Institute for Convergent Science

Ready. Set. Go.

Our Innovation Framework

Our innovation framework at the Institute for Convergent Science is based on a simple concept. Just as a runner has to prepare their mind and then set the body into a proper stance, a team with an innovative idea has to ready itself for the best launch. Then, during the development phase, we provide the tools, lab space and expert advice to help convergent science teams get set to develop their ideas into solutions that work in the world. After the development stage, we help teams go into the world — referring them for early commercial-stage support in our Kickstart Accelerator where they launch their innovations.

Converge

Get ready. Collaborate and interact to develop research programs, exchange knowledge, and create new ideas and technologies directed at specific questions or problems.

Develop

Get set. Engage in pre-commercial development of your ideas, intellectual property and inventions, while expanding your team’s innovation capacity and funding horizons.

Launch

Go! Take your product or technology to market via a startup company, commercial licensing agreement or a non-commercial pathway designed for social impact.

Are you ready?

Converge to solve problems that matter. No matter the scale.

As the world’s grand challenges grow more complex and urgent, we must innovate together. No single perspective will suffice. The Institute for Convergent Science is where globally renowned faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill meet the most complicated scientific, social and economic problems with deep expertise and a broad collaborative spirit. Our faculty work with peer researchers, industry experts, designers and entrepreneurs to solve problems through diverse perspectives that speed transformative ideas into the world.

Collaborate On Ideas

Are you set?

Let’s reimagine problems and reinvent possible.

At the Institute for Convergent Science, we are on the lookout for emerging solutions and teams that fit our criteria for development support. These currently include teams working on ways to ensure access to clean water, share data with communities during a pandemic, and address ruthless diseases with new therapies.

Develop Your Ideas

Let’s go.

Make diverse perspectives collide. And create all kinds of impact.

Creative collisions spark innovative outcomes. After our faculty bring their diverse perspectives together, they launch market-ready solutions that take many forms: startup companies, socially-driven non-profits and novel technologies that are ready to license to industry.

Launch Innovations

Test drive our innovation toolset.

As a faculty member who participates in the Institute, you get access to a variety of tools and resources to bolster and speed your innovation. Our team will help you develop proposals, identify funding opportunities, apply for awards, get training in team science, find research partners, and connect with instrumentation, prototyping and manufacturing facilities.

Explore Resources