Week-long camp will immerse college students in the startup world, teach the fundamentals of starting a health sciences venture.
The Conductor announced a joint initiative with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and BioVentures to offer a week-long residential camp at the University of Central Arkansas for college students around the state. The camp will teach students the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and give them the opportunity to formulate new health science ventures.
The Conductor, a public-private initiative powered by the Central Arkansas Venture Team, sponsored by UCA and supported by Startup Junkie Consulting and Community Venture Foundation, supports and assists startups, small businesses and other players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in central Arkansas.
“This camp is the second iteration of a camp we ran last summer for graduate students and post-docs,” says Nancy Gray, director of BioVentures. “We had a tremendous response, and have adapted the camp to focus on undergraduate students interested in health sciences startup opportunities from around the state.
“UAMS and BioVentures are dedicated to creating a statewide infrastructure to support a growing biomedical research capacity in Arkansas,” Gray said. “Our partnership with the Conductor will create new opportunities for students around the state, and enhance our statewide health sciences entrepreneurial network.”
The Health Sciences Entrepreneurship Boot Camp will guide students through an immersive, five-day training program in which they learn how to start and fund an entrepreneurial venture, meet with influential faculty, entrepreneurs and mentors and become exposed to entity filing, patents and legal issues in entrepreneurship. Students will form teams, create and refine new venture ideas and talk to potential customers.
The week-long camp will conclude with a Demo Day, during which the public is invited to watch the teams present their new venture ideas. Demo Day will be held at UCA on Friday, May 25. Demo Day guests may RSVP here.
“We are very enthusiastic about powering this camp,” says Jeff Standridge, team leader of the Conductor. “One focus area of the Conductor is developing entrepreneurial talent within the state. This camp is bringing together the disciplines of innovation and entrepreneurship and combining them with the vast expertise our state has in health sciences. The next great medical innovation just might come out of this endeavor.”
The Conductor will be accepting up to 50 students for the Health Sciences Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. The residential camp is all-expenses-paid, and is funded through UAMS, BioVentures and the Conductor. Eligible students must be enrolled in a collegiate institution in Arkansas, be in a healthcare, science or engineering field of study, and be a rising junior or senior.
For more information about the Health Sciences Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, visit www.arconductor.org/conductor-calendar/bootcamp. To apply to participate, visit (https://goo.gl/forms/jyicpVwd7RdT4rWJ3).
About the Conductor: The Conductor, a public-private partnership with the University of Central Arkansas and Startup Junkie Consulting, drives innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development in central Arkansas through high-impact programming, one-on-one consulting, commercialization support, talent development and collaboration.
About BioVentures: BioVentures is a technology commercialization organization and startup incubator focused on promoting a biomedical technology industry for Arkansas and translating research into products that benefit human health. BioVentures links the healthcare research minds to global markets in order to advance Arkansas’ scientific and economic development.
About UAMS: UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,870 students, 799 medical residents and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
