NSF I-Corps Hub: Great Lakes Region

这个I-Corps枢纽项目的更广泛影响是发展一个区域网络和规划，加速将联邦政府资助的研究转化为有益于社会和创造经济增长的产品/服务。这个I-Corps中心将通过在地理上分散的中心机构中实施更多的结构和正式系统来解决大湖区低创业生态系统密度的挑战，以复制高密度创业生态系统中存在的信息和机会的快速流动。将招募来自Hub成员机构的深度技术研究人员，为他们的科学发现探索商业机会，并确定潜在的市场途径。该中心将把这些项目与完成开发和扩大发现影响所需的人员、组织和资源联系起来。除了直接的经济和商业影响外，I-Corps中心还将努力培养参与其中的科学家和工程师的创业思维。当这些研究人员在学术界、初创企业、行业或政府中从事职业时，他们将利用这种思维方式，最大限度地发挥他们在基础研究、新产业发展和政府政策方面的贡献。I-Corps Hubs项目的基础是对联邦资助研究中与创新相关的投入、环境和结果进行更深入、更以数据为导向的理解。具体而言，目标是解决学术研究人员的特征（例如，人口统计学，先前经验，I-Corps经验）与创业成果之间的关系；规划中产生积极经验和成果的要素；影响未被充分代表人群参与和成功的因素；以及I-Corps生态系统发展带来的制度成果。这种对个人和机构层面影响的评估可能有助于2017年《美国创新与竞争力法案》授权的I-Corps的成功扩展，并确保为更多样化的教师、学生和员工群体提供一条清晰和包容的道路。Hub计划在地区和全国范围内创建和分享创新课程，以激励、支持和支持研究人员完成“从发现到影响”的旅程。该中心将成为将大湖地区123亿美元的研究支出转化为深度技术企业的典范，从而增加对该地区的投资资本，为STEM毕业生提供就业机会，并吸引经验丰富的企业家发展这些新企业。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this I-Corps Hubs project is the development of a regional network and programming that accelerates the translation of federally-funded research into products/services that benefit society and create economic growth. This I-Corps Hub will address the challenge of low entrepreneurial ecosystem density in the Great Lakes Region by implementing more structure and formal systems amongst the geographically dispersed Hub institutions to replicate the rapid flow of information and opportunities that exists in higher density entrepreneurial ecosystems. Deep technology researchers from across Hub member institutions will be recruited to explore commercial opportunities for their scientific discoveries and identify potential pathways to market. The Hub will connect these projects to the people, organizations, and resources needed to complete the development and scale the impact of the discoveries. Beyond the direct economic and commercial impacts, the I-Corps Hub will strive to develop an entrepreneurial mindset in the scientists and engineers who participate. As these researchers pursue careers in academia, startups, industry, or government, they will use this mindset to maximize the impact of their contributions in basic research, as well as in the development of new industries and government policies.This I-Corps Hubs project is based on the development of a deeper and more data-driven understanding of the inputs, environment, and outcomes associated with innovations coming from federally-funded research. Specifically, the goal is to address the relationships between the characteristics of academic researchers (e.g., demographics, prior experience, I-Corps experience) and entrepreneurial outcomes; the elements of the programming that lead to positive experiences and outcomes; the factors that impact the engagement and success of underrepresented populations; and the institutional outcomes resulting from the development of an I-Corps ecosystem. This assessment of impact at an individual and institutional level may contribute to the successful scaling of I-Corps as authorized through the 2017 American Innovation and Competitiveness Act and ensure that there is a clear and inclusive path for more diverse groups of faculty, students, and staff. The Hub plan is to create and share innovative curricula, regionally and nationally, to motivate, enable and support researchers throughout the “discovery to impact” journey. The Hub will become an exemplar for translating the Great Lakes region’s $12.3B in research spending into deep technology ventures, thereby increasing investment capital into the region, providing employment opportunities for STEM graduates, and attracting experienced entrepreneurs to grow these new ventures.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.