Interested in learning more about the Fung Fellowship?
Get program details and answers to the most common questions by watching the replay of our virtual info session.
And, hear directly from past fellows here.
Why should you apply to the Fung Fellowship?
UC Berkeley’s Fung Fellowship is a unique impact-driven innovations program that teaches the skills you need to be an entrepreneur and change-maker in one semester. It’s a program that is grounded in industry partnerships, community collaborations, and valuing the unique skills that each fellow brings. Through the program, non-technical and technical fellows utilize the iterative human-centered design process, their majors’ specific skills, and emerging technology to create projects that impact communities.
Co-create your experience for impact
Fung Fellows have access to leaders and opportunities in design, public health, conservation, and innovation. Not only will fellows gain skills and real-world experiences in these fields, they will make a real impact in communities for real people.
Qualities that Unite Us
While we aim to cultivate a diverse cohort and community, we have several qualities that unite our fellows.
All of our fellows exemplify:
- Passion – Fellows are passionate about social impact, serving society, health, conservation, and/or design.
- Growth Mindset – Fellows are self-starters and demonstrate effort to expand their perspectives and skillsets.
Each fellow excels in one or more of the following areas:
- Taking Initiative to pursue a passion and actively engaging the work.
- Building Community and instilling community values.
- Playing and expressing themselves through creativity and a maker mindset.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s a unique impact-driven innovations program that teaches the skills you need to be an entrepreneur and change-maker. It’s a program that is grounded in industry partnerships, community collaborations, and valuing the unique skills that each fellow brings. Through the program, Fung Fellows utilize the iterative human-centered design process, area specific principles, and emerging technology.
The Fung Fellowship has two tracks: Health + Innovation and Sustainability + Innovation. Candidates can apply to the track that best aligns with their passion, interests, and desired area for impact. Learn more about the program by viewing recorded info sessions.
We accept applications from rising juniors and seniors at UC Berkeley.
Applications for Spring 2026 is now closed. Applications for our Fall 2026 cohort will open on Feb 9th. Please submit an interest form to stay updated on the application timeline and next steps.
Yes, we accept transfer students into our program and strongly encourage them to apply! We regularly run an application cycle dedicated to transfer students in the Summer.
Yes! The Fung Fellowship is a partnership program with strong ties to the School of Public Health, Rausser College of Natural Resources, and College of Engineering, and allows you to apply the skills you’ve developed from ANY major–whether your major is business, math, rhetoric, or biology. Think beyond your major to what you really want to do. Do you like helping people? Do you want to learn the skills to start a business, work on a diverse team, and gain new perspectives? Do you value health and wellbeing? Are you passionate about the environment and conservation? Are you interested in emerging tech? If your answers are “Yes,” then you’re in the right place.
The Fung Fellowship course is a 3-unit, project-based course. The units count toward any degree and meet specific requirements for some majors. These units fulfill course requirements for the Berkeley Certificate in Design Innovation. In addition, you have access to experts in the field, opportunities for internships and conferences, and extra academic and professional support.
The Fung Fellowship course (ENGIN 188 AND ENGIN 189) counts for a “Design Skills” requirement for the required courses to complete the certificate! Find out more information about the Berkeley Certificate in Design Innovation.
We define “diversity” broadly to include identity, gender, race, ethnicity, age, and ability, as well as discipline, life experience, skills, perspectives, and cognitive diversity. Additionally, we acknowledge the disproportionate impact of systemic barriers in higher education on students from historically marginalized communities.
We also recognize that diverse students bring valuable strengths and cultural wealth that enrich our community. We recognize that diversity alone is not enough and that we also need to foster an inclusive and equitable community in which all our faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students belong and thrive. We believe diverse teams develop better solutions, especially as those solutions will be used by diverse stakeholders. This diversity of lived and learned thought and experience is essential to solve the complex challenges facing society. Accordingly, our project experience is grounded in human-centered design, cultivating mindsets and skills in empathy and equity.
We do not consider GPA when evaluating candidates for the program. Instead, we consider whether fellows have the capacity to truly engage and participate in the fellowship with their other commitments, and evaluate each candidate holistically.
That’s alright, most of our students don’t! We teach you the skills and provide the exposure you need to work in successful teams to innovate with technology-based solutions. This is not a program to transform you into a programmer or engineer, but leverage skill sets across student teams to develop impactful solutions to address public health or conservation challenges. Learn more about our fellows and their academic backgrounds.
Most of our students don’t! We will teach you the skills you need and provide the exposure you need to apply a public health framework and work with community organizations.
Many of our fellows have not worked directly in conservation. We will teach you the specific skills you need to address the overwhelming threats to our planet’s biodiversity while advancing long-term, sustainable solutions. You will work closely with community and industry organizations to help design and implement environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable approaches, becoming part of the blend of expertise necessary to meet these pressing challenges.
We love English majors. View the major composition of our current fellows. We have a diverse range of majors, including Business Administration, Music, English, Political Science, interdisciplinary majors, and more!
Without going too deep, the program covers topics in human-centered design, teaming, and leadership. We expose our students to a variety of technical topics. Students with all backgrounds learn to work in interdisciplinary teams in an evolving innovation space.
Students work on a variety of projects based on student interests, partner organizations, and populations of focus. Topics have ranged from developing digital platforms to reduce social isolation for older adults to using emerging tech to improve childhood nutrition. View examples of past projects from our 2024 End of Year Showcase.
Yes, both rising juniors and rising seniors are eligible to apply. If you applied last year as a rising junior, we welcome your application this year as a rising senior!
This program is exclusive to UC Berkeley students. Please consult the advisors at your university to learn about programs like ours in your ecosystem.
“The fellowship gave me a space to grow and try new things in a safe environment. The fellowship was the first academic environment where failure wasn’t a negative thing. I think that the fellowship made me braver? It certainly helped me especially as a transfer student because it got me involved in spaces I’m interested in but would’ve not found on such a big campus alone.”Erin Kraemer Fung Fellow 2019-20