Entrepreneurship internship fellowship
This entrepreneurship internship starts with a problem you find in the field, with a mentor who reviews your idea at each step. You talk to the people who face the problem, design a small, low-cost solution and test it with real users before you pitch it.
For school and university students who want to start something of their own and learn how founders test an idea. Online, with field work near where you live. The fellowship is paid because every fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders.
Why entrepreneurship matters for sustainability
Many environmental problems persist because nobody has built a practical way to solve them at a price people will pay. Entrepreneurs start with one specific problem and test whether people want a solution. They change the idea until it works. A venture that solves a local waste or energy problem and covers its own costs can keep running and spread to new places.
Earth5R’s field work brings you close to problems people face each day. It designed drum composters from reused industrial containers for housing societies, and has run upcycling workshops where NIFT students made products from waste. At its street hackathons, citizens propose climate solutions. As a fellow you start from what you see in this work and test an idea of your own.
This work links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 8, Decent work and economic growth and Goal 9, Industry, innovation and infrastructure.
Available projects in the entrepreneurship internship fellowship
You join Earth5R’s live work through your own subject. Your mentor shapes the final project with you.
From field problem to idea
Pick a problem you saw at a cleanup, waste audit or household survey, interview the people who face it, and write a clear problem statement with your mentor.
Upcycled product venture
Design a product made from waste, building on Earth5R’s upcycling work with NIFT students and the paper bags made in its women’s livelihood work, and test price and demand with buyers.
Composting service model
Plan a small service that helps housing societies run drum composters, work out its costs and price, and test the offer with residents or a society committee.
Prototype test and pitch
Build a simple prototype or mock-up, test it with users, change it based on what you learn, and pitch the result in a research conversation.
What you do in the field
- Spot problems at cleanups, waste audits and household surveys near you
- Interview the people who face the problem and record what they say
- Write a problem statement and a simple business model
- Build a low-cost prototype, mock-up or service trial
- Test it with users and change it based on what you learn
- Pitch your idea in a research conversation and answer questions
Skills you build
On a entrepreneurship internship, you collect your own data near where you live, using the Earth5R app and data forms. Earth5R checks the data on its platform before it goes into your project report.
How the entrepreneurship internship fellowship works
Every fellow moves through four phases. Each phase is checked by your mentor before you move on.
Observe and Map
Go into the field near where you live and collect primary data for your project in Entrepreneurship and Startups.
Frame and Design
Find the root cause in your data and frame a problem worth solving, with your mentor.
Model
Build a working model, analysis or design for your solution, and test it.
Build and Deploy
Put your solution to work, measure the result and publish a verified record on earth5r.org.
Along the way you take part in research conversations with professors at MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and other universities, and ask your own questions. See how FIELDWORK works.
Where this can take you
Degrees this work supports
- BBA or BMS with an entrepreneurship focus
- BTech or BDes with a product or innovation focus
- MSc in Entrepreneurship or Innovation Management
- MBA with an entrepreneurship track
- Master’s in Social Innovation or Sustainability
Careers in this field
- Startup founder
- Product manager at a startup
- Venture capital or impact investing analyst
- Innovation manager in a company
- Social enterprise manager
Universities known for Entrepreneurship and Startups
Strong entrepreneurship programmes look for applicants who have started something, tested it with real people and learned from the result. A fellowship project gives you a documented idea with user feedback, reviewed by your mentor and recorded on earth5r.org. Students use a entrepreneurship internship to build a record of real work for applications to universities like these.
USA · Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP)
The Stanford Technology Ventures Program is the entrepreneurship centre in the Stanford School of Engineering. It runs courses for Stanford students, fellows programmes such as the Mayfield Fellows Program and the Accel Leadership Program, and free teaching content through eCorner. Its research looks at startup growth, technology innovation and entrepreneurial policy, including climate and sustainability.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
USA · Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
Serving MIT students from all schools and disciplines, the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship offers courses, co-curricular programmes, advisory services and facilities. Its offerings include StartMIT and the summer accelerator MIT delta v. MIT Sloan students can also follow the MBA E&I Track or earn the MIT Sloan E&I Certificate.
USA · Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership
Centres within Babson’s Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership include the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship, the Bertarelli Institute for Family Entrepreneurship and the C. Dean Metropoulos Institute for Technology and Entrepreneurship. The school hosts the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference. All undergraduates take Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship, where they start and run a business.
USA · Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship
The Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship is the entrepreneurship hub at HBS, supporting student founders, joiners and investors during the two-year MBA. It runs the New Venture Competition for students and alumni and lists the school’s entrepreneurship courses. The school’s entrepreneurship faculty write cases used in business schools around the world.
