The University of California Berkeley stands out by directly integrating its research with the crypto industry to break new ground and provide the education needed for growth in the sector.

Ripple, the payments company behind the crypto token XRP, funds research at Berkeley into the applications of blockchain technology through the Berkeley Haas Blockchain Initiative. The project offers research grants for faculty and students, and organizes events and activities designed to help students learn more about the topic. It also helps students to connect with alumni and to build a network that can help them launch a career.

Berkeley courses funded by Ripple in this way include “Building With Blockchain for Web 3.0″ and “Lattices: Algorithms, Complexity and Cryptography.” There is a course for MBA students, too, on “Blockchain for Enterprise.”

Ripple-funded research over the last few years has investigated questions ranging from “What keeps stablecoins stable?” to “What drives demand for cryptocurrencies?”

Read More: The Top Universities for Blockchain by CoinDesk 2021

Undergraduates at Berkeley can study blockchain fundamentals and blockchain software development through the industrial engineering and computer science departments, respectively.

The Blockchain at Berkeley group on campus orchestrates courses for students to increase familiarity with the technology and provide the tools needed to develop applications. Other courses look at substantiating blockchain use cases. The group also provides external consulting services to existing blockchain firms.

Among the teaching staff at Berkeley’s computer science department is Sanjam Garg, whose work has won best-paper awards at three different crypto conferences in the eight years since he earned his PhD. He is also the recipient of a Sloan Research Fellowship, which recognizes “early career researchers [with] a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field.”