Eligibility requirements
- Required team consisting of:
- Technical Lead / Primary Investigator: A faculty member who is the technology inventor and serves as principal investigator, or a postdoctoral researcher who has expertise in the core technology area.
- Entrepreneurial Lead: A graduate student or postdoctoral researcher who leads the team and is committed to commercialization.
- Industry Mentor: An industry expert with business/entrepreneurial experience who is independent from the technology development and team.
- Obtain prior NSF lineage
- From a prior NSF research grant in the last five years, OR
- Successful completion of a regional I-Corps program
- Develop a deep technology/STEM innovation
- Have the right to pursue the Intellectual Property (sponsoring university owns it)
- Commit to attending all cohort meetings and conducting 100 customer discovery interviews during the seven-week cohort
application process
- Understand and commit to all participation requirements for NSF I-Corps: FAQ’s, and Introductory Webinar.
- Complete a regional I-Corps program with your traditional team.
- Obtain a Nomination Letter from your academic institution using this template. The letter should be from your academic institution’s Hub leadership team (Primary Investigator or Faculty Lead) that is the most familiar with the team. It should indicate why your team would be a good fit for the NSF I-Corps program as well as your level of participation and performance in the regional I-Corps program.
- Prepare an Executive Summary using this template.
- Request a preparation interview with the hub leadership team by emailing www.info@gp-icorps.org with the subject line: <Team Name> <National I-Corps Application>. Include your Letter of Support and Executive Summary in the email. All interviews are done virtually.
- Attend a preparation interview with the hub leadership team. Teams are evaluated on a combination of factors, including the commercial readiness of technology, the potential market impact, and the team’s commitment and qualifications. The hub leadership team will provide guidance and feedback on your application. Apply feedback given.
- Obtain a Letter of Recommendation from the Great Plains Regional I-Corps Hub.
- Once you have obtained the Letter of Recommendation, complete the NSF I-Corps Teams Executive Summary Form.
- Participate in a screening interview with an NSF Program Officer. After completing a successful interview, you will be invited to select the cohort that your team would like to attend. Be sure all team members are available to attend all I-Corps session dates and times.
- If invited by NSF, submit an I-Corps proposal.