This project from the University of Montana (UM) creates an NSF I-Corps Site at this institution. Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Sites are NSF-funded entities established at universities whose purpose is to nurture and support multiple, local teams to transition their technology concepts into the marketplace. Sites provide infrastructure, advice, resources, networking opportunities, training and modest funding to enable groups to transition their work into the marketplace or into becoming I-Corps Team applicants. I-Corps Sites also strengthen innovation locally and regionally and contribute to the National Innovation Network of mentors, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors.
The UM Site promotes commercialization of STEM research and innovation throughout the campus community. It capitalizs on the success of the Blackstone LaunchPad (BLP-UM) in fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem at UM and the entrepreneurial community in Montana.
This project is a collaborative effort between BLP-UM and faculty in the Colleges of Business, Humanities and Sciences, Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences, and Office of Research. It leverages existing relationships and expertise to establish a program that facilitates growth of STEM-related startups. The UM I-Corps Site has five key objectives: expand STEM participation in entrepreneurship and build entrepreneurial skills amongst students, postdocs, staff, and faculty at UM; increase participation of women, Native Americans, and other groups underrepresented in both STEM fields and entrepreneurship; increase commercialization success of STEM innovation at UM; generate strong STEM teams that are well-prepared for National I-Corps training; and develop and assess programming that fosters an entrepreneurial ecosystem in a rural setting. These objectives are achieved through targeted outreach and recruitment, education and training, leveraging a network of support for Entrepreneurial Teams, and project evaluation and participant tracking.
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.
