During the COVID-19 pandemic, the virtual Watson Semester Accelerator was launched to accelerate the ventures and careers of college students, recent graduates, and gap-year students with an early-stage social venture.
During the 4-month program, a cohort of next-generation innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs from across the globe convene virtually to tackle complex problems and forge lives and careers of impact. From climate change to social justice and from poverty to access to quality education, students selected to the Watson Semester Accelerator leverage training, mentorship, and community to accelerate their ventures and unleash lives of impact.
Looking for fully-funded opportunities, install the Youth Opportunities Android or iOS App here.
- Training
Intensive courses and workshops focused on the hard and soft skills of entrepreneurship and transformative leadership. - Mentorship
Every student is paired with mentors in their field to challenge their assumptions, enhance their perspective, and expand their impact. - Community
Students join a diverse cohort with members from every corner of the globe, a variety of experiences, and a common goal to impact the world.
The time commitment for participating in this program is an average of 42 hours per week for 16 weeks.
You have two tracks to choose from:
- Venture Founder Track: The Venture Founder track is for students who are founders or co-founders of a venture or project. The Venture Founder may collaborate with a Free Agent track student attending the same cohort.
- Free Agent Track: The Free Agent track is for students looking to join a venture or project and are prepared to contribute in significant ways to the team. Free Agents join a Venture Founder’s team at the beginning of the cohort.
Location:
United StatesBenefits
The courses, mentorship, master courses, and community will be delivered in three distinct ways:
- Synchronous
Entire cohort experiences events together at the same time. There will be approximately 9 hours of synchronous programming per week. - Localized Synchronous
Small student pods grouped by geography convene at convenient times according to time-zone for various small-group events. There will be approximately 6 hours of localized synchronous programming per week. - Asynchronous
Students complete work/experience individually at their own pace, given specific due-dates and clarity of outcome and quality expected.
The time commitment for participating in this program is an average of 42 hours per week for 16 weeks.
- They are pleased to offer a highly discounted tuition cost for the virtual Watson Semester Accelerator:
- Tuition: $6,000
- Scholarships covering up to 50% of the cost of tuition are available based on merit and financial need.
Eligibilities
- This program is for early stage entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders with a bias towards action and the gritty idealism required to solve complex problems.
- Founders in the early-prototyping stage are the most well-suited for the Watson Semester Accelerator in the Fall and Spring.
- Early prototyping means that you have completed initial research on the project and have designed and put to test aspects of your business model.
- In addition, at this stage you have developed early versions of the service or product that you are planning to launch. You may have revenue or funding streams at this stage, but the project/venture is not yet self-sustained or scalable.
- Application may be from any part of the world
Application Process
You can apply through the online application process via Apply Now link.
Looking for fully-funded opportunities, install the Youth Opportunities Android or iOS App here.
Application Deadline: November 2, 2020
Application ClosedOfficial link