

Program Brochure

Download Brochure

The i2I program is perfect for people like me who are deeply involved in science, and who want to look for opportunities in the business world. A program like this opens your mind and teaches you that there is another world of possibilities outside of the lab.

Elena Groppa, i2I

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine

University of British Columbia Biomedical Research Centre

My key lessons from the program were learning how to effectively frame and structure a problem or situation, manage a tight schedule, know what to prioritize and how to prioritize it, and identify core problems quickly and addressing them.

Bobbie Dhillon, EMBA

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Planning

G&F Financial Group

The comprehensive simulations provided the greatest learning for me. They helped change my mindset and connect the different areas of learning into a comprehensive view of how an organization runs.

Matthew Grunert, MOT MBA

Sr. Director, Digital Operations & IT

Motorola Solutions

The MSc Finance program gave me the technical foundation that I couldn’t function without. I work with clients in very senior roles, and it’s important to demonstrate your technical knowledge to gain their trust.

Christine Jakshoej Sangha, MScFin

VP of Customer Success - Capital Markets

FINCAD

The immediate impact of the GDBA has been a change in the way I approach my day professionally. I am equipped to make better decisions. My confidence level has been elevated significantly, and I am enjoying a new sense of optimism in my career.

Percival Chang, GDBA

Manager & Investment Funds Advisor

PH&N Investment Services

I always saw myself working beyond clinical pharmacy. I felt that I could also shine on the business side of healthcare. I knew that with my strong clinical training an MBA would help open more doors and give me the mobility I was looking for in my career.

Morenike Akinyemi, FT MBA

Senior Project Manager, Transformation Delivery

Provincial Health Services Authority

The Part-Time MBA was excellent. It gave me exactly what I expected to receive, and I think that is the highest compliment you can pay a program. It met all my expectations and provided a solid grounding in business skills and strategies.

Oliver Zihlmann, PT MBA

Director of Development and Alumni Engagement

UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

The learners I work with are 95% Indigenous, and I find that they become more interested and retain information more, when we speak and learn from an Indigenous lens. The Indigenous content integrated into the program has been very beneficial to me in terms of how I can incorporate Indigenous information into the curriculum I currently teach.

Wanda Rockthunder, EMBA IBL

Business Instructor, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies

Cree, a citizen of the Muskowekwan First Nation, Saskatchewan

i2I: Elena

EMBA: Bobbie

MOT MBA: Matthew Grunnert

MSc Fin: Christine

GDBA: Percival

FT MBA: Morenike

PT MBA: Oliver

EMBA IBL: Wanda


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