Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly look at the distinguishing resources and opportunities offered by the leading business schools. This week, we travel to Charlottesville to visit the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. The school’s Batten Institute provides support for entrepreneurs on campus, as well as creating myriad experiential learning opportunities for all students.
“Darden students interested in entrepreneurship and innovation are encouraged to make use of the resources offered by the school’s Batten Institute. In addition to supporting research projects that focus on economic growth, emerging markets, sustainability and healthcare, the institute offers frequent opportunities for experiential learning and networking, along with financial support for student entrepreneurs.
“To encourage the development of new business ventures on campus, the Batten Institute organizes an annual Entrepreneurial Concept Competition as well as a more traditional Business Plan Competition. These competitions provide a way for ventures in many stages of development to attract attention and support. In the Entrepreneurial Concept Competition, teams simply submit an executive summary that rigorously analyzes a market opportunity they see. The Business Plan Competition takes this several steps further, asking teams to submit a full-fledged business plan, including an overview of the venture’s management team and its projected financials.
“In both competitions, the winning teams each receive a cash prize, along with preference in the application process for the Darden Business Incubator, which is funded by the Batten Institute. Teams that are selected to participate in the Incubator receive summer funding to support one principal as he or she works to develop the venture. In addition to this funding, Incubator support includes a business expense allowance, guidance and mentoring from an advisory board, and up to three months of infrastructure support after launch. Nearly 100 ventures to date have gotten off the ground with the help of the Darden Business Incubator, including a manufacturer of hazardous gas detection devices, a producer of literacy and vocabulary development tools and a consultancy to help high school athletes navigate the college recruiting process.
“The Batten Institute also supported the construction of Darden’s new innovation lab, or i.Lab, which officially opened in March 2010. The i.Lab is a 4,000-square-foot learning environment intended to encourage innovative and entrepreneurial thinking through experiential opportunities. Included in this space is a full-fledged design studio, equipped with work benches, tools and an array of building materials, so that students can actually design and create models and prototypes of their entreprneurial ideas. The i.Lab also features an open collaboration space in which students can share and evaluate their ideas and models….”
To read more about the Batten Institute, be sure to check out the Clear Admit School Guide to the Darden School. All 21 Clear Admit School Guides are available for immediate purchase and download on the Clear Admit shop.
You could win a Clear Admit Guide! Based on today’s post, we’ll be running a trivia contest on Twitter. Be sure to follow us and play for your chance to win!
Read the full article: Trivia Tuesday: Darden’s Batten Institute