Program Overview
The BIS Consulting program works to link company projects with teams of interdisciplinary graduate students at UC Berkeley. The program seeks to further the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by matching students to SDG-aligned clients and projects that accelerate new-economy innovations or tackle societal problems.
Teams are designed to meet their clients’ needs by incorporating complementary areas of academic focus and past professional experiences. This collaboration across 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 8-10 weeks. Project tasks and deliverables are decided by 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. Project scopes may include market assessment, go-to-market strategy, policy research, investment analysis, scenario planning, and impact assessment. For reference, the Fall 2021 syllabus can be found here(link is external).
Students receive optional academic credit (via the MBA 294 course), expense reimbursement, experiential learning, networking into other academic departments, skill development, and industry experience. BIS is particularly useful for those exploring consulting or a specific BIS focus area as a post-graduation career path.
Program Logistics
BIS Consulting projects run twice annually, once in the Fall (September to December) and once in the Spring (February to May). The BIS Consulting Director team works with clients outside of the academic year to help identify opportunities and scope out projects. 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 reach out to BIS@berc.berkeley.edu.
Additional Resources
Interested in consulting on campus? Check out these other student groups!
Past Clients
BIS has worked with dozens of companies and organizations through the years. See below for a sample of the various groups we've partnered with in the past:
