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Division of Research & Innovation

NSF I-Corps

 

The University of Memphis NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Program helps researchers, students, staff, and regional innovators move promising ideas from discovery to real-world impact.

Through a five-week virtual training experience, participants learn how to test ideas, understand customer needs, explore market opportunities, and build stronger pathways toward commercialization.

Contact us to learn more about the NSF I-Corps program at the University of Memphis.

Summer 2026 NSF I-Corps Program


Applications are now closed for the Summer 2026 NSF I-Corps Program at the University of Memphis. The next cohort begins Wednesday, September 30, 2026.

 

Applications Closed

 

Program Details: 5-Week Training

Our virtual program consists of weekly 2-hour evening sessions for 5 weeks that cover:

  • Customer Discovery: A systematic process of interviewing potential end-users to test and validate assumptions about their problems and how your innovations can serve as solutions.
  • Business Model Canvas: A strategic tool to map out how your innovation creates, delivers, and captures value.
  • Design Thinking: A customer-centered problem-solving approach to ensure your solution is practical, user-centered, and tailored to market needs.

 

Why Join I-Corps?

  1. Increase Funding Success: Participation significantly boosts the probability of securing federal grants (NSF, NIH, USDA, DoD) and prepares teams for SBIR/STTR funding (up to $2M+).
  2. Market Navigation: Gain the business skills to identify market opportunities, customer needs, and pathways to commercialization.
  3. Expand Your Network: Connect with industry mentors, investors, and a national network of peer innovators.
  4. Workforce Development: Students and postdocs gain soft skills in stakeholder engagement, design thinking, and strategic planning that are highly valued in the job market.
  5. Drive Real Innovation: Translate your work into solutions that solve pressing societal challenges.

 

Who Should Participate?

We welcome teams from across the regional ecosystem.

  • Faculty Researchers: Advance your knowledge of how to turn lab discoveries into marketable innovations for industry.
  • Students (Graduate & Undergraduate): Gain high-level entrepreneurial skills and explore a career as a startup founder.
  • University Staff: Apply your technical expertise or institutional knowledge to bring internal innovations to market.
  • Community Teams: Unaffiliated entrepreneurs and innovators in the Mid-South region are encouraged to join our cohort to validate your concepts.