BioEnginuity Impact Grant

Campus Programs

The BioEnginuity Impact Grant empowers doctoral students in STEM, focusing on bioconvergence, to translate research into solutions for critical societal challenges.

The BioEnginuity Impact Grant supports doctoral students working in STEM fields with an emphasis on bioconvergence — the intersection of life sciences with physical sciences, engineering, and/or data science, who have an interest in translating their research to solve important societal problems.

Beyond supporting translational research, the BioEnginuity Impact Grant will create a community of emerging bioconvergence problem solvers and provide you with the intellectual freedom, resources and connections to start tackling critical societal problems by translating academic research to real-world applications.

Applications are now closed.

Grant Details

Overview

We encourage you to orient the last stages of your doctoral research toward greater societal impact, which may involve moving your research in new interdisciplinary directions to tackle significant societal problems, for example the impacts of the climate crisis or equitable health care technologies. For some, this might mean a direct ‘reduction to practice’ or exploring steps to commercialization or industry partnerships. For others, the impact could come from an “open source” translation. While moving towards impact is a central aspect of the grant, no prior entrepreneurship experience is expected.

In the application process you’ll describe how your research can benefit society in a meaningful way, and how the BioEnginuity Impact Grant will move you towards that goal. This may include plans you have for creating a startup, or working with licensing to industry partners.

We welcome applications from diverse problem solvers and changemakers. Successful applicants will be part of a unique group that will continue their dissertation research, and also participate in extracurricular activities offered by Bakar Labs and QB3 including:

Professional development and leadership workshops
Mentoring opportunities with QB3, Bakar Labs and other affiliated programs
Networking with industry experts in your area of emphasis or an area you’d like to explore

We anticipate that any additional time commitment will be less than that required by a graduate-level seminar course. However, since the BioEnginuity Impact Grant will require time outside the lab in several events and activities that will help you gain a better understanding of translational research and entrepreneurship, you are required to submit a letter of support indicating your advisor understands the program’s time commitment and goals, and providing a rationale for why you are an appropriate candidate.

Eligibility

Doctoral students going into the final two years of their PhD dissertation research are eligible. The applicant’s home department/PI will receive $40,000/year for two years to be applied towards the applicant’s current GSR appointment, to supplement tuition, stipend, and fees normally covered by the home department/PI. Graduate students must be in a GSR position and able to use the funds as current use funds. Therefore they cannot be on other fellowship support or in a GSI appointment. This applies to the two years of the BioEnginuity Grant award period. Applicants should have already completed their department’s GSI teaching requirement.

Deadlines

Applications are now closed. (Applications for the next cycle will open around January 2026 and close in March 2026.)

Please contact us directly if you have questions: bioenginuityimpact@berkeley.edu