The Institute for the Biology of Stem Cells (IBSC) at UC Santa Cruz encompasses research, training, and facilities. The institute was made possible by the high quality of biological and engineering research on the UCSC campus and by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which in September 2005 approved funding for UCSC to establish a training program in stem cell research. Funding from CIRM also made possible the UCSC Shared Stem Cell Facility, and other major projects that have supported stem cell research on this campus, such as a major facility award that funded the IBSC space in the new Biomedical Sciences Building.

The CIRM was established in early 2005 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.

The institute is administered through the Center for Biomolecular Science & Engineering.