Become an entrepreneur

Researchers, students, young alumni -- all have access to entrepreneurship training at Université PSL.

Student Entrepreneurship Diploma (D2E)

Student Entrepreneurship Diploma (D2E)

If you graduated less than 3 years ago, you are eligible for two tracks of the PSL-Pépite program, leading to PSL’s Student Entrepreneur degree, the D2E: Student Entrepreneur degree at PSL-Pépite (D2E). The D2E program grants 60 credits over one year of study:

  • Are you working full-time on your project and/or looking for day-to-day support in your creative process? PSL-Starter is a 5-month accelerator program. At PSL’s coworking space, PSL-Lab, you’ll receive support in all aspects of project development, including marketing, adapting your business model to your market, and optimizing your purchasing and logistics operations, etc.
  • Are you working full-time on your project and already part of an incubator? PSL-Pépite offers training and support for your media development and press relations. With the 100,000 Entrepreneurs association workshop, for example, you’ll learn how to tell the story of your entrepreneurial experience and will have the opportunity to tell those stories to an elementary school class (a project to be defined between you and our partner 100,000 Entrepreneurs). We’ll support you in your crowdfunding projects and press campaigns, and will highlight you at events closely aligned with your business area and targets (VIVA Tech, university and business fairs, etc.).

Join PSL-Pépite

PSL undergraduates

The PSL-Pépite undergraduate program

Open to highly motivated students with entrepreneurship projects, subject to the approval of the academic supervisor. Two tracks are available

  • The PSL-Pépite initiation track provides contact with entrepreneurs, the opportunity to attend entrepreneurship events, and to join PSL’s entrepreneurship community. (If you are studying at Dauphine, you can also attend the D-Start workshops, provided space is available).
  • The pre-support path was designed for students who would like to develop an entrepreneurial project alongside their studies, and provides the opportunity to replace required internships with the entrepreneurial project.  (If you are studying at Dauphine, you will receive day-to-day support from the D-Start program).

Join PSL-Pépite

The "Entrepreneuriales" learning-by-doing program

PSL offers all second- and third-year undergraduates the possibility of participating in the Entrepreneuriales program. This 5-month program offers practical support throughout the very first stages of project design and closes with regional finals in early March, followed by national finals in early June.

Registration: throughout October

The innovation and entrepreneurship electives at PSL institutions

PSL’s institutions and schools offer innovation and entrepreneurship electives as part of your undergraduate education.

Institution Level Title Content
Dauphine L2 Design of collective project + entrepreneurship Topical elective for S3 and S4 of the 2nd year of LSO (Bachelor in Organizational Science)
Dauphine L2 Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Development Topical elective for S3 and S4 of the 2nd year of LSO (Bachelor in Organizational Science)
Dauphine L2 Lean startup (entrepreneurship) Topical elective during 2nd year (S3 and S4) dof the DEGEAD Dauphine Management and Applied Economics Degree
EnsAD L2-L3 Innovation, research & entrepreneurship Introduction to research, entrepreneurship and sustainable development (ecodesign)
Mines ParisTech L3 Entrepreneurial Initiative 1 elective Mandatory: Students carry out a project of their choice (humanitarian, athletic, cultural, etc.)
PSL Master's or an equivalent track

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Master's

Two Master’s degrees at PSL are entirely dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship at the M2 level or equivalent

The PSL-Pépite program

Open to highly motivated students with entrepreneurship projects, subject to the approval of the academic supervisor. Various tracks are available:

  • The PSL-Pépite initiation track provides contact with entrepreneurs, the opportunity to attend entrepreneurship events, and to join PSL’s entrepreneurship community. (If you are studying at Dauphine, you can also attend the D-Start workshops, provided space is available).
  • The pre-support path was designed for students who would like to develop an entrepreneurial project alongside their studies, and provides the opportunity to replace required internships with the entrepreneurial project. (If you are a student at Dauphine, you will receive day-to-day support from the D-Start program).
  • The PSL-Starter program is for students who commit full-time to their project (6-month gap year or internship). The program takes place at PSL’s coworking space, the PSL-Lab, and provides 5 months of support in all aspects of project development, including marketing, adapting your business model to your market, and optimizing your purchasing and logistics operations.

The "Entrepreneuriales" learning-by-doing program

PSL Master’s degree students have the option of participating in the Entrepreneuriales program. This 5-month program offers practical support throughout the very first stages of project design and closes with regional finals in early March, followed by national finals in early June.

Registration: throughout October

    PSL-iTeams elective

    PSL-iTeams, an elective available to all Master’s and doctoral students at PSL as of the 2017/2018 academic year, was designed to build students’ entrepreneurial capacity and teamwork skills while fostering the development of innovative projects, providing IP support for research results coming out of PSL labs, and supporting the creation of startups or other technology transfer projects by students and researchers. Interested? Contact PSL-iTeams

    The innovation and entrepreneurship modules at PSL institutions

    Several PSL programs provide the opportunity to register for modules (mandatory or elective) at the Master’s level

    Institution Level Title Content
    École nationale supérieure de Chimie de Paris - PSL M2 Entrepreneurship 101 A mandatory seminar on entrepreneurship and the management of innovative activities, organized in collaboration with Université Paris-Dauphine.
    École nationale supérieure de Chimie de Paris - PSL M2 Entrepreneurship in-depth  Elective in-depth seminar on entrepreneurship and funding for innovative activities.
    Dauphine - PSL M2 Inter-track challenge Mandatory in Semester 3 for all Marketing & Strategy Master’s students.
    Dauphine - PSL M2 Entrepreneurship 101 Business Administration Magistère: 24-hour seminar in which you have the opportunity to meet 5 or 6 European CEOs. Each presentation includes a business case related to the entrepreneur’s company.
    Dauphine - PSL MPPBS, semestre 4 Entrepreneurship and new business models Using the business model concept to shed light on the process of renewing and creating value within an organization, this module presents the basic elements used in building and analyzing a business model and additionally covers the newest, emerging forms of business models, with discussion of their intricacies.
    ESCPI - PSL M2 Innovation Management By delving into the notion of innovation, this course exposes students to the internal and external restraints involved in developing new concepts.
    ESCPI - PSL M2 Project Management Playing a prominent role within companies, R&D departments, and other organizations, project management requires a variety of technical and soft skills, including the ability to draw up specifications, monitor costs and deadlines, and lead steering committees and teams.
    Mines Paris - PSL M1 Entrepreneurial Initiative 2 elective Elective: Students carry out a project of their choice (humanitarian, athletic, cultural, etc.)
    PSL Doctoral programs

    PSL-ITI

    PSL’s Institute for Technology and Innovation (PSL-ITI) offers an excellence-based academic path unprecedented among French universities. It is sponsored by the École normale supérieure - PSL, ESPCI Paris - PSL, Institut Curie, MINES Paris - PSL and the Observatoire de Paris - PSL.

    Its vision? Train the scientists and entrepreneurs of tomorrow, who can transform the results of scientific research into solid drivers of industrial innovation. The PSL-ITI predoctoral track offers:

    • Multidisciplinary scientific courses (innovative healthcare technologies, quantum engineering, energy, space and land engineering, etc.) and training in innovation and entrepreneurship.
    • A 5-month internship in an academic laboratory or with a private company (startup or large industrial firm).
    • Simulated creation of a spinoff at a PSL laboratory

    Interested? Read more

    PSL-iTeams elective

    PSL-iTeams, an elective available to all Master’s and doctoral students at PSL as of the 2017/2018 academic year, was designed to build students’ entrepreneurial capacity and teamwork skills while fostering the development of innovative projects, providing IP support for research results coming out of PSL labs, and supporting the creation of startups or other technology transfer projects by students and researchers. Interested? Contact PSL-iTeams

    Post-doctoral fellowships at PSL

     

    PSL-Hack

    As part of the PSL Week, PSL offers 9 different tracks, including PSL-Hack. This is a PSL-organized hackathon that introduces you to entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship.

    On the agenda: Five full days of work on the innovation challenges of the partner company, inspiring conferences by PSL alumni who tell their own adventures in entrepreneurship, and your own pilot project, presenting your solutions to a jury at the end of the week. The jury is comprised of PSL professors, subject matter experts from the partner company, and PSL entrepreneurs. The first PSL-Hack took place in March 2017 at ESPCI, in partnership with the French utility EDF. The next PSL-Hack took place in March 2018.