Attend an I-Corps Regional Course

NSF I-Corps Regional Courses are for university researchers and early-stage startup founders who are interested in exploring the market potential of their work and learning entrepreneurial skills.

Good news!

The UNY I-Corps Node is becoming the…

Check out our new website for new regional course offerings

In the I-Corps regional course, STEM researchers and aspiring entrepreneurs “get out of their comfort zone” and learn from potential customers. The goal is to determine if they are solving a real-world problem with a sizable market opportunity. In addition to entrepreneurial training, this program helps researchers identify new ways to apply their research to solve real-life challenges.

How it works

The virtual regional course is 4.5 weeks long. It combines self-directed online learning activities, with six Zoom-based class meetings (1-2 hours long), and two 1:1 instructor check ins (15-20 minutes). Teams of 1-3 people can apply. Eight to ten teams are selected per class. Teams aim to conduct 30 customer discovery interviews.

During the first two weeks, teams learn how to:

  1. Identify their target customer segments
  2. Develop hypotheses about the value proposition they offer each customer segment
  3. Find and effectively interview potential customers about their problems/needs

Over the following two and a half weeks, teams conduct 30 customer discovery interviews by video or phone conference, and join two check in calls with instructors to share progress and receive coaching.

In the final class, teams present their findings, receive more coaching, learn about other local entrepreneurship programs, and receive information about applying for the national I-Corps Teams program, and SBIR/STTR grants.

Since 2017, we led:

117

regional courses at

20

different universities to over

912

teams

Recent Courses

NCATS at UofR

Oct – Nov 2022

WVU

Oct 7 – Nov 9, 2022

SUNY Binghamton

Sep 20 – Oct 20, 2022

Cornell

Sep 2 – Oct 7, 2022

UVM

Aug. 8 – Sep. 8, 2022

GEM Fellowship

July 11 – August 12, 2022

Biotech

May 31 – June 22, 2022

ARPA-E

May 9 – May 30, 2022

WVU

April 18 – May 18, 2022

SUNY Binghamton

March 22 – April 20, 2022

Cornell

Feb. 28 – March 31, 2022

U of Rochester

Feb. 7 – March 9, 2022

SUNY Binghamton

Jan. 25 – Feb. 24, 2022

Weill Cornell

Dec 22, 2021 – Jan 26, 2022

Ag-Corps (Cornell)

Dec. 13, 2021 – Jan. 14 – 2022

RIT

Oct. 22 – Nov. 22, 2021

U of Rochester

Oct. 11 – Nov. 10, 2021

SUNY Binghamton

Sept. 21 – Oct. 21, 2021

WVU

Sept. 20 – Oct. 20, 2021

Cornell

Sept. 3 – Oct. 6, 2021

GEM Fellows

July 31 – Aug 28, 2021

SUNY Buffalo

July 2 – August 4, 2021

WVU

May 28 – June 30, 2021

Cornell

May 28 – June 30, 2021

Sign up for our newsletter