Implementing and Evaluating I-Corps Training

智力优势：美国在迅速有效地将新兴的科学和工程创新应用于工业和商业方面面临着重大挑战。为了保持我们在科学和工程研究和教育方面的世界领先地位，我们需要能够实际和可扩展地应用研究和大学实验室有前途的发现的过程。为了使大学研究产生更大的影响，科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域的学术研究人员及其学生需要工具和准备，以评估研究发现是否可以很容易地转化为实际应用并最终商业化。出于这些原因，NSF在2011年建立了I-Corps培训计划，以支持NSF资助的研究人员学习如何评估他们的科学研究的商业潜力。全国大学发明者和创新者联盟，公司，d/B/a VentureWell建议继续与NSF合作，计划、实施和评估五（5）个额外的I-Corps研讨会（国家团队培训）和两（2）个国家教师培训活动。更广泛的影响：I-Corps计划为NSF资助的主要研究人员及其团队成员提供资金和培训，使他们能够评估其技术和研究发现的商业可行性。该计划的最终目标是直接增加NSF研究资金的经济和社会影响，通过研究的商业化，间接地通过为科学家和工程师提供开发和测试经济上可扩展的模型的技能和经验，以开发产品或技术。到项目结束时，I-Corps的受资助者预计将就其技术或产品的商业准备做出决定，并随身携带一套他们可以继续应用于研究生涯的技能。项目参与者评估并将他们的研究转化为具有商业潜力并能造福社会的应用。许多与会者将确定有前途的商业途径，可以导致新的高科技风险或许可的机会。自该计划开始以来，I-Corps团队已经成立了350家公司，吸引了超过8300万美元的后续投资和赠款。这些公司在广泛的领域开展业务，包括健康，能源，材料，农业和信息技术，地理分布在43个州。

Intellectual Merit:The United States faces significant challenges in rapidly and efficiently bringing emerging science and engineering innovations to use in industry and commerce. To maintain our world leadership in scientific and engineering research and education, we need processes that enable the practical and scalable application of promising discoveries from research and university laboratories. For university research to achieve greater impact, academic researchers and their students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) need tools and preparation for evaluating whether research discoveries can be readily translated into practical applications and eventual commercialization. For these reasons, NSF established the I-Corps training program in 2011 to support NSF-funded researchers in learning how to evaluate their scientific research for commercial potential. The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, Inc., d/b/a VentureWell, proposes to continue its work with NSF to plan, implement and evaluate five (5) additional I-Corps workshops (National Team Trainings) and two (2) National Faculty Training events.Broader Impacts:The I-Corps program provides NSF-funded principal investigators and their team members with fundingand training enabling them to evaluate their technologies and research discoveries for commercialfeasibility. The ultimate goal of the program is to increase the economic and societal impact of NSFresearch funding directly, through commercialization of research, and indirectly, by equipping scientistsand engineers with skills and experience in developing and testing economically scalable models for thedevelopment of a product or technology. By the end of the program, I-Corps grantees are expected toreach a decision about the commercial readiness of their technology or product and take with them a setof skills that they can continue to apply in their research careers. Program participants evaluate andtranslate their research into applications that have commercial potential and can benefit society. Manyparticipants will have identified promising commercial pathways that can lead to new high tech venturesor licensing opportunities. Since the program's inception, I-Corps teams have formed 350 companies thathave attracted over $83 million in follow-on investment and grants. These companies operate in a broadrange of sectors including health, energy, materials, agriculture and information technology and aregeographically distributed across 43 states.