Whether you're starting a career in climate, hiring talent, or building on the latest research, Seattle's universities are the place to start.
University of Washington, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Washington State University anchor the region's climate research and feed talent into the industries doing the work. Read on for a starter guide to the major programs and centers.
University of Washington
Washington Clean Energy Testbeds
The Washington Clean Energy Testbeds are an open-access fabrication, testing, and prototyping facility in Seattle created by UW's Clean Energy Institute for solar, energy storage, systems integration, and pilot-scale batteries, where founders keep their IP and pay per use, with staff who can run R&D for them. Its dedicated founder program, CHIP, offers funded facility access for pre-Series-B startups over roughly six months plus a materials allowance, open to applicants nationwide.
CoMotion Labs: Climate Tech Incubator
UW's CoMotion Climate Tech Incubator is a cohort-based, equity-free incubator at the downtown Seattle Climate Innovation Hub run with the city and partners, offering tailored mentorship, a climate-tech network, business-development curriculum, downtown coworking and makerspace access, connections to UW labs, and a demo day. It prefers UW spinouts but accepts non-UW startups and is not built for pure ideation-stage teams.
Clean Energy Institute
UW's Clean Energy Institute is a university research institute advancing next-generation solar, batteries, and grid-integration materials and devices, not a founder program, and its founder-facing value is delivered through the vehicles it operates, the Clean Energy Testbeds and the CHIP program. Founders should engage it through the Testbeds, CHIP, or CoMotion rather than expecting direct startup services.
Clean Energy Bridge to Research
UW's Clean Energy Bridge to Research is a federally funded summer undergraduate research experience, a multi-week lab placement with a stipend and allowances, not a founder program, and it offers no accelerator, funding, or commercialization support for startups. It is a workforce and education pipeline and a source of technical talent. Founders route to the Clean Energy Testbeds, CHIP, or CoMotion.
CEI Graduate Fellows Program
UW's CEI Graduate Fellows Program is a competitive PhD fellowship providing salary and tuition support for doctoral research in clean-energy focus areas plus seminars and networking, not a startup program. It is a talent-development pipeline and a source of technical co-founders and hires rather than a founder vehicle. Founders route to CoMotion and the Clean Energy Testbeds.
EarthLab
UW's EarthLab is a university institute functioning as a research engine and community catalyst, housing environmental centers and running community-engaged research grant programs for faculty and community partners rather than startups, so it is not a founder program. Founders focused on adaptation and environmental-justice research can treat it as a research-partnership and grant convener. Founders route to CoMotion and the Clean Energy Testbeds for venture support.
Washington State University
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Joint Institute
The Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory joint institutes are research institutes advancing grid simulation and controls and bioproducts from plants and waste, with joint appointments and student training, not founder programs. Their founder-relevant adjacent vehicle is the WSU Office of Commercialization for licensing and gap funding. Their value is research and licensable technology rather than acceleration.
Office of Commercialization
Washington State University's Office of Commercialization is the university's tech-transfer office managing invention disclosures, patenting, and licensing of WSU IP and supporting startup formation, offering founders technology licensing through option and exclusive agreements and an annual commercialization gap fund to advance readiness. It is a tech-transfer office rather than an accelerator, so non-WSU founders are served only as licensees.
Distinguished Graduate Research Program
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Washington State University Distinguished Graduate Research Program is a doctoral training pipeline embedding WSU students in lab research in their later years, funded by their advisors, not a founder program with startup services. Its value to founders is technical talent and research collaboration. Founders route to the WSU Office of Commercialization for licensing and venture development.
WSU Energy Program
The WSU Energy Program is a self-supporting university department operating like a state energy office and consulting extension, delivering energy-efficiency technical assistance, industrial assessments, building-code support, free analytical software, and state community-energy programs, not a startup program. It is useful to founders as a technical-assistance and market-connection resource across utilities, industry, and agencies, but it does not fund or incubate startups.
Western Washington University
Institute for Energy Studies
Western Washington University's Institute for Energy Studies is an interdisciplinary academic program offering energy degrees, minors, undergraduate research, and a tool-lending library, a workforce and education pipeline and talent source rather than a founder program. Its value to founders is talent and research collaboration. Founders route to the regional accelerators like Cascadia and VertueLab for venture support.