Critical Business Skills

The National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program, hosted by UCSF Innovation Ventures, is a premier training course designed to empower academic researchers and innovators. It moves them beyond the lab by teaching the critical business skills needed to translate groundbreaking scientific discoveries into real-world applications. Through an immersive, evidence-based curriculum, the program challenges teams to engage directly with potential customers and stakeholders, validate their commercial hypotheses, and identify the most viable market for their budding technologies. The ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between UCSF's world-class research and its commercial potential, accelerating the development of new therapeutics, medical devices, and digital health solutions for public benefit.