QLab
QLab is a national security innovation accelerator that brings together Harvard and MIT student entrepreneurs with intelligence and defense practitioners to catalyze solutions for real-world challenges.
QLab organizes weekly workshops and guest speaker sessions with the QLab student teams during the spring and summer, featuring experts in defense strategy, venture capital, and emerging technologies.
Featured in The Washington Post
David Ignatius writes that "a surprising thing has happened at Harvard University amid the Trump administration’s tirades about its supposedly “woke” culture: Defense technology has become popular on campus, with undergraduates and grad students racing to build start-ups through a defense-tech incubator called QLab."
Weekly Session Updates
Check out the most recent QLab sessions!
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Event SummaryQLab Spring 2026 Session 7
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Event SummaryQLab Spring 2026 Session 6
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Event SummaryQLab Spring 2026 Session 5
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Event SummaryQLab Spring 2026 Session 4
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Event SummaryQLab Spring 2026 Session 3
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Event SummaryQLab Spring 2026 Session 2
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Event SummaryQLab Spring 2026 Session 1
About QLab
QLab is an accelerator aimed at bolstering U.S. national security innovation. The initiative is designed to foster collaboration among student entrepreneurs from Harvard and MIT, intelligence and national security practitioners, and experienced mentors from the venture, startup, and defense communities.
QLab is an independent, student-led 501(c)(3) created by students from Harvard and MIT. It draws on the expertise and perspectives of Belfer Center faculty, fellows, and staff who engage with students as mentors, speakers, and advisers.
The initiative creates a rare convergence of policy expertise, cutting-edge research, and entrepreneurial skill, intended to address the next generation of national security issues. Its dual focus on policy and entrepreneurship aims to develop solutions that are both scalable and mission-critical.
QLab activities include weekly workshops and guest-speaker sessions, mentorship, networking, and non-dilutive grants for student-led teams funded through QLab’s own fundraising.
Projects are developed and managed independently by students, and student participation in the Qlab accelerator does not imply official endorsement by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, or Harvard University for student projects.
Past QLab Sessions
To see our session summaries from past semesters, please check out our QLab Session Archives page! QLab ran weekly workshops in Spring 2025 and 2026, with select teams continuing through Summer.