Translational impact: NSF I-Corps customer discovery for validating UAF research, securing real-world adoption
Nov. 4, 2025
Are you sitting on a brilliant idea that could change the world? Instead of thinking of what your market needs, you can be out there, engaging with potential users, unearthing critical insights, and understanding the demand for your research.
The National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps program gives you the skills to learn how to validate your assumptions, pivot when necessary, and build a robust pathway from discovery to viable solution. It's an intensive, hands-on program designed to rocket your groundbreaking concepts from the lab into the real world.
For those looking to validate an idea or iterate to build something people want, customer discovery is a must. This is your feedback loop, if you want your research to be adopted and utilized.
UAF I-Corps Customer Discovery Program: Winter Cohort
Application period closes: Nov. 14
Training starts: Monday, Nov. 25
Workshops: Monday, Nov. 25; Dec. 1, 8, and 15 (5-7 p.m. AKST, virtually on Zoom)
NSF Funded I-Corps Innovation Training Program
This program is available to University of Alaska faculty, staff, and students as
well as the broader community in Alaska. The I-Corps program is delivered a few times
each year and lasts approximately four weeks. Understanding the needs of the customer,
stakeholder, or end-user is essential to evaluating the value of your solution to
their specific pain points. Through our program, we provide training and access to
a mentor network to support you and your team in their customer discovery process.
Teams obtain customer feedback that will help launch your research or develop an evidence-based
rollout strategy. Our I-Corps program is part of a wider . Key institutions include UC Berkeley (lead), Oregon State University, University
of Alaska Fairbanks, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Francisco, UC Santa Cruz, and the
University of Washington.
Important Information
All applicants will be reviewed by the UAF team to assess their application. In addition
to attending all workshop sessions (~8 hours), participants of the I-Corps program
are expected to commit to conducting a minimum of 20 interviews (~30-35 hours outside
of workshop sessions). Full class attendance by all team members is mandatory.