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USF I-Corps Program

NSF I-Corps at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ

Credit: VentureWell

Do you have a research idea that you think has commercial potential down the line? Do you dream of starting a company sometime in the future?

If your answers are yes, then the I-Corps program is right for you. Apply to participate in the USF NSF I-Corps Site Program.

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

The Â鶹ÊÓƵ is an I-Corps Site, which is geared for developing potential I-Corps Team projects and providing an entrepreneurial program for potential faculty and graduate student teams to complete together to assess their business potential. I-Corps Sites will provide infrastructure, advice, resources, networking opportunities, training and modest funding to enable groups to transition their work into the marketplace or into becoming I-Corps Team applicants.

With the support and mentorship of the Sites, the teams learn first-hand about entrepreneurship and explore the transition of their ideas, devices, processes or other intellectual activities into the marketplace.

With the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Site program at USF, you have a unique opportunity to learn and explore commercial potential of your idea. The program will teach you, through its unique NSF recognized LeanLaunch PadTM curriculum, how to mature a research idea with commercial potential into a commercially viable prototype design.

USF is one of the 99 national sites designated for this training and one of only three in Florida. You will be part of a highly sought-after national movement and join the elite groups of innovators in the National Innovation Network of I-Corps participants. If selected, you will join the select group of I-Corps Fellows at USF.

• 339 I-Corps Site teams
• 34 I-Corps National teams
• Post I-Corps: 23 startup companies funded with more than $12.5 million

The I-Corps Site at USF provides infrastructure, advice, resources, networking opportunities, training and modest funding to explore the transition of your ideas, devices, processes or other intellectual activities into the marketplace.

The NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program 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

With the I-Corps Sites Program, the National Science Foundation is trying to achieve a number of goals:

• Accelerate the commercialization of new technologies, products and processes that arise from the nation's academic institutions.
• Nurture students and/or faculty who are engaged in projects having the potential to be transitioned into the marketplace.
• Develop formal, active, local innovation ecosystems that contribute to a larger, national network of mentors, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors.
• Encourage collaboration between academia and industry.
• Prepare local teams to engage competitively in NSF's I-Corps Teams Program (I-Corps Teams) and in SBIR and other competitions that support entrepreneurship.
• Contribute to a  of I-Corps Sites, Nodes, Hubs, Mentors, and alumni-Teams from these entities.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.