Berkeley Innovative Solutions (BIS) Consulting Group

BIS logo

UPCOMING DEADLINES:

The student application for the Fall 2021 BIS Program is available here and will be due Monday, September 6th at 11:59pm Pacific. Join us at our info sessions on Thursday, August 26th from 1-2 pm and Thursday, Sept 2nd from 5-6 pm in C210 to ask any questions. For a more detailed timeline and set of expectations, please consult the BIS syllabus. Students are matched to clients based on preferences, and student work begins in early September. For further questions, please reach out to the team at bis-berc@berkeley.edu or join the BERC slack workspace

PROGRAM OVERVIEW:

The BIS Consulting program works to link company projects with teams of interdisciplinary graduate students from the UC Berkeley campus.  BIS is the action-arm of the UC Berkeley graduate-student body. We seek to further the UN Sustainable Development Goals by matching students to SDG-aligned clients and projects that accelerate new-economy innovations or tackle societal problems. For the 2021-22 academic year, BIS is focusing on the areas of Energy/Mobility, Finance, Food, Tech, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in order to best meet student experience and interest.

Teams are designed to meet their clients’ needs with complementary areas of academic focus and past professional experience.  The opportunity for students to collaborate across academic disciplines provides both a unique experience for student participants and a valuable perspective for BIS clients.  These teams of 3 - 5 graduate students work between 3-8 hours per week per student for 8 to 10 weeks. Project tasks and deliverables are decided between the team and the client.  

Our clients include large, well-known companies and local startups. Past clients of the BIS Consulting program include municipal organizations, venture capital firms, multinational conglomerates, independent power producers, and start-up companies. Past clients of the Center for Responsible Business include companies in the apparel, consumer goods, and investment sectors. Types of projects include: market assessment, go-to-market strategy, policy research, investment analysis, scenario planning and impact assessment.

Students receive an optional academic credit (Haas speaker series 294), expense reimbursement, experiential learning, networking into other academic departments, skill development and industry experience. BIS is particularly useful for those exploring consulting or the BIS focus areas for the academic year.

PROGRAM LOGISTICS:

BIS Consulting projects run twice annually, once in the Fall Semester (September to December) and once in the Spring Semester (February to May). The BIS Consulting Director team works with clients during Winter (December to January) and Summer (August to September) to help identify and scope project opportunities. Companies may submit multiple projects per semester and are encouraged to participate year-round. BIS Consulting cannot guarantee that the supply of students will match the demand of projects, but we do our best to make sure each client project receives a team of students.

For questions, please email: BIS@berc.berkeley.edu

OTHER RESOURCES:
Interested in consulting on campus? Check out these other student groups!

Haas Consulting Club
PhD Consulting Club
Net Impact Berkeley

PAST BIS CONSULTING CLIENTS:

Chrysalix