As a core university in the DC node in NSF’s prestigious Innovation Corps, GW is proud to lead many regional, national, and international initiatives around this program.

While the program is now expanding beyond NSF to all major research-funding agencies in the United States, the primary program remains NSF’s seven-week intensive lean start-up National I-Corps cohort. 

For questions about the national I-Corps program and before you apply, please contact Dan Kunitz, GW’s I-Corps Director.

NSF National I-Corps Resources:

• NSF I-Corps
• Course information and materials
• National cohort curriculum and dates
• NSF I-Corps cohort “Teams” solicitation
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for I-Corps Teams

How to Apply to the National NSF I-Corps Program

Teams that successfully complete a DC I-Corps Regional Introductory Course may be eligible to apply for the national NSF I-Corps program. Those accepted into the national program receive $50,000 to assist with customer discovery and to cover the expenses of all team members attending the opening and closing workshops.

Eligible teams should submit a two-page (maximum) executive summary to NSF at [email protected]. This summary must outline the following (more detailed information can be found on the NSF program solicitation page here):

• Team composition and roles (EL, TL, IM, plus any additional co-EL, co-TL or co-IM) of the team members proposing to undertake the commercialization feasibility research and a brief description of each member’s qualifications. Teams may have an additional member in the role of co-EL, co-TL, or co-IM. Teams with more than four members will not typically be supported.
• Lineage (Relevant current/previous NSF awards establishing team eligibility. If you’ve participated in a short course, you can include the DC node award ID: 1304387)
• Proposal Principal Investigator (PI) and a brief description of their connection to the team. In most cases the PI will also be the TL.
• Technology. Brief description of the core technology.
• Application/Market. Brief description of the potential commercial application.
• Current Plan. Brief description of the current commercialization plan.