Faