California Institutes for Science & Innovation

These four institutes, established by the Governor's office on UC campuses, are comprehensive basic research centers concentrating on complex scientific challenges that demand multidisciplinary strategies and state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. Partnerships with industry, and support for startups, help move early-stage research developments into the commercial R&D pipeline for more rapid delivery of public benefits to the marketplace.

The institutes are all structured in ways to speed up business growth in the state. UC researchers work collaboratively with hundreds of the state's leading-edge businesses during the discovery process so that the time it takes to develop and deliver new products and technologies to the marketplace can be reduced. The institutes also serve as a training ground for the next generation of scientists, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Industry partners, students, postdocs and staff work side-by-side with leading researchers.

• Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS)
  CITRIS and the Banatao Institute leverage the research strengths of the UC campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz to create information technology solutions for society’s most pressing challenges. Research initiatives at CITRIS include: CITRIS Aviation, CITRIS Climate, CITRIS Health and CITRIS Policy Lab. CITRIS also supports cross-cutting themes in artificial intelligence and diversity and inclusion.
• California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI)
  CNSI at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara seeks technological breakthroughs by understanding of how to manipulate, control and manufacture at the nanometer scale. Control of material at this scale allows for compact, complex and multifunctional systems at the macro-scale that can dramatically improve present-day communications, computation, medical therapies and environmental remediation.
• California Institute for Telecom and Information Technology (Calit2)
  Calit2 at UC San Diego (Qualcomm Institute), UC Irvine and UC Riverside focuses its research on Enabling Technologies (Wireless, Photonics, Cyber infrastructure, Nanotechnology/MEMS) to realizes the goals of its socially relevant Application Thrusts (Culture, Energy, Environment, Health).
• California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3)
  QB3 at UC Berkeley, UCSF and UC Santa Cruz covers the “quantitative biosciences,” meeting challenges in molecular biology using the techniques of physics, chemistry, and computer sciences. This enables UC to convert life science research into solutions for better health, a sustainable environment, and a dynamic economy. QB3 has built a matrix of support for entrepreneurs that includes a renowned incubator network and a venture capital fund.