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Joining a Center

Rob Felt/Georgia Tech

The members of an Industry–University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) drive the Center’s success. Members fund and vote on projects of mutual interest to form the research portfolio, and they define and monitor Center performance.

Members may be startups, companies, corporations, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and/or other interested non-academic parties.

Each member must have an Employer Identification Number (EIN) issued by the US Internal Revenue Service. Two organizations with the same parent count as distinct members only if each division has a unique EIN.

Membership Agreement

The Center Membership Agreement defines the rights and responsibilities of all parties: Center, universities and members. Completed membership agreements must be submitted to NSF with the IUCRC proposal.

Membership Agreement

Voting Rights

Members form an Industry Advisory Board (IAB) that ranks and selects research projects to be conducted at the IUCRC Site to ensure that the university team is conducting research of high relevance to the industrial members.

A Center may have three membership categories: Full, Associate, and Affiliate. Full members pay 100% of the fee, whereas Associate and Affiliate members pay a percentage. The voting rights of each membership level are determined by the IAB and typically pro-rated based on the paid fee, with Full members assigned one voting right. An organization may buy multiple memberships in a Center, but contributions exceeding two full memberships are capped at two votes.