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Innovation at Northwestern

Explore our unique culture and how it fosters innovation

Inspiring Leaders in the Classroom through an Entrepreneurial Mindset

We believe all students need the entrepreneurial mindset and skills to become creative thinkers and resilient leaders, no matter their career path. Through this lens, students explore the entire innovation and business lifecycle in our interdisciplinary courses.

Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

An academic cornerstone of entrepreneurship and innovation, the Farley Center is open to all Northwestern students, providing the education and resources to pursue their passions across disciplines.

Segal Design Institute

At Segal Design Institute, students learn design thinking to create products, systems, and processes that effectively solve problems within any domain.

Kellogg Entrepreneurship Pathway

The Entrepreneurship Pathway is a curriculum that teaches business students the strategy, finance, organizational leadership, and marketing skills necessary to develop and launch new ventures.

Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center

DPELC is one of the first programs in the US to provide intensive, hands-on training for law students who want to serve entrepreneurial clients or found their own startups.

Knight Lab

A community of designers, developers, students, and educators come together at Knight Lab to work on experiments designed to push journalism into new spaces.

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Applying Innovation through Unique Connections

Northwestern's culture is defined by collaboration — across disciplines, sectors, and schools. Our resources foster connections outside the classroom and are at the heart of some of our most exciting innovations.

The Garage

Northwestern students learn, iterate, and grow throughout their entrepreneurial journeys at The Garage, which offers a community, space, and network of resources.

Bay Area Programs

Multiple programs, courses, and immersion experiences in our San Francisco campus allow students to learn about technology and startups in Silicon Valley.

Querrey InQbation Lab

The Querrey InQbation Lab will be a collaboration space in downtown Evanston to support startup companies led by Northwestern faculty in health, life sciences, and related fields.

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Maximizing the Impacts of Our Ideas

By translating knowledge and research into original solutions and tools, our faculty, researchers, and students confront some of the world's toughest problems. Northwestern provides resources to move these ideas beyond academia and into market.

Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO)

Through mentorship, partnerships, funding, and commercialization support, INVO helps move Northwestern technologies to the marketplace.

ZELL Fellows Program

This Kellogg program is a unique, applied entrepreneurial experience for MBA candidates interested in starting a new venture or acquiring an existing one.

Funding Through the Garage

The Opportunity Fund, VentureCat, and NUseeds, offered through The Garage, Northwestern students funding, support, and experiences for startups ready for growth.

Experimental and Commercialization Classes

Multiple classes offered through the Farley Center, including NUvention, and through Kellogg teach students how to bring ideas to market.

Cohort Programs at the Garage

The Propel, Activate, X-Factor, and Little Joe Ventures Fellowship programs are Garage cohort programs that support founders, leaders, and innovators with opportunities to grow.

N.XT Fund

Focusing on promising faculty-initiated ventures in high-growth markets, the N.XT Fund is committed to accelerating the commercialization of UNiversity assets.

Explore our impact