UCSB Department of Chemical Engineering

What UCSB Department of Chemical Engineering does

The UCSB Department of Chemical Engineering is an academic department within the Robert Mehrabian College of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It offers a research-intensive PhD program (the department does not charge tuition and provides guaranteed stipend support for admitted students) and serves three principal constituencies: PhD students seeking doctoral training, undergraduate BS students, and industry and government research partners. The department is small in headcount (~23 personnel listed) and operates from the Engineering II Building on the UCSB campus in Santa Barbara, California.

Research is organized across four thematic areas: Materials & Interfaces (polymers, nanostructured materials, complex fluids and colloids, transport phenomena, complex interfaces, novel characterization tools); Bioengineering (nanomedicine, diagnostics, systems and synthetic biology, biomolecular interactions); Energy, Efficiency & Sustainability (catalysis, electronic and optical materials, soft materials, engineered biological and bio-inspired systems); and Modeling, Theory & Simulation (molecular thermodynamics, kinetic phenomena, transport and interfaces, systems engineering, multiscale simulations). It operates and co-manages shared research infrastructure including the Materials Research Laboratory, the NSF-funded ExFAB BioFoundry (with UC Riverside and Cal Poly Pomona), and the BioPACIFIC MIP (with UCLA), and supports the Mitsubishi Chemical Center for Advanced Materials.

The department is funded through state appropriations, competitive federal research grants (notably NSF), industry-sponsored fellowships, and donor contributions; it does not generate commercial revenue. Its distribution model is direct and residential: the PhD program is delivered on-campus with Fall-quarter admissions only, students are admitted to the program rather than to individual groups, and research is disseminated through publications, conferences, the Graduate Student Symposium, and named lecture series (Dale Pearson Lectureship, Mellichamp Emerging Leader Lectures). The graduate program has held a top-ten U.S. News ranking for 25 consecutive years, currently #8 among public universities and #12 overall out of 136 institutions in the 2026 rankings.

Name

UCSB Department of Chemical Engineering

Legal name

The Regents of the University of California

Website

https://chemengr.ucsb.edu

Company type

Public

Founded year

1909

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The UCSB Department of Chemical Engineering is an academic department within the University of California, Santa Barbara, offering a tuition-free, fully funded PhD program and conducting research across materials, bioengineering, energy/sustainability, and computational simulation, supported by major NSF centers and industry partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Barbara

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The UCSB Department of Chemical Engineering is an academic department within the University of California, Santa Barbara that offers a research-intensive PhD program and undergraduate BS program in chemical engineering. The department conducts fundamental and applied research across four thematic areas: Materials & Interfaces, Bioengineering, Energy/Efficiency/Sustainability, and Modeling/Theory/Simulation, supported by shared facilities including the Materials Research Laboratory, the NSF-funded ExFAB BioFoundry, and the BioPACIFIC MIP collaboration with UCLA.

Product overview

The UCSB Department of Chemical Engineering offers a PhD-focused graduate program in chemical engineering. The department's research portfolio spans five major areas: Materials and Interfaces (polymers, nanostructured materials, complex fluids), Bioengineering (nanomedicine, diagnostics, synthetic biology), Energy Efficiency & Sustainability (catalysis, electronic materials), and Modeling, Theory & Simulation (molecular thermodynamics, multiscale simulations). Students are admitted to the general PhD program through a department committee, not to individual research groups, and must complete a research advisor selection process during their first quarter.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chemical Engineering PhD Program A research-intensive doctoral program in chemical engineering at the UCSB campus. Admitted PhD students receive guaranteed financial support including stipend, teaching/research appointments, full fee coverage, non-resident tuition, and health insurance for the duration of studies in good academic standing. Students are admitted to the general program and select a research advisor during their first quarter.
• Chemical Engineering BS Program An undergraduate Bachelor of Science program in chemical engineering that prepares students for careers in engineering, research, and industry, with opportunities for undergraduate research participation and career preparation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ranked #8 among public universities and #12 overall out of 136 institutions in U.S. News 2026 Best Graduate Engineering Schools
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Wellcome LeapmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 February 2026Interdisciplinary team at UCSB awarded major research grant from Wellcome Leap to investigate links between early-life gut microbiome and neurodevelopment, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Part of a global effort investigating if and how early-life gut microbiome may influence neurodevelopmental challenges.
• Mitsubishi Chemical Center for Advanced Materials (MC-CAM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 October 2025Two-year Mitsubishi Chemical Fellowships awarded to PhD students Prithvi Dake and Jaewon Lee. MC-CAM is an interdisciplinary materials center supporting advanced materials research collaboration.
• UCLA (BioPACIFIC MIP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 August 2025BioPACIFIC MIP (Biomaterials, Polymers and Advanced Constructs from Integrated Chemistry Materials Innovation Platform) is a collaboration between UCSB and UCLA providing a unique scientific ecosystem for advancing biobased materials. The $19.8M renewal empowers researchers to continue advancing the frontier of biobased materials research.
• UC Riverside and Cal Poly Pomona (ExFAB BioFoundry)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 September 2024ExFAB (BioFoundry for Extreme and Exceptional Fungi, Archaea and Bacteria) is a collaborative facility supported by a six-year, $22M NSF grant. The facility allows researchers from the partner institutions to conduct advanced biomanufacturing research.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• MIT Department of Chemical Engineering: Top-ranked US chemical engineering graduate program with parallel research areas in materials, bioengineering, energy, and computational modeling; competes head-to-head with UCSB for PhD applicants and faculty talent.
• UC Berkeley Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Berkeley CBE is a fellow UC system program covering nearly identical research themes, including bioengineering and sustainable energy; competes directly with UCSB for California-resident applicants and state funding.
• Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Georgia Tech ChBE is a leading public-university peer with strong programs in bioengineering, sustainable energy, and computational modeling, competing for applicants and NSF funding.
• Caltech Department of Chemical Engineering: Caltech ChemE operates at a smaller scale but competes with UCSB in top-5 graduate program rankings, with overlapping research in materials, catalysis, and bioengineering.
• Stanford Department of Chemical Engineering: Stanford ChemE shares the same research architecture (materials, bioengineering, energy/sustainability, modeling) and competes with UCSB in the same US News ranking cohort.
• University of Michigan Department of Chemical Engineering: Michigan ChemE is a top-10 public research university peer with similar thematic research depth in polymers, energy, and bioengineering; competes with UCSB for ranking and faculty talent.
• UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: UCLA is both a direct UC-system peer and an active collaborator through BioPACIFIC MIP; competes for faculty hires and applicants while jointly operating shared bio-materials research platforms.
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering: Wisconsin CBE is a long-established public research university peer with strength in materials and bioengineering, regularly ranked alongside UCSB in graduate program assessments.
• Princeton Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering: Princeton CBE shares UCSB's emphasis on materials, bioengineering, energy, and computational research and competes in the same top-10 graduate-program ranking band.

Others

• DOE National Laboratories (e.g., Argonne, Sandia, Lawrence Berkeley): National labs are major employer partners and research collaborators for UCSB ChE PhD graduates; they compete for federal R&D funding and offer alternative career pathways that affect recruiting dynamics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UCSBChE
• Facebookfacebook.com/UCSBChE
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ucsb-department-of-chemical-engineering

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UCSB Department of Chemical Engineering