QB3 Berkeley / Education / QB3-Berkeley Graduate and Postdoc Career Development / Career Development Resources / Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

Three people gathered around a desk in a well-lit room.

The Career Field Resource pages describe the more common fields that employ scientists with advanced training, with a short list of websites which will help you understand the field. Each section has:

  • at least one or two articles to provide an overview of the field or career paths;
  • resources specific to Berkeley (access to opportunities you can pursue while a student or postdoc);
  • more general sources of information including professional associations, sites with industry news and career advice, and fellowship/job listings. 

Entrepreneurship

“High risk, high reward” opportunities await those who are interested in starting their own businesses.  QB3-Berkeley in particular generates significant innovation that might be commercialized, and there are extensive resources to help scientists explore this option while still on campus. 

Berkeley Resources

  • LSEC (Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center) – NEW in 2021! LSEC “is a first stop for any member of Berkeley’s community of life science innovators, from students to postdocs to faculty, curious about the path of moving from concept to company.”
  • Startup@Berkeley – an extensive list of startup resources at Berkeley, including student organizations and departments on campus such as CITRIS Foundry 
  • BEGIN – Berkeley Gateway to Innovation’s “goal is to help students, faculty, researchers, and other innovators understand the resources available at Berkeley to support educating entrepreneurs, commercializing research, and advancing startups”
  • Biotech@Berkeley – peer-led organization, for graduate students. New in 2o22 – more info coming soon!
  • BPEP – Berkeley Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Program aims to foster entrepreneurship “by providing both the tools and mentoring to move research into the marketplace”
  • LAUNCH – run by Haas MBAs and helps “UC founders start their entrepreneurial careers”
  • PostX –  “Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Berkeley Postdoctoral Community,” an initiative with multiple departmental collaborators
  • QB3-Berkeley and QB3, UCSF Rosenman Institute – host events, list jobs and offer informative newsletters
  • Skydeck – Startup accelerator. “SkyDeck is industry-agnostic and accepts applications from companies across all industries. We accept startups founded by individuals affiliated with UC Berkeley”
  • IPIRA – Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Research Alliances offers information on Startup Pathways for Faculty, Postdocs, and PhD Students, including a list of companies born out of licensing UC Berkeley Intellectual Property 
  • As a 2022 QB3-Berkeley “Professional in Residence,” Timothy Day, PhD, CSO and co-founder, DNALite Therapeutics (now called Particella) describes his career transitions – from Kansas to Berkeley to Mission Bay, and from Cal doctoral student to CSO in our exclusive interview! 
  • Interview with Concerto Biosciences CEO and co-founder, Cheri Ackerman, PhD (College of Chemistry alum) 

City of Berkeley Resources

General Resources