OSU I-CORPS
Training researchers
to be entrepreneurs
OSU’s National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) Program helps researchers
(students & faculty) find the commercial potential of their technology.
This four-session program focuses on customer discovery and understanding the unique values your technology brings to customers. Through weekly coaching feedback and 30 discovery interviews, you will take the first step towards developing a commercialization plan to get your technology out of the lab and into the marketplace.
OSU is one of nine universities that make up NSF's Southwest i-Corps Hub.
This four-session program focuses on customer discovery and understanding the unique values your technology brings to customers. Through weekly coaching feedback and 30 discovery interviews, you will take the first step towards developing a commercialization plan to get your technology out of the lab and into the marketplace.
OSU is one of nine universities that make up NSF's Southwest i-Corps Hub.
Program Overview
Program benefits
- Receive $1,000 in NSF funding for travel reimbursement and stipends to help you conduct interviews.
- Gain eligibility to apply for an I-Corps' $50,000 National Program.
- Develop entrepreneurial skills including how to engage customers.
- Discover your initial business model and product-market fit for use in commercialization plans like SBIR/STTR grants.
Time requirements
The program consists of three cohorts over the course of five weeks with customer discovery interviews taking place between each session. The $1,000 pays for travel costs for teams to conduct 30 interviews.Next cohorts in 2024:
- Summer #2: July/August
- Fall #1: September/October
- Fall #2: October/November
Team composition
- A minimum of two people is required to make up an I-Corps team (entrepreneurial lead and technical lead) with a maximum of four members.
- The technical lead will typically be a faculty member, senior research scientist or postdoctoral scholar.
- The entrepreneurial lead is typically a student or other personnel with relevant knowledge of the technology.
It takes a village
“We want you to walk away with two things,” said John Nickel, the assistant director
of Cowboy Technologies. “We want you to be able to say, ‘This is what my technology
is excellent at, and these are the customers who care.’ If you have both of those
things combined, you have product-market fit, and you might have a commercializable product
on your hands.”
Dr. Priyank Jaiswal and Dr. Mohamed Soliman and their product, Intact, are currently
making their way through the I-Corps program.
