2026 is primed to be a year of trailblazing innovation at the University of California, thanks to a new series of awards created by the UC Board of Regents aimed at recognizing life-altering discoveries from faculty and research scientists across the 10-campus system and the three national labs.
Dubbed the UC Regents Innovation Awards, these new honors will both celebrate UC exceptionalism in translating big, bold ideas into real-world applications while also challenging our community to solve the world’s most pressing challenges through use-inspired research and civically responsible entrepreneurship.
“These annual awards will recognize groundbreaking research, transformative startups, and community partnerships that exemplify the University’s commitment to innovation and public benefit,” said UC Board of Regents Chair Janet Reilly. From now through May 1, 2026, each campus and national laboratory is invited to nominate one person or entity per award in each of the following categories:
the Gamechanger Award for the most impactful product introduced to the market;
the Disruptive Research Award for research with exceptional novelty and discovery that has strong development potential;
the Best Startup Award, for the best new company utilizing UC research to address societal needs;
the Community Changemaker Award, to recognize a private sector leader or organization that has contributed significantly to improving social and economic prosperity by supporting UC’s innovation enterprise;
and the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award, to be awarded to a faculty member or researcher whose career includes multiple innovations that have led to long-term positive impacts on the lives of others and who inspires the next generation of UC inventors and entrepreneurs.
Reflecting their unique cultures and ecosystems, each campus and lab will be empowered to develop their own nomination process. Nominees will then be evaluated by the President’s Entrepreneurship Network Council between May and June, with a final selection of up to three awardees per category carried out by the Board of Regents in the summer.
The winners will be publicly announced and honored at a gala event in August at the UC Student and Policy Center in Sacramento. And three of the awards — the Gamechanger, Disruptive Research and Best Startup — will each receive a cash prize of at least $10,000.
The establishment of the Innovation Awards is rooted in the policy framework set by Regents Policy 5105 (Policy on Innovation Transfer & Entrepreneurship). For more information, please visit the UC Regents Innovation Awards page.
