The Berkeley Food Institute is launching the 2024-2025 academic year Student Research Grant Program! This summer, we will open applications for undergraduate and graduate students to financially support their farm and food systems research.
Our Big Give goal of $10,000 will enable us to offer research grants of up to $1,000 for individual student researchers. There is limited funding for student-led research on UC Berkeley campus. Many existing grant pools place constrictive expectations on students or require year-long cohort commitments. By offering more flexible and self-guided research funding, BFI wants to make research more accessible and achievable to food system scholars representing a variety of disciplines and departments across campus.
Support UC Berkeley researchers for this year’s 10th annual Big Give! Please visit our Big Give page from 9 pm Pacific Time on March 13 through 9 pm on March 14 to help us meet our fundraising goal.
This grant program is intended to fund student research that falls within one or more of our four focus areas: urban and rural agroecology, fair and healthy jobs, good food access, and racial equity in the food system.
UC Berkeley students often come to BFI and ask how to get involved or how we can support them in their academic endeavors. With the 2024-2025 Student Research Grant Program, we can sponsor student research and continue to foster a strong food systems research community at UC Berkeley.
When you give to BFI, you invest in our efforts in supporting interdisciplinary student research that generates knowledge and informs how we understand and shape food systems.
Farm size, land tenure, and access to technical expertise are major barriers that prevent participation in the Healthy Soils Program for many farmers, especially farmers of color.
During the pandemic, Great Plates Delivered took on the dual task of getting prepared meals to isolated seniors and supporting restaurants across California.
BFI and the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at Berkeley Law convened a virtual roundtable of stakeholders — farmers, researchers, investors, and policy experts — to identify critical barriers to regenerative agriculture adoption as well as solutions with high potential to effect change.