Innovation from scratch.

The Zero Experience will teach you how to make a difference with what you already have.

Join the Fall 2024 Waitlist!

Distinguish yourself by making a difference

Powered by the Faculty of Math and Velocity, and open to all students, The Zero Experience is a bite-sized set of interactive workshops where you begin problem solving on things that matter.

Discover, analyze, and begin solving problems affecting millions of people. Learn how to lead and inspire your peers. Craft an exciting early startup, research project, or career. Then dive deeply into what you want from your future.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a first-year or grad student, and it doesn’t matter what faculty you come from. The Zero Experience will teach you how to stand out and leave an impact, no experience required.

“Honestly the Zero Experience has been the best experience I’ve had since I came to Waterloo. I don’t regret any moment of work here.”
1A Arts Alum

How does it work?

The Zero Experience is three weeks long, with two 2-hour workshops each week (Mondays and Thursdays 7-9pm ET, beginning January 22nd). They’ll teach you how to make a real impact from scratch, and give you a recipe for figuring out what you want in life.

In Week 1, you’ll discover urgent problems and ideate creative solutions with peers. In Week 2, you’ll network with professionals and put your solutions into action, while exploring how to spend your time wiser. And in Week 3, you’ll craft a plan for your future and emerge with a meaningful project for impact.

Here’s the cool part. At Week 3’s end, you get a unique map to UW’s Innovation Ecosystem, along with guided mentorship to help you take your next step into the ecosystem. Want to launch a startup, or find a great PhD project, or land a killer co-op? UW has the resources, and Zero will help you get them.

“I absolutely loved the Zero Experience and am so happy I joined. It was an extraordinary program.”
Science Graduate Studies Alum

What do you get out of this?

The most powerful outcome that Zero alumni talk about is the mindset shift. They become far more self-confident, better problem solvers, natural networkers, budding leaders, and ultimately innovators.

Some of them emerge with fascinating new jobs and iron-clad resumes, others become award-winning UWaterloo entrepreneurs, others develop novel research proposals, and more. The Zero Experience provides a broad foundation and mindset you can build off of in a million different directions.

Not only that, but you’ll receive permanent access to Zero’s exclusive alumni group, dozens of essays on success from scratch written by your peers, a signed certificate of innovation, an actionable project for impact, and so much more.

Thousands of UW students have joined this program. But ultimately, you define your unique Experience.

“I was sold within the first few minutes – the way the Zero Experience teaches these skills is mind blowing to me. Truly well-designed, engaging, and something I will be using for years and years to come.”
4A Engineering Alum

This isn’t school.

Every part of the Zero Experience is super interactive, stuffed to the brim with knowledge and all those soft skills university doesn’t teach, created so you can practice with peers immediately.*

*There’s never more than 10 minutes of lecturing at a time. Every cool idea is instantly used, and echoes as the program goes on.

“I feel like the Zero Experience rekindled my love of learning and trying to understand the world, and I’m still riding that high. Beyond grateful for the program.”
1B Math Alum

This works.

Now on its tenth term and with over two thousand alumni, The Zero Experience is proven to help you find a problem you care about.

If you don’t like it, you can leave anytime!

But if it clicks with you as it has for your peers, the Zero Experience will transform your university experience.

Join the Fall 2024 waitlist!