UC San Diego Chancellor's Innovation Awards
Recognizing Impact Through Innovation and Startup Creation
UC San Diego’s innovators play an essential role in translating ideas into actions to improve the lives of others and address the grand challenges of our global society. The UC San Diego Chancellor’s Innovation Awards recognize truly exceptional innovators – our faculty, students and recent alumni - for their success. It could be for launching new spinouts, establishing a mission driven organization, or for developing technologies, platforms or other social innovations through their research and activities across campus. This award, now in its third year, celebrates the uniquely Triton innovative culture and entrepreneurial spirit that have become defining hallmarks of UC San Diego.
Award Categories
The Chancellor’s Innovation Awards program features two award categories:
- Startup of the Year
- Student/Alumni Innovator of the Year.
To apply, make sure you submit the following:
- Award Application
- Introduction Video (self-shot, informal, 2-min max)
Check Applicant Resources for Award Guidelines and Eligibility.
Innovators Wanted
Hear from 2025 Startup of the Year Winner Quyen Nguyen of Alume Biosciences about why you should apply!
2024 Student/Alumni Innovator of the Year Winner Allison Cusick of FjordPhyto wants you to apply!
Past Awardees
For 2025, Ana Maria Moreno of Navega Therapeutics accepted the award for Student/Alumni Innovator of the Year, while Quyen Nguyen of Alume Biosciences accepted the award for Startup of the Year.
For 2024, Allison Cusick of FjordPhyto accepted the award for Student/Alumni Innovator of the Year, while David Krummen of Vektor Medical accepted the award for Startup of the Year.
Read "From Idea to Impact: Meet the Recipients of the Inaugural Chancellor’s Innovation Awards."
Award Information
Subject to budgetary approval, the Principal Student/Alumni Innovator of the Year is awarded a cash prize of $25,000.* The Startup of the Year is awarded a cash prize of $50,000.
Program Guidelines
Any member of the Triton community, namely current faculty, student, or recent Triton alum who meets the qualifications may apply.
- A single application will be considered for each entity or innovator – therefore multiple applications are not required.
- Past award recipients are not eligible for the award.
- Past applicants who did not receive an award are eligible to reapply.
- Applications do not need to exemplify all criteria. Applications can focus on one or more than one of the key selection criteria – however those with wholistic representation of criteria will be considered the strongest.
How to Apply
The application period for the 2025-2026 Startup of the Year and Student/Alumni Innovator of the Year will be opening soon!
Please use the online application portal where applicants will submit the applicant's information and narrative and the Award Portal will route for internal review. Please contact us if you have any questions or problems with your submission at smoise@ucsd.edu.
- Full Application period: Fall 2025 October – January 16
- Finalists Announced February 2026
- Award winners announced at the award ceremony
Phase 1: An internal review panel of campus innovation leadership will assess applications and cut incomplete and unsatisfactory submissions.
Phase 2: Representatives from the Chancellor’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council (IEC) will review based on criteria available below. The IEC will then recommend award recipients to Chancellor Pradeep Khosla.
Applicant Resources
Review 2026 Startup of the Year Guidelines and Eligibility.
Review 2026 Student/Alumni Innovator of the Year Guidelines and Eligibility.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. Who is eligible for Startup of the Year?
A. Startups creating novel intellectual property (IP), preferably which UC San Diego licensed to their startup.
Q. Who is eligible for Student/Alumni Innovator of the Year?
A. Matriculated or registered students at any college or department, including undergraduate and graduate students. Post Docs are NOT eligible. Alumni who’ve graduated within the last 3 years are also eligible (graduation years 2023, 2024 and 2025). Alumni who are also staff or faculty at the university will also be eligible and considered, however there may be unique considerations.
Q. Can student startups apply?
A. Yes, those with recorded novel intellectual property are eligible. See guidelines and definitions section for more details.
Q. Can UC San Diego Health employees apply?
A. Yes, Startups lead by health faculty or staff are eligible to apply and those based on novel IP are eligible.
Q. Do applicants need to exemplify all criteria?
A. No, applications can focus on only one or more that the applicant has demonstrated.
Q. Is the Startup of the Year award only for startups seeking seed funding?
A. No, the award and prize are not stage-gated, as all founding years for Startup of the Year are eligible. The focus is on meaningful and recently demonstrated milestones for the innovation, considering key factors like novelty, impact, market reach, and success milestones.
More about the 2025 Awardees
Congratulations to Quyen Nguyen, MD/PhD of Alume Biosciences for garnering the honor of Faculty Startup of the Year! Quyen’s groundbreaking work is transforming surgical outcomes by helping surgeons visualize and identify nerves, reducing complications, and improving patient care.
Congratulations to Ana Maria Moreno of Navega Therapeutics for earning the distinguished title of Student/Alumni Innovation of the Year! Navega Therapeutics is pioneering an AI-enabled platform for epigenetic therapies, offering a revolutionary approach to modulating gene expression without editing the genome.