[Faculty] Nominations Open: UC Regents Innovation Awards

[VCREDadmin VCREDadmin]

Dear UCR Campus Community,

The Board of Regents recently launched the UC Regents Innovation Awards
<https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/innovation-awards/>. In their
own words, these awards were launched in pursuit of two objectives:

   - To further encourage the UC community of faculty and researchers to
   solve the world’s most pressing challenges through use-inspired
research, civically
   responsible entrepreneurship, and the translation of academic-based
   research into practical solutions having societal benefit.
   - To celebrate UC inventors and entrepreneurs who have demonstrated an
   exceptional spirit of innovation through the creation of new technologies,
   products, and services aimed at uplifting the human condition.

There are five categories of awards:

   -

   Gamechanger Award – To be awarded to the faculty member or researcher
   who invented the most impactful product introduced to the market.  The
   invention must have been translated into a new or improved technology,
   product or service which has been put into public use and has (a)
   improved societal well-being, (b) provided economic benefit to the region
   or state, and/or (c) advanced scientific understanding in their field.


   -

   Disruptive Research Award – To be awarded to the faculty member or
   researcher who engaged in use-inspired research that has not yet been
   translated into real world applications but has demonstrated exceptional
   novelty and discovery with strong potential to be developed into new or
   improved technologies, products, and/or services that will improve lives.



   -

   Best Startup Award – To be awarded to the faculty member or researcher
   who founded the best new company – utilizing UC research – to address
   societal needs.


   -

   Community Changemaker Award– Recognizes a private sector leader or
   organization that has contributed significantly to improving social and
   economic prosperity by supporting UC’s innovation enterprise.


   -

   Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award – To be awarded to a faculty
   member or researcher whose career accomplishments include multiple
   innovations that have led to long-term positive impacts on the lives of
   others and is an inspiring influence for aspiring UC inventors and
   entrepreneurs.
   -



Awardees from the Gamechanger, Disruptive Research, and Best Startup Awards
will receive a minimum $10,000 prize. Note, the minimum $10,000 prize for
Best Startup will go to the individual UC founder, not to their startup
company.

The awardee may choose to receive award funds personally to spend as they
like (as such, there might be tax implications to the awardees) or as a
distribution to their lab/research unit to further advance their innovation.


Additional information about the awards and FAQs can be found at:
https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/innovation-awards/frequently-asked-questions.html


We are inviting you to submit UCR internal nominations for these awards.
However, we will only consider a nomination for an individual in a single
award category, so be strategic in your nomination. Nominees need to
participate in the nomination process and provide the information required in
the application (see below).

ELIGIBILITY

Those eligible to be nominated are current and alumni/emeriti UCR faculty (
including full-time tenured and non-tenured instructors/lecturers of any
level) from all disciplines (and community partners for the Community
Impact Award).

In each category, except the Community Impact Award, the nominee must
leverage licensed/licensable University of California owned intellectual
property (protectable or not) and have a UCR record of invention (ROI)
and/or copyright disclosure form submitted to the Office of Technology
Partnerships.

For the Gamechanger and Disruptive Research Awards, the achievements
occurring within the prior calendar year for 1) uniqueness and novelty and
2) societal impact will be evaluated. For the Best Startup Award,
achievements from the past five calendar years will be accepted.

A committee of RED and faculty members will select one candidate from the
nominees in each category, who will be submitted to the Regents for the
final system-wide competition. The UCR nominees will be informed before
submission, and additional information may be required from them.

The winners at the system level will be announced in August 2026.

DEADLINE:

The internal proposal deadline for all categories of awards is March 15,
2026 at 11:59 p.m. (Pacific time).

APPLICATION SUBMISSION:

 Please submit the following materials by the stated deadline.

•  Complete nomination form for
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeI06ZuRWo7IjuqZXHE02tyNOSYqYlzDuc4VAERoALRgfsGVA/viewform?usp=preview>
desired award category
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeI06ZuRWo7IjuqZXHE02tyNOSYqYlzDuc4VAERoALRgfsGVA/viewform?usp=preview>.
Apply today!
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeI06ZuRWo7IjuqZXHE02tyNOSYqYlzDuc4VAERoALRgfsGVA/viewform?usp=preview>


•  Up-to-date CV of the nominee.

For questions about the nomination materials please contact Brian Suh,
Senior Executive Director, Technology Partnerships, brian.suh at ucr.edu,
951-827-5578.


Cheers,

*Rodolfo H. Torres*

Vice Chancellor

Research, Innovation, and Economic Development
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