The University of California, Berkeley was founded in 1868, born out of a vision in the State Constitution of a university that would "contribute even more than California's gold to the glory and happiness of advancing generations."

The Berkeley Chemistry Tournament (BCT) is a national high school chemistry competition originating from the University of California, Berkeley. It is an annual event organized and hosted by the American Chemical Society at UC Berkeley (ACS). In the United States, due to the limited number of available spots, the organizing committee selects only 36 teams from the applicant schools each year, based on their historical performance. These teams are composed of students from grades 10–12. The difffculty level of BCT is comparable to that of the US National Chemistry Olympiad, with similar problem-solving logic. It is often used as a preparatory challenge for the US National Chemistry Olympiad and also serves as a training challenge for the US National Team.

The Berkeley Chemistry Tournament (BCT) consists of five rounds: the Individual Round, Topic Round, Team Round, Lab Round, and Speed Round. For high school students, BCT is a platform to showcase advanced chemistry skills. Through multiple rounds of challenges, students will comprehensively exercise their chemical knowledge and experimental inquiry skills, delving into the practical applications of the subject. The questions in BCT are closely aligned with those of the US National Chemistry Olympiad, focusing on the practical application of cutting-edge chemistry ffelds while maintaining the rigor of advanced chemistry challenges. Students will discover their unique potential through these challenging and innovative problems.