Blockchain accelerator MouseBelt has launched a blockchain education initiative at three campuses in the University of California system.

Blockchain education at U.S. universities

In a news release shared with Cointelegraph on Aug. 22, MouseBelt announced an initiative with UC Davis, UC Los Angeles and UC Santa Barbara to support blockchain-focused education, research and entrepreneurship. An initial donation from the company will be divided between the three campuses.

MouseBelt plans to invest $500,000 for student projects and raise another $500,000 to fund researchers directly — supporting up to five early stage companies with up to $100,000 in investment through a UC Blockchain Entrepreneurship program. Ashlie Meredith, university outreach director at MouseBelt, said:

“We aim to help these universities become a driving force for innovation in the blockchain space, as well as provide students and researchers with the opportunity for both theoretical and industry experience.”

More resources for researchers

The initiative also aims to connect researchers with industry insiders to work on alternate cryptographics, quantum computing-resistant cryptography, distributed systems research for blockchains, blockchain peer-to-peer networks and proofs-of-concept for general business use cases. MouseBelt also announced plans to fund a second UCLA blockchain engineering course.

MouseBelt further claimed that it will try to identify outstanding startup founders on campus and provide a unique educational experience exclusively for early stage companies — mentoring up to five startups on technical, academic, and business best practices.

As Cointelegraph reported at the end of July, cryptocurrency firm Ripple partnered with Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo as part of its University Blockchain Research Initiative, which is similarly aimed at expanding educational opportunities in the field.