The NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) is a suite of activities and programs that aim to:

• Prepare scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory

• Broaden the impact of basic-research projects by translating technology into commercial products

 

Combining experience and guidance from established entrepreneurs with a targeted curriculum, I-Corps is a public-private partnership program that teaches grantees to identify valuable product opportunities that can emerge from academic research, and offers entrepreneurship training to student participants.

 

I-Corps currently offers the following three programs:

• I-Corps Teams – composed of academic researchers, student entrepreneurs and business mentors – participate in the I-Corps curriculum administered via online instruction and on-site activities

• I-Corps Nodes administer rigorous six-week curriculum to I-Corps Teams through select universities across the country

• I-Corps Sites catalyze additional groups to explore potential I-Corps Team projects and other entrepreneurial opportunities that build on basic research through targeted early-stage programs

 

Together, the I-Corps programs strengthen the innovation ecosystem at the local and national levels.