Translating Deep Tech Discovery into Economic Benefit
A Specialized Virtual NSF I-Corps Cohort | Fall 2026 | Oct 01-Nov 12 | Space is Limited
The research landscape is moving into an era that turns frontier science into economic impact and stronger industrial supply chains. Funding now prioritizes applied, mission‑driven work, rapid commercialization, and market viability. Innovation is the heart of I-Corps: I-Corps courses will help drive your research into innovative solutions and products that improve the world.
If you’re faculty, a postdoc, or a graduate student ready to commercialize your technology, register for this short course. Accelerate your tech transfer, access translation‑focused funding, and turn your academic insights into market‑ready solutions.
THE CHALLENGE: Pure Lab Research is No Longer Enough
Federal agencies are systematically restructuring funding frameworks to prioritize applied, mission-driven outcomes, speed-to-market, and domestic supply chain integration.
Whether you are a faculty principal investigator (PI) looking to solidify future federal grant competitiveness or a postdoc/PhD student aiming to maximize the real-world impact of your discovery, this elite program can drive your research into broad adoption.
WHAT YOU WILL GAIN
- 7 Weeks of Relentlessly Direct Mentorship: Work directly with deep-tech commercialization experts who cut through bureaucratic red tape and push you to pressure-test your technology against volatile real-world markets.
- Up to $3,000 in Micro-Grant Funding: Immediate non-dilutive capital dedicated strictly to getting out of the lab to conduct real-world customer discovery with industrial buyers, infrastructure developers, grid operators, and supply chain managers
- Eligibility for NSF National I-Corps™ (up to $50K) and I-Corps™ Boost.
ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?
We are recruiting teams (comprising faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and/or alumni) leveraging artificial intelligence as an enabler or innovating within physical bottlenecks to solve macro-infrastructure problems. If your research touches any of the following fields, you belong in this cohort:
- Advanced Materials & Metallurgy: Novel structural composites, extreme-environment materials, and accelerating the discovery-to-insertion timeline using AI frameworks.
- Supply Chain & Manufacturing Resilience: Automated or advanced manufacturing systems, domestic processing/refining, and mitigating foreign dependencies or critical mineral bottlenecks.
- Energy & Power Innovation: Advanced energy storage, next-generation nuclear tech, grid modernization, and tackling the massive power infrastructure demands of AI data centers, manufacturing, and transportation.
- AI-Enabled Hardware & Process Controls: Any application of AI that advances manufacturing, materials, or energy and power.
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:
- Session 1 (Orientation): Oct 01, from 4:45 pm to 7:00 pm (Central Time)
- 1-week of self-paced course work and fundamentals: Oct 2-14
- Session 2: Oct 15, from 4:45 pm to 7:00 pm (Central Time)
- Session 3: Oct 22, from 4:45 pm to 7:00 pm (Central Time)
- Session 4: Oct 29, 4:45 pm to 7:00 pm (Central Time)
- Catch Up Week (Q&A): Nov 5, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm (Central Time)
- Final Session: Nov 12, from 4:45 pm to 7:30 pm (Central Time)
Apply to the Upcoming Cohort—Secure Your Team’s Spot:
Application will open on June 2nd
Apply by September 16th, 2026