UW to Host NSF-Funded I-Corps Training Cohort During Spring Semester

For those who have a technology idea they want to commercialize, a prime opportunity awaits.

The University of Wyoming will host a National Science Foundation (NSF) Great Plains Innovation (I)-Corps Hub training cohort, beginning with an orientation session Wednesday, March 4, 1-2:30 p.m. Mountain time. The application is open until Sunday, Feb. 15, and interested teams are encouraged to apply. To fill out an application, go to Spring 2026 UW I-Corps cohort.

UW’s regional I-Corps training -- offering a blended approach to assess the market potential of technology ideas -- spans 11 weeks and five training sessions Wednesdays through May 6. This program is aimed at faculty, staff, students, researchers, community entrepreneurs or anyone with a technology that they’d like to explore commercializing. 

In this experiential training, the curriculum explores the commercial potential of deep technology solutions across any industry sector and prepares researchers to extend their focus beyond the lab and consider the economic and societal impact of their work. By talking to end users and customers, participants will learn about the impact and need behind their ideas and research.

Participation in the program is free. Each team should include, at the very least, an entrepreneurial lead and a technical lead.

Elizabeth Hallgren, founder of The Levain Group, a business growth training and coaching solutions firm, will serve as the lead course instructor. She has been teaching the NSF I-Corps curriculum since 2015 through the University of Iowa and, more recently, the Great Plains I-Corps Hub. Hallgren’s current projects include providing curriculum expertise for the Global Insurance Accelerator and serving as a business adviser in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program.

To conduct the customer discovery interviews that are a significant focus of the training, travel support is available for participants. Upon completing the cohort, a $1,000 stipend is provided to entrepreneurial leads. There also are opportunities for follow-on support and training, which can increase participants’ chances to secure Small Business Innovation and Research grants, Small Business Technology Transfer grants and other grant support.

For more information on the Great Plains I-Corps Hub, go here. 

For questions, email Ram Veerakumar at rveeraku@uwyo.edu or Erica Belmont at ebelmont@uwyo.edu.