== <span style="font-size:x-large;">Promoting student innovation and entrepreneurship</span> ==
The University of California, Berkeley is leading the forefront in student innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) in higher education. Students have the options to pursue I&E classes through the Saturdja Center, or develop their own ventures with the support of The House, Skydeck and various startup competitions led by the Haas School of Business. These various resources have encouraged collaboration between cross-disciplines from students and faculty.
UC Berkeley is ranked as the "#2 university worldwide for producing venture-backed entrepreneurs" (Skydeck). This is possible because of the campus's commitment to bringing diverse students together in the classroom and spaces of collaboration, creating their own curriculum for entrepreneurship & tech through the Saturdja Center, and funding student ideas into scaleable businesses.
== Encouraging faculty innovation and entrepreneurship ==
''Faculty and doctoral graduate students conduct the research powering many of the innovations that spawn high-growth startups. However, even at our nation’s most entrepreneurial universities, many faculty and graduate students do not always consider the market and societal relevance of their research. To address this issue, universities are putting in place a series of policy changes to encourage more faculty entrepreneurship, which in turn will complement the student entrepreneurship. These changes include greater recognition of faculty entrepreneurs, integrating entrepreneurship into the faculty tenure and selection process, and increasing faculty connections to outside partners - through externships, engagement with business, and targeted resources for startup creation. Finally, universities are actively working with federal agencies to address some of the regulatory challenges around faculty entrepreneurship, in particular, those related to conflict of interest and national security issues.''
While it doesn't seem as though it directly impacts you, the extent to which faculty are encouraged to innovate and pursue entrepreneurial pathways really does help determine the extent to which they will encourage students to explore their innovative and entrepreneurial potential. Encouragement at the faculty level is one of the things that differentiates more developed I&E ecosystems. Under the "Encouraging faculty innovation and entrepreneurship" category, please provide a succinct view of whether faculty are supported to be entrepreneurial or commercialize their research.
= Actively supporting the university technology transfer function =