NSF I-Corps Hub: Great Lakes Region

University of Nebraska I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-09-03 - 2026-10-22 | Virtual Event
I-Corps taught by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Class sessions on Thursday, 4pm-6:00pm CT. Virtual and open to all Midwest innovators and researchers.

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Ready to take your research to the next level? Nebraska I-Corps (a National Science Foundation program) empowers innovators to understand the potential value of their research or business ideas by teaching them how to view their research through the eyes of their customers. Our experienced team of instructors, mentors, and ecosystem partners offer support throughout your innovation journey. Whether or not you’re pursuing entrepreneurship, this program offers an invaluable professional development opportunity.

Based on the Lean LaunchPad approach (also called Lean Startup), we help you systematically test key assumptions about your innovation and the customer problems it might be able to solve better than current alternatives. This free, online course is open to UNL and UNK faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdocs. In addition, non-University, community-based teams may be accepted at the discretion of course instructors.

University of Illinois Chicago I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-09-04 - 2026-10-09 | Virtual Event
I-Corps taught by the University of Illinois Chicago. Class sessions on Fridays, 9:30am-11:30am CT. Virtual and open to all Midwest innovators and researchers.

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This I-Corps course provides a set of skills and entrepreneurial knowledge that can be applied to any career path. It uses the Lean LaunchPad method to give participants a working knowledge of how to think about their innovation ideas from a business and customer perspective, as well as how to conduct customer discovery interviews; the first step in any commercialization process. This free, online course is for faculty, researchers, postdocs, and students interested in practicing and honing their innovation skills. It is open to non-university participants as well.

The Ohio State University I-Corps - September 2026
2026-09-11 - 2026-10-09 | The Ohio State University, 1636 North High Street, Columbus, OH, 43201, United States
I-Corps taught by The Ohio State University. In-person attendance required. Location: Columbus, OH.

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Hosted by the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship, The Ohio State University local NSF I-Corps program is an engaging, four-week training program for OSU faculty, staff, and students interested in exploring the market opportunity of their research. The Lean Launchpad approach is a proven process to help systematically test key assumptions about your technology/product/service and the customer problems it may solve.

University of Iowa I-Corps - September 2026
2026-09-14 - 2026-10-12 | Virtual Event
I-Corps taught by the University of Iowa. Class sessions on Mondays, 4pm-6pm CT. Virtual and open to all Midwest innovators and researchers.

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The NSF I-Corps program at the University of Iowa, led by the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (JPEC), helps researchers, innovators, and early-stage startups explore the commercial potential of their work and make a real impact in the world. Through hands-on customer discovery and the Lean Startup approach, participants learn how to test assumptions, refine their value propositions, and better understand the people they aim to serve. This four-week program is open to faculty, graduate students, staff, and entrepreneurs developing STEM-based innovations or research-driven ideas. Participants work alongside experienced instructors and mentors to gain insights that shape smarter decisions around product development and market fit.

Michigan Technological University I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-09-14 - 2026-10-19 | Virtual Event
I-Corps taught by Michigan Technological University. Class sessions on Mondays, 4pm-6pm ET. Virtual and open to all Midwest innovators and researchers.

Registration Deadline: September 4

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This I-Corps course provides a set of skills and entrepreneurial knowledge that can be applied to any career path. It uses the Lean LaunchPad method to give participants a working knowledge of how to think about their innovation ideas from a business and customer perspective, as well as how to conduct customer discovery interviews; the first step in any commercialization process. This free, online course is for faculty, researchers, postdocs, and students interested in practicing and honing their innovation skills. It is open to non-university participants as well.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-09-14 - 2026-11-02 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1405 W Springfield Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
I-Corps taught by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Class sessions on Wednesday, 1pm-3pm CT. Virtual and open to all Midwest innovators and researchers.

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Illinois I-Corps is hosted by the Technology Entrepreneur Center, in the College of Grainger Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The I-Corps curriculum is built on a special, accelerated version of Stanford University’s Lean LaunchPad course, created by Professor Steve Blank. Professors in the course focus on evidence-based entrepreneurship and encourage in-depth customer discovery. Throughout the program, attendees will learn to use the Business Model Canvas, Agile Development, and Customer Development to advance their business ideas.

Purdue University I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-09-21 - 2026-11-13 | Virtual Event
I-Corps taught by Purdue University. Class sessions on Fridays, 9am-11am ET. Virtual and open to all Midwest innovators and researchers.

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Purdue I-Corps: Discovery will help you explore the commercial viability of your deep tech innovation idea/IP. We teach the Lean LaunchPad approach, a process to help you systematically test key assumptions about your technology and the customer problems it might be able to solve better than current alternatives. This “technology-problem fit” assessment is the critical first step toward commercial success for any technology venture. These courses are for researchers and students with deep-tech IP and a strong interest in commercializing their technology. Researchers from other Midwest universities are welcome to apply.

Asynchronous Program

Start Date: September 14, 2026
Deadline: Complete by September 25, 2026

Synchronous Virtual Workshops: All course events occur on Fridays from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET

10/9, 10/16, 10/30, 11/13

Materials, Manufacturing & Energy in the Age of AI I-Corps: Hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison
2026-10-01 - 2026-11-12 | Virtual Event
Led by the UW–Madison NSF I-Corps™ program, this workshop is designed to help drive your research into innovative solutions and products that improve the world. You take your first step toward entrepreneurship. Participants earn up to $1,500 in micro-grant funding, eligibility for NSF National I-Corps™ (up to $50K), and I-Corps™ Boost.

We are recruiting teams leveraging artificial intelligence as an enabler, or innovating around physical bottlenecks, to solve macro-infrastructure challenges. Whether you are a faculty Principal Investigator (PI) at a higher-education institution seeking to strengthen your competitiveness for future federal grants, or a postdoc or PhD student aiming to maximize the real-world impact of your discovery, this cohort is designed for you.

Faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and alumni working in the following areas are encouraged to apply:

Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Supply Chain & Industrial Resilience
Energy, Power & Grid Technologies
AI-Enabled Hardware & Process Innovation

Course Schedule
All events are held virtually.

Session 1 (Orientation): Oct 1, from 4:45 pm to 7:00 pm (Central Time- Zoom)
Self-paced course work and fundamentals work on Canvas (asynchronous): Oct 2-14
Session 2: Oct 15, from 4:45 pm to 7:00 pm (Central Time-Zoom)
Session 3: Oct 22, from 4:45 pm to 7:00 pm (Central Time-Zoom)
Session 4: Oct 29, 4:45 pm to 7:00 pm (Central Time-Zoom)
Catch Up Week (Q&A): Nov 5, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm (Central Time-Zoom)
Final Session: Nov 12, from 4:45 pm to 7:30 pm (Central Time-Zoom)

Application Deadline: September 9

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University of Akron and Toledo I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-10-02 - 2026-11-13 | Virtual Event
I-Corps taught by the University of Akron Research Foundation. Class sessions on Fridays, 12pm-2:30am ET. Virtual and open to all Midwest innovators and researchers.

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The I-Corps program is all about customer discovery! The I-Corps Program supports teams through an intensive 7-meeting critical evaluation. Our goal is to help faculty, students, and the community answer important questions about their business, product, or technology idea through coaching and direct customer interactions.

University of Minnesota I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-10-09 - 2026-11-13 | University of Minnesota, 222 Pleasant St SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States
I-Corps taught by the University of Minnesota. Class sessions on Fridays, 2pm-4pm CT. In-Person attendance required. Location: Minneapolis, MN

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You’ve identified a specific innovation that you think you may want to commercialize. Now what? The University of Minnesota Value Proposition Design program applies the Lean Startup approach and Customer Discovery methods to specific innovations. External industry executives, as well as experts from the Office for Technology Commercialization, the UMN Libraries, and the Carlson School of Management, will be available to help.
You’ll learn and apply the Lean LaunchPad customer development concepts promoted by the NSF I-Corps program. Successful completion of this program by academic teams or ventures with university-licensed technologies can lead to qualification for recommendation to the National I-Corps Teams program, which includes a $50,000 grant.

University of Chicago I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-10-09 - 2026-11-20 | Polsky Center, 5807 S. Woodlawn Ave., Ste. 207, Chicago, 60637
I-Corps taught by the University of Chicago. The application deadline is September 4th.

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This I-Corps course provides a set of skills and entrepreneurial knowledge that can be applied to any career path. It uses the Lean LaunchPad method to give participants a working knowledge of how to think about their innovation ideas from a business and customer perspective, as well as how to conduct customer discovery interviews; the first step in any commercialization process. This free, online course is for faculty, researchers, postdocs, and students interested in practicing and honing their innovation skills. It is open to non-university participants as well.

Iowa State I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-10-21 - 2026-11-18 | Virtual Event
I-Corps taught by Iowa State University. Class sessions on Wednesdays, 5:30pm-7:30pm CT. Virtual and open to all Midwest innovators and researchers.

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The ISU I-Corps program is a training ground for faculty, postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students to learn how to increase the impact of their research by exploring the commercial potential of their research and technology. The five-week curriculum focuses on customer discovery to support the transition of ideas, devices, processes, or intellectual activities into the marketplace or for broader societal impact. This can be realized through the formation of new start-up businesses, licensing agreements, or identifying funding sources to support additional research.

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University of Michigan I-Corps - Fall 2026
2026-10-23 - 2026-12-04 | Virtual Event
I-Corps taught by the University of Michigan. Class sessions on Fridays, 9am-11am ET. Virtual and open to all Midwest innovators and researchers.

Learn More

This I-Corps course provides a set of skills and entrepreneurial knowledge that can be applied to any career path. It uses the Lean LaunchPad method to give participants a working knowledge of how to think about their innovation ideas from a business and customer perspective, as well as how to conduct customer discovery interviews; the first step in any commercialization process. This free, online course is for faculty, researchers, postdocs, and students interested in practicing and honing their innovation skills. It is open to non-university participants as well.

University of Iowa I-Corps - November 2026
2026-11-02 - 2026-11-30 | Virtual Event

The Ohio State University I-Corps - November 2026
2026-11-13 - 2026-12-11 | The Ohio State University, 1636 North High Street, Columbus, OH, 43201, United States
I-Corps taught by The Ohio State University. In-person attendance required. Location: Columbus, OH. Class sessions on Fridays, 9am-11:30am ET.

Learn More

Hosted by the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship, The Ohio State University local NSF I-Corps program is an engaging, four-week training program for OSU faculty, staff, and students interested in exploring the market opportunity of their research. The Lean Launchpad approach is a proven process to help systematically test key assumptions about your technology/product/service and the customer problems it may solve.
