The UNB TME group on Monday is launching its second cohort of I-STEM, a program that helps post-secondary researchers develop companies by using lean startup methodology.

Developed in partnership with George Washington University and based on the I-Corps methodology created by the National Science Foundation in the U.S., the program teaches researchers how to commercialize deep technology and develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

The I-STEM program is now looking for researchers to join the cohort. Researchers with ideas that they want to commercialize can apply here. 

George Washington University is a core member of the United States National Science Foundation’s Innovation Network and I-Corps program, which has pioneered research-based entrepreneurship. The NSF launched I-Corps in 2011 and it has quickly become one of the world’s largest and most successful technology startup accelerators.

UNB’s J. Herbert Smith Centre for Technology, Management and Entrepreneurship is launching the program at a time when several groups are working to increase the entrepreneurial education available to researchers and scientists.

Springboard Atlantic, which acts as a bridge between post-secondary institutions and industry, has launched a series of round-tables between researchers and private industry. And Dalhousie University and Memorial University of Newfoundland are participating in the Lab2Market program, which aspires to be a pan-Canadian version of I-Corps.

The I-STEM program launches Monday to Wednesday this week with three days of online training, followed by weekly meetings each Wednesday afternoon with UNB I-STEM and the teaching team from George Washington University. The final presentations will be held Nov. 9 and 10.