About the program

• In the I-Corps program, scientists and engineers take the first step in assessing if their research has the feasibility to become a product or service of benefit to society.
• Participants join the program in small teams organized around the development and commercialization of a particular discovery.
• Teams engage in customer discovery research aimed at investigating the commercial viability and societal impact of a novel discovery or process in science, technology or engineering. 
• The program provides grants of up to $3,000 and training to support customer discovery and technology investigation.
• Each training program consists of 4 sessions (online) provided by instructors at our Hub institutions. 

Who should apply

• Researchers and their colleagues who have developed a science or technology innovation at any university or college across the northeast are eligible to become entrepreneurial or technical leads.
• Non-university teams are also eligible if they have a "deep tech" (science or engineering) innovation.
• Teams can originate at any institution such as a university, college, medical school or hospital. Participants do not need to be from NSF I-Corps Northeast Hub member institutions. Our regional approach means we have a preference for teams who are based in the Northeast (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Connecticut).

Forming a team

The first step in applying to join I-Corps is to form a team. Teams consist of at least three roles:

• Entrepreneurial lead
  • The entrepreneurial lead may be a graduate student, postdoctoral scholar, undergraduate student or staff member with relevant knowledge of the technology or market and a commitment to investigate the potential opportunity for commercialization.
  • The role of the entrepreneurial lead is to drive the customer discovery process and support the transition of the technology into the marketplace if it demonstrates commercial viability.
    • Additional researchers or leads are welcome.
• Technical lead
  • The technical lead will often have been involved in creating the technology that forms the basis of the team’s business concept or possesses a high level of relevant technical expertise. The role of the technical lead is overall project management. The technical lead is often a faculty member and, if a company is formed, plays a key leadership role such as a scientific advisor or chief technical officer.
• Mentor
  • The industry mentor will typically be an experienced entrepreneur, intrapreneur or corporate innovator who serves as a third-party resource.
  • The role of the mentor is to guide the team forward and track progress.
  • Teams do not have to identify an industry mentor prior to application, but are encouraged to do so. 
  • Mentors can also be suggested by Hub instructors when necessary. 

What you'll get

• Training: Four sessions introducing the lean startup methodology and guiding teams through customer discovery research – customer, problem, solution and value proposition testing. 
• Funding: Grants of up to $3,000 are given to each team and can be used to fund expenses related to customer discovery research, including solution-testing costs. 
  • Acceptable Expense Policy
• Mentorship and networking: Funded teams will receive mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs and innovators. Teams may also utilize many other programs offered by the Hub-affiliated institutions.
• Follow-on opportunities: Upon completion, teams are eligible for the national NSF I-Corps Teams program which provides an intensive 7-week training course and a $50,000 grant.
• Enhanced research outcomes: Other benefits include
  • attracting more innovative graduate students to your lab (for faculty)
  • finding a job in industry (for grad students), networking with peers
  • finding potential licensees for your technologies
  • many other potential beneficial outcomes. 

• Applications will be reviewed by the I-Corps Hub Review Committee.
• Selections are based on project potential and team commitment.
• Teams who pass the initial review will be invited to an interview (online) with the Review Committee.
• Selected teams will then participate in the 4-session training program (online).

• Each team receives a $3,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant and can be used for fund expenses related to customer discovery research.
• The use of the grant funding awarded to Northeast I-Corps Hub teams is governed by the Acceptable Expenses Policy.