1. Faculty submits application for the Team, including:

• Academic Lead – faculty member or co-inventor designated by faculty member

• Entrepreneurial Lead – student, designated by faculty or connected through program

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2. Selection committee chooses up to 10 applicants per cohort (Fall, Winter, Summer) based on:

• Team and Commitment – The I-Corps Sites program seeks participants with an interest in entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. This includes a willingness to talk to non-scientists about your technology, develop hypotheses on how the technology might be developed into a product, and work towards technology development (rather than basic research) grants. Experience is a plus, but not a requirement.

• Intellectual Property Strength – Strong patent protection is characterized by broad claims that protect your technology and the space around it, as well as an understanding of related patents and publications that may limit your patent’s scope. A patent or copyright (or a willingness to file one) is a requirement to participate in I-Corps Sites.

• Technology Strength – I-Corps Sites deals mainly with early stage technologies in need of some level of validation. The committee will look at research to date that would indicate likely success, and at the technology’s potential to by applied to more than one application or to fit very well into the proposed application.

• Commercial Potential/Applications – The committee is looking for a thoughtful, and plausible, explanation of how your technology might be turned into a saleable product. Much of the program is dedicated to testing your hypotheses about commercialization. However, strong applicants will have basic ideas about what a product would look like, who would buy it, and who their competitors would be.

• Fit with I-Corps Program – The first and most important goal of I-Corps Sites is to teach faculty and students how to think about commercialization. Teams that are enthusiastic about technology commercialization and have clear goals that fit synergistically with what is taught in the program will be favored. The committee will also look for teams with testable hypotheses regarding how their technology could be commercialized.

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3. Team completes 7-week program

• Overview - Basics on technology commercialization, patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets

• Technology Transfer - Patenting, licensing, identifying customers, developing a value proposition, I-Corps Teams

• Technology Commercialization - Market research, finding licensees and identifying startup opportunities

• Funding Sources - Innovation Practice Center, I-Corps Teams, Third Frontier TVSF, and SBIR/STTR

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4. Team makes a go/no-go decision on pursuing commercialization

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