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Bakar Award (formerly Spark Award)

Bakar Award

Funds UC Berkeley STEM faculty moving research discoveries toward commercially viable products and services.

The Bakar Award is a three-year faculty fellowship administered by the Bakar Fellows Program at UC Berkeley, funded by the Bakar Family Foundation. Awards provide $100,000 per year per principal investigator for three years, totalling $300,000, to UC Berkeley academic senate faculty whose research has commercial translation potential across engineering, computer science, chemistry, biological scie…

STEM+ research with commercial translation potential across engineering, computer science, chemistry, biological sciences, physical sciences, and architecture at UC Berkeley.

CycleiHow often this grant runs — e.g. annually, on a rolling basis, or a one-off call.Annual
Next deadlineiThe next date applications are due. Rolling means you can apply any time.—
Decision timeiTypical time from the deadline to the funder's decision.—
Project durationiHow long the funded work is expected to run.36 months
Award typeiThe form of funding — grant, equity, loan, tax credit, etc.Grant
Match fundingiThe share of project costs you must cover yourself. 0% = fully funded.0%
Funding pooliThe total budget available across all awards in this round.—

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Last verified: 24 Jul 2026Source: bakarfellows.berkeley.edu