An intensive, four-week curriculum that offers hands-on training in evaluating the commercial potential of innovation. It includes weekly cohort sessions, individual office hours, and dedicated time to course deliverables. The core of the program is customer discovery: teams leave the lab to test product-market fit and their business model, and complete at least 30 interviews with potential customers and partners.
The NSF Regional I-Corps program at Pitt trains researchers to test whether their work can reach people as a product or service. Over six cohort meetings and two office hours sessions, participants interview potential customers about their problems and unmet needs, then use what they learn to judge commercial potential. The program is free for Pitt participants. Completing it is one way to meet the customer discovery requirement for Pitt SPARK. The program was formerly called First Gear and is also listed as Pitt Ventures I-Corps.
Discover regional I-Corps courses (email ICorps@pitt.edu)The NSF Regional I-Corps program at Pitt is open to Pitt faculty, staff, trainees and students whose innovation comes from Pitt research. Because Pitt is a member of the NSF Interior Northeast I-Corps Hub, participants can also take I-Corps courses at the hub's nine other universities.
Book a Coffee and Conversation session with OIEThe NSF Regional I-Corps program at Pitt is free for Pitt participants and accepts applications on a rolling basis. Before applying, contact OIE at ICORPS@pitt.edu so the team can help protect confidential and potentially patentable information in your application. Participants should plan on 7.5 to 15 hours per week for six cohort meetings, two office hours sessions, customer discovery interviews and course deliverables.
Email ICORPS@pitt.edu to start an applicationQuestions about the NSF Regional I-Corps program at Pitt go to Tyree Williams, Innovation Programming Manager, at ICORPS@pitt.edu.
Email the Pitt I-Corps teamProgram FAQ
I-Corps Head Start is a preparatory mini-course, requiring approximately four hours, designed to introduce participants to the first three course modules and scheduling required customer discovery interviews before beginning the formal program.
Learn more by emailing ICORPS@pitt.edu.
Applications for the NSF Regional I-Corps program are accepted on a rolling basis, and the program is free for Pitt participants. Before applying, talk with Pitt’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) at ICORPS@pitt.edu so that confidential, proprietary and potentially patentable information is protected before it goes into an application. An invention disclosure is not required before applying, but if you have not filed one, it is especially important to talk with OIE first.
Email ICORPS@pitt.edu.
The NSF Regional I-Corps program is offered through two cohort-based formats: Virtual and Conference. Both are immersive, hands-on courses that require full participation, with an expected time commitment of 7.5–15 hours per week for four weeks. This time includes all course deliverables, weekly cohort sessions, and customer discovery activities.
Virtual cohorts meet entirely online. Conference cohorts follow the same core curriculum and also include a trip to a trade show or conference, paid for by the NSF Interior Northeast I-Corps Hub.
Email ICORPS@pitt.edu to discuss which option may be the best fit for you and your technology.
The first step in preparing for NSF Regional I-Corps is to form a team. A team consists of the following roles:
Entrepreneurial Lead (Required for NSF Regional I-Corps)
The Entrepreneurial Lead may be a faculty, staff, trainee, or student with relevant knowledge of the technology and a commitment to investigate the potential opportunity for commercialization. The role of the Entrepreneurial Lead is to drive the customer discovery process and support the transition of the technology into the marketplace if commercial viability is demonstrated.
Technical Lead (Optional but encouraged for NSF Regional I-Corps)
The Technical Lead will often have been involved in creating the technology that forms the basis of the team’s business concept or possesses a high level of relevant technical expertise. The role of the technical lead is overall project management. The technical lead is often a faculty member and, if a company is formed, plays a key leadership role such as a scientific advisor or chief technical officer.
A team is not required to have a Technical Lead to participate in the NSF Regional I-Corps course in and of itself, but is strongly encouraged to do so. This especially holds true if the team plans to apply to the national I-Corps Teams program after completing the regional course. In this case, they will be required to have a Technical Lead who has completed the regional course.
Industry Mentor (Optional for NSF Regional I-Corps)
The Industry Mentor will typically be an experienced entrepreneur, intrapreneur or corporate innovator who serves as a third-party resource.
The roles of the Industry Mentor are to guide the team forward and connect them with prospective customer discovery interviewees.
Teams are not required to identify an Industry Mentor prior to apply to NSF Regional I-Corps but are encouraged to do so.
Individual innovators are permitted to apply to NSF Regional I-Corps as the Entrepreneurial Lead. However, we strongly encourage innovators to identify at least one teammate to apply to the course with them. The workload is considerable and can become a strain for one-person teams.
Teams with more than three members are generally discouraged. In any case, team members are not permitted to split the time commitment and attendance requirements. All team members are required to fully participate in the course.
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