Sponsorship of a fellow is an opportunity for a Media Lab consortium-level (or higher) sponsor to work closely with a principal investigator and a graduate student in a specific area of focus to better understand the research being conducted at the Lab. Student fellows can carry the sponsor’s name, and can rotate annually. The fellows program is designed to enhance communication between sponsors and the Lab, and optimize knowledge in a focused area. The company’s name is associated with the fellow in Lab publications and presentations. In addition, after graduation many fellows have been hired by sponsor companies, with the fellow bringing a collaborative research project to the company.

Benefits

• A mechanism for making deeper connections into the research of a specific Lab research group;
• Possible visits by the fellow or faculty advisor to the sponsoring company to talk in detail about how the company’s issues map onto Lab work;
• An opportunity to invite the fellow to intern at the company during the summer or for the month of January;
• A company mentor assigned to fellow can have impact on fellow’s research;
• A vehicle for getting technology and ideas of interest to the company into the Lab (i.e., bidirectional exchange).