Accelerate your ideas through customer discovery and market opportunity validation!

KickStart Venture Services is recruiting community startups as well as faculty, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students with innovations and an interest in commercialization to participate in their virtual NSF I-Corps program. They will teach you the principles of customer discovery to help you better understand the market potential of your innovation!

The National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps Program (I-Corps) was launched in 2011 and has quickly become one of the world’s largest and most successful technology commercialization accelerators. The I-Corps regional program helps researchers and aspiring innovators determine if they are solving a real-world problem with true market opportunity. NSF’s I-Corps Program not only provides funding, mentoring, and networking opportunities to help commercialize promising technologies, it is offered at NO COST to the community.

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For more information about the I-Corps Program, visit KickStart Venture Services.

Curious How We Got Funded? Real World Strategies for Non-Federal Grants

Please join the Department of Health Sciences Office of Research & Scholarship for their March research forum to hear from three faculty members in a facilitated conversation about how they successfully competed for non-federal research grants.

The hybrid forum will take place in person (MacNider 321, LUNCH provided) and via Zoom. Please register to attend.

Questions? Contact the Department of Health Sciences Office of Research & Scholarship at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The New NIH Public Access Policy: What You Need to Know

The 2024 NIH Public Access Policy includes several significant changes from the previous policy, and applies to all NIH-funded manuscripts accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025. Learn more about what has changed, how to comply, and what to expect going forward.

This program is offered via Zoom by the Health Sciences Library and the Scholarly Communications Office, and led by Collin Drummond and Katherine Howell.

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The Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) Research Program at NC TraCS is now accepting applications for its Innovation to Impact Awards. These awards support cutting-edge translational science research that addresses challenges along the translational research pipeline. Projects should integrate a translational science aim with a translational research question (e.g., develop methods that improve the research process while addressing a specific disease) and be aimed at removing major translational barriers with strong potential for rapid implementation at UNC Health and beyond. This i2i award will provide $125,000 of funding in years 1 and 2, and up to $250,000 of funding in year 3.

NC TraCS is holding an information session via Zoom for investigators interested in learning more about this funding opportunity. Topics covered will include: key details about the program and an overview of the funding opportunity, eligibility requirements, and the application process including important dates and contact information. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions at the end.

Presenters
Evan Dellon, MD, MPH
Director, CTS Research Program

Kaitlin Zalcikova, PhD
Program Manager, CTS Research Program
NC TraCS Institute

Leah Gardner, MIS, PMP
Project Manager, CTS Research Program
NC TraCS Institute

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This 4-hour course will be held online only. Attendance is required as it will not be recorded.

Cognitive interviewing in survey research is a tool that allows researchers to improve survey questions and questionnaires by better understanding how respondents understand and respond to the questions they are being asked. Data gathered through cognitive interviews help researchers identify and remedy issues with their questionnaires.

This short course provides participants with fundamentals on where cognitive interviews fit in the survey process and on how to design, conduct, and analyze cognitive interviews. Participants will have the opportunity to practice specific cognitive interviewing techniques, including think-alouds, probing, and observation. Participants will also learn about revising survey questions based on interpreting cognitive interview results and about the research on which cognitive interview practices are based.

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Overview of 2026 NIH Requirements: Biosketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support

This session provides an overview of some of the upcoming changes to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant application requirements, including new Common Forms that will be required for due dates on or after January 25, 2026.

In particular, this presentation will focus on the Biosketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support forms, which will need to be completed using the SciENcv tool. It will include demonstrations of SciENcv as well as ORCID iD creation and linking steps. The presentation aims to prepare researchers for the new NIH requirements by providing detailed instructions and resources to ensure compliance.

This program is offered via Zoom by the Health Sciences Library and led by Katherine Howell, MSLIS.

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10th Annual UNC Oliver Smithies Nobel Symposium: featuring Jennifer Doudna, PhD

The 10th Annual UNC Oliver Smithies Nobel Symposium is excited to feature Jennifer Doudna, PhD, the 2020 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, as this year's distinguished speaker. Doudna is renowned for her groundbreaking work in characterizing and developing the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system, a revolutionary technology transforming fields ranging from agriculture to medicine. She is currently a Distinguished HHMI Investigator at UC Berkeley, a director at the Innovative Genomics Institute, and a co-founder of Mammoth Biosciences, which develops CRISPR-based diagnostics and therapeutics.

The Oliver Smithies Nobel Laureate Symposium is an annual event which invites prominent Nobel Laureates to share their stories, groundbreaking work, and highlight the experiences and driving forces that led to their success. This year, Doudna will present her talk titled CRISPR-powered gene editing for human and planet health.

This is a unique opportunity to hear from one of the leading scientists of our time and learn about cutting-edge research that is shaping the future of healthcare and beyond. Join us for an inspiring lecture with Jennifer Doudna, PhD, as she shares her remarkable journey to the Nobel Prize! There will be a reception with light refreshments to follow.

Event Location: UNC Medical Biomolecular Research Building (MBRB), Room 2204

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