UT hosting NSF I-Corps Spring Regional next month
The University of Tennessee (UT) will host the National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Spring Regional next month.
Set for April 5 through 19, the event is an intensive program to help individuals who are interested in commercializing their research. Teams of two to four members are invited to apply for the opportunity. The deadline is March 29. Click here to access the electronic application and make sure to select UT as the regional location for which you are applying.
Organizers advise that applicants must be located in the Southeast. University-based teams are preferred, though not required.
The program kicks-off April 5 with a workshop at UT’s Cherokee Farm Innovation Campus. The curriculum will cover the customer discovery process, developing a value proposition, and creating a business thesis. For the next two weeks, teams will conduct a series of interviews with prospective customers to identify their needs and meet with instructors during virtual office hours. The program wraps up on April 19 when participants reconvene to share what they have learned.
Instructors include Shawn Carson, Lecturer in UT’s Haslam College of Business, and Maha Krishnamurthy, Vice President of the UT Research Foundation (UTRF).
The NSF I-Corps program was established in 2011 to help scientists and engineers think beyond the laboratory and identify opportunities for translating research into commercial products that benefit society. Teams that perform well in a regional cohort may be recommended for a national program. If accepted, they are eligible to receive a $50,000 grant.
UT is a partner in I-Corps South, whose members include the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. UT’s I-Corps South initiative is co-sponsored by the Haslam College of Business and UTRF.
