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USP graduate program provides training for entrepreneurial scientists

Entrepreneurial Scientist Formation, Entrepreneurship from Ideation to Execution, and People and Team Management for Entrepreneurship are some of the courses offered in the first semester of 2026

 13/01/2026 - Publicado há 6 meses

By: Erika Yamamoto

Art by: Daniela Gonçalves*

Jornal da USP photomontage using images from Freepik and Freepik

Aiming to foster an entrepreneurial culture among graduate students, with a focus on scientific innovation and social impact, the Provost’s Office for Graduate Affairs (PRPG) has developed nine exclusive entrepreneurship courses.

The courses have no prerequisites and are offered to regular students from all USP graduate programs. Content is delivered virtually, with synchronous classes and asynchronous activities. Assessment varies by course and may include individual projects or work in multidisciplinary groups.

“The creation of these courses aligns with the Provost’s Office’s proposal to expand the diversity of training tracks in graduate studies for students with different interests and projects, offering more opportunities for the acquisition of skills and competencies. It is important to note that this set of courses is available to students from all USP graduate programs, on all campuses and in any field of knowledge, allowing for integration and interaction among students with diverse scientific backgrounds and fostering interdisciplinarity”. explains Rodrigo Calado, USP’s Provost for Graduate Affairs.

Registration for the new courses can be done via the Janus System until January 19. The following courses will be offered in the first semester of 2026:

  • DPG5011 – Entrepreneurial Scientist Formation

  • DPG5015 – Entrepreneurship – From Ideation to Execution

  • DPG5020 – People and Team Management for Entrepreneurship

  • DPG5021 – Mindfulness Applied to Entrepreneurship

Rodrigo Calado – Photo: Marcos Santos/USP Imagens

Resulting from a partnership with the USP Innovation Agency (Auspin), the training track is not linked to any specific academic unit and is offered directly by the Provost’s Office for Graduate Affairs, with the participation of professors from the Innovation Center (InovaUSP) and several University units.

Auspin Coordinator Luiz Henrique Catalani highlights the initiative’s importance for strengthening the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at the University. “Our mission, by integrating entrepreneurship into USP’s graduate studies, is to promote a culture of innovation and train researchers capable of generating a positive impact on society, transforming knowledge into real and applied solutions”, says Catalani.

Students who complete at least three courses of the track will receive a Special Certificate of Entrepreneurial Training, issued by the Provost’s Office for Graduate Affairs (PRPG), representing formal recognition of the student’s entrepreneurial training. In the future, graduate programs will be able to issue completion certificates and include an “emphasis on entrepreneurship” for students who complete a specific number of credits.

Luiz Catalani – Photo Cecília Bastos /USP Imagens

GT Arco-íris

The entrepreneurship training track from the Provost’s Office for Graduate Affairs (PRPG) is one of the proposals suggested by the Arc of Radical Innovation with Social Impact Working Group (GT Arco-Íris), created in June by the PRPG and the USP Innovation Agency (Auspin). The group was tasked with assessing how innovation and entrepreneurship were addressed in graduate studies and, based on this analysis, proposing actions.

The result was the development of a model built on four pillars: a track of entrepreneurship courses; a public call to foster innovative and social impact projects; a Special Certificate of Entrepreneurial Training; and the USP Innovation Connect event, designed to connect students, faculty, and investors.

“Collectively, these initiatives seek to transform USP into an institution where excellence in research is converted, systematically and interdisciplinarily, into ventures with the potential to generate high socioeconomic and environmental impact innovation”, explains Mateus Gerolamo, the Working Group coordinator.

Mateus C. Gerolamo – Phot0: Courtesy of Mateus C. Gerolamo

Professor Liliam Carrete, from the School of Economics, Business, Accounting and Actuarial Science (FEA), who was also a member of the Working Group, highlights that the training track strategically expands the professional horizons of graduate students: “Beyond research and teaching, scientific entrepreneurship establishes itself as a third path of impact, where master’s and PhD students can take a leading role in creating new technology-based companies, generating qualified jobs, tax revenue, and innovative solutions for society’s major economic, social, and environmental challenges, in full alignment with USP’s public mission“.

As next steps, the Working Group identified the need to propose courses related to the legal dimension of innovation, such as intellectual property, contracts, and agreements; to structure the Special Certificate in Entrepreneurship Studies for USP graduate students; to consolidate the Ciência que Transforma (Science that Transforms) public call as a permanent funding program to support science-based innovation and entrepreneurship in graduate programs across all fields of knowledge; and to promote events to integrate the academic community with society at large, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives.

English version: Translated and edited by Denis Pacheco

Liliam Sanchez Carrete – Photo: FEA-USP

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