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Accelerating the translation of university research

The Bakar Fellows Program at UC Berkeley accelerates important research discoveries and innovations out of the lab and into the hands of people who need them most.

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What We Do

The Bakar Fellows Program at UC Berkeley fosters entrepreneurship in the STEM+ fields including engineering, computer science, chemistry, biological sciences, physical sciences, architecture, and more.

Program Overview

UC Berkeley faculty with promising projects that are more advanced than basic research, but not quite to the point of commercialization, are awarded research support to translate their discoveries and innovations.

Research support is provided through two awards: the Bakar Award and AIC-Bakar Award. The Bakar Fellows Program also supports undergraduate student research through the Bakar Ignite Scholars Program.

The Program in Numbers

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Startup Companies Founded

Ranging from new products to platform technologies

Years Since Inception

Supporting Bakar Fellows and Bakar Prize recipients since 2012

Faculty Fellows

Supported across 16 different academic departments

Innovation Fellows

Supported as graduate students, postdocs and project scientists

Ignite Scholars

Gaining real-world experience as undergraduates

Sanjam garg and innovation fellow

Our Awards

Our awards are designed to accelerate faculty-led research to tangible, positive societal impact through commercialization.

The Bakar Fellows program accepts new applications annually. Applications related to climate solutions and deep tech will automatically be considered for the AIC-Bakar Award. Applications for the 2026 cohort are now closed.

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Our Fellows Programs

Faculty Fellows are UC Berkeley and UCSF Faculty who have received a Bakar or AIC-Bakar Award.

Innovation Fellows are graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, or project scientists working on projects with Faculty Fellows who have received any of the above awards.

Ignite Scholars are undergraduate students who apply separately to work in a Bakar Fellow’s Lab.

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Meet our Fellows

We have a vibrant community of scholars who are committed to turning their research into real-world solutions. Click here to get to know them and their projects!