University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
USA · Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET)
Based in Berkeley’s College of Engineering, the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology teaches innovation and entrepreneurship to students and professionals. Its courses use the Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship, and students can earn a Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Technology. Student teams pitch their ventures at the Collider Cup showcase.
UK · Entrepreneurship Centre, Cambridge Judge Business School
The Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School supports aspiring entrepreneurs, early-stage ventures and small and medium-sized enterprises. Its programmes include Accelerate Cambridge, Ignite and EnterpriseTECH, and it shares resources for entrepreneurs and SMEs from across its network. The business school also teaches an MSt in Social Innovation.
UK · Imperial Business School (entrepreneurship research and teaching)
Imperial Business School studies entrepreneurship through themes such as spotting opportunities, managing innovation, building entrepreneurial ecosystems and commercialising scientific innovations. It teaches the MSc Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Management. The school’s Institute for Deep Tech Entrepreneurship helps turn university science into ventures, in fields that range from health to sustainable food and energy systems.
France · Rudolf and Valeria Maag INSEAD Centre for Entrepreneurship
The Rudolf and Valeria Maag INSEAD Centre for Entrepreneurship supports new venture creation, the renewal of existing companies and the turnaround of struggling ones. It runs a Startup Bootcamp, the INSEAD Venture Competition for pitching new ventures and an Entrepreneurs-in-Residence programme. The INSEAD LaunchPad at STATION F in Paris is an accelerator for alumni-led startups.
Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Germany · TUM Entrepreneurship and TUM Venture Labs
TUM offers start-up consulting to students, employees, scientists and alumni, and works with its associated institute UnternehmerTUM on training and support for founders. TUM Venture Labs back technology spin-offs in engineering, natural and life sciences, AI and IT, and medicine. The university helps researchers and students turn ideas for technologies that ease pressure on the climate and environment into products.
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Singapore · NUSX (formerly NUS Enterprise)
NUSX, the new name for NUS Enterprise since September 2026, supports founders and helps turn NUS research into ventures. Through NUS Overseas Colleges, students spend a year working at a startup abroad, and the MSc in Venture Creation lets them build a company while earning a master’s. The GRIP programme helps researchers turn lab intellectual property into companies.
This list is for guidance. These universities are widely known for Entrepreneurship and Startups. Earth5R has no admissions arrangement with them, and admission decisions rest with each university. Fellows get help researching universities, scholarships and applications, depending on the programme.
What your fellowship fee pays for
An internship fellowship at Earth5R is time and attention from senior researchers and leaders. Each part below takes staff time and resources that we set aside for every fellow.
Live mentoring with experts
One-to-one mentoring in most fellowships, with regular check-ins on your project.
Dialogues with global researchers
Academics from international universities and renowned scientists, who answer your questions and discuss your work.
Support in the field
Guidance while you collect data and work on your project in the field.
References for your next step
References when you apply for jobs, higher studies and research programmes.
Your work, hosted for life
Your work and data stay on Earth5R’s website and servers for life, where universities and employers can check them.
Time from senior people
Each fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders, set aside for them.
Fee details available on request.
Choose your fellowship
The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details available on request.
Entrepreneurship internship: common questions
Do I need a business idea before I join this entrepreneurship internship?
No. You find the problem during your field work. Your mentor helps you choose one that is specific enough to test, and you build the idea from interviews with the people who face it.
Will I start a real company?
The fellowship takes you from a problem to a tested idea and a pitch. Registering a company is a later decision that stays with you. Fellows who want to keep building can take a tested idea further in the Advanced Fellowship.
What do I pitch at the end of an entrepreneurship internship?
You pitch the problem, who faces it, your solution and what your tests showed, along with a rough cost to run it. You present in a research conversation and answer questions on your test results.
Is the entrepreneurship internship fellowship paid?
Yes. It is a paid, mentored internship fellowship. The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details are available on request.
Can I do this entrepreneurship internship online?
Yes. FIELDWORK runs online, and your field work takes place near where you live. Your mentor guides you through each step.
Who can apply?
School and university students from India and other countries. The fellowship prepares you for university, postgraduate study and work.
What do I get at the end?
A certificate, a letter of recommendation, a project report and a verified profile on earth5r.org, where universities and employers can check your work.
Related internship fellowships
Apply for the entrepreneurship internship fellowship
Work on a live Earth5R project in Entrepreneurship and Startups with a mentor, take part in research conversations with global researchers, and build a verified record of your work. Fee details available on request.
