Training Program

 

Are you curious about technology commercialization? Do you want to explore opportunities to apply your research? Is your team searching for a fit between your technology and real-world needs?

 

I-Corps @ UMass Amherst has training for you! All programs are based on Lean Launchpad® methodology.

group meeting

Training Benefits

  • Gain professional development experience for work in academia, industry, and startups
  • Learn about potential customer interests and needs
  • Learn the fundamentals of technology commercialization
  • Broaden the impacts of NSF funded proposals and grants
  • Prepare to apply to the NSF I-Corps teams program

Join our email list to receive more details.

 

Training Programs Offered

There are three stages of training:

  1. Innovators Warm-Up: Get Started — A stand-alone introduction to technology commercialization and the lean startup method. Innovators Warm-Ups are offered several times throughout the year.
  2. Innovators Jump-Start: Gain Experience — For those who attend an Innovators Warm-Up and want more. The program is offered once per semester.
  3. Innovators Rev-Up: Get Serious — Teams that have completed the Innovators Jump-Start and want to dig deeper can propose a Rev-Up project for funding of up to $2,000 to attend at an industry conference to complete an additional 15 customer discovery interviews The schedule is tailored to each team individually.

For those who completed the Innovators Jumps-Start and Rev-Up since March 2020, three additional microgrants are available:

  1. MVP Microgrants of up to $5,000 to support customer-discovery-based minimum viable products/prototypes
  2. Advanced Customer Discovery Microgrants of up to $2,000 to support travel to industry conferences or for other customer discovery plans
  3. Customer Discovery in Underserved Customer Segments Microgrants of up to $2,000 to support customer discovery focused on customer segment(s) traditionally underserved or overlooked by technology entrepreneurs and R&D scientists/engineers.

Email I-Corps Site Director, Laura Burnham, for more information about these opportunities.

 

Project Ideas and Technologies

Ideas and technologies for projects can originate with student work, research (funded or unfunded), institutional or industrial projects within an area normally supported by the National Science Foundation. In general, intellectual property underlying the project will be owned either by the university or by the team.

 

Get More Information

  • Interested, but not sure if I-Corps @ UMass is right for you? Email Site Director, Laura Burnham, to schedule a time to talk about your situation.