Dalhousie University’s Lab2Market Program Prioritizes Commercialization Growth for Women in Research

(Halifax, NS) Applications for the Winter 2022 Lab2Market Halifax cohort are now open. The 16-week program will equip graduate and post-doctorate researchers with the skills required to assess the commercial opportunity for their research and translate it beyond the doors of university laboratories.

Led by Dalhousie University and the I-INC Network, Lab2Market is part of a suite of programs offered through Dal Innovates that help deliver innovation and entrepreneurial skills and attitudes to students, faculty, and alumni. Participating teams in Lab2Market’s Halifax cohort are also provided support from Mitacs and Springboard Atlantic.

In addition to the program’s curriculum, the Winter 2022 cohort will offer a stream focused on developing women in research with tailored program delivery and mentorship. Applications will be open to all Atlantic Canadian graduate students, PhD’s, and post-doctorates, with priority given to women in research.

“At Lab2Market, we work with students and academics to help them better understand the commercial potential of their research,” says Dr. Alice Aiken, Vice President, Research and Innovation at Dalhousie University. “We know that in Atlantic Canada, just 14 percent of startups are female-led, this is disproportionate to the number of women in graduate programs who have ideas that are suitable for commercialization. Dal Innovate’s Lab2Market program is intended to help bridge this gap.”

Teams will consist of three members, a student in the role of Entrepreneurial Lead, an academic supervisor in the role of Technical Lead and an Industry Mentor, who will work together to validate their ideas through customer discovery to find commercial value in market, supported by $15,000 in funding.

The Winter 2022 Program kicks off on February 1, 2022.  Interested applicants from Atlantic Canada are invited to apply at lab2market.ca/apply before October 18, 2021.

About Lab2Market

Lab2Market supports researchers who foresee impact and potential commercial value in their deep tech research, by providing opportunities and exposure to help commercialize their intellectual property. The program is developed and led by Dalhousie University, Memorial University, the University of Manitoba and Ryerson University, and leverages the national I-INC network. Learn more at www.lab2market.ca.

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About Dalhousie University

Dalhousie is the only East Coast member of Canada’s U15, the country’s leading group of research-intensive universities. With more than 250 million dollars in annual research funding, we are Atlantic Canada’s engine of discovery and innovation. Anchored in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with additional agricultural and medical campuses and academic and clinical programs across the province and beyond, we drive positive change in the communities we serve locally, nationally, and around the world. Our faculty work within a highly collaborative research community supported by major infrastructure, including Canada’s largest aquatic research facility and advanced platforms accelerating discoveries in health and the physical sciences. Researchers contribute to and benefit from a growing network of centres, institutes, and hubs driving discovery and industry partnership in areas like battery innovation and clean technologies, carbon capture and storage, additive manufacturing, AI and semiconductors, vaccine and immunotherapy development, genomics, cancer treatment, and much more.

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