Syracuse University joins consortium in NSF I-Corp Hub’s $15 million STEM innovation program

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse University has joined nine other colleges in the newly awarded National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps): Interior Northeast Region Hub (IN I-Corps).

It’s a $15 million, five-year investment by the NSF that is designed to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in STEM programs in rural, economically underserved regions. STEM is short for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The NSF award is providing the funding to a consortium of 10 academic institutions for the implementation and execution of the IN I-Corps Hub program, Syracuse University said. The program seeks to expand the nation’s “geography of innovation by creating a cohesive innovation ecosystem that delivers inclusive models of education and workforce training designed for and by innovators in rural regions and small cities,” per the Syracuse announcement.

The region that includes Syracuse University stretches from New Hampshire to West Virginia and represents large portions of the U.S. that are “largely rural, economically underserved and working to restore economic vitality.”

Syracuse University is joined by hub lead Cornell University and hub-partner institutions Binghamton University, Dartmouth College, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), University at Buffalo, University of Pittsburgh, University of Rochester, University of Vermont, and West Virginia University.

Each institution will be hosting regional I-Corps courses and contributing to programming and curriculum strategy in the STEM fields.

The grant will involve activities taking place across the Syracuse University campus, including at the College of Law’s Innovation Law Center; the College of Engineering and Computer Science and its Center for Advanced Systems and Engineering; and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, the school said.

Gretchen Ritter, vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer, said Syracuse is “excited” to partner with the NSF and other colleges to “boost entrepreneurism” and contribute academic programming and curriculum development in that field.

The Interior Northeast Hub launches officially on Jan. 1, 2023. STEM researchers interested in learning about opportunities to participate in regional I-Corps courses at Hub institutions will be able to look for that information on the program website, Syracuse University said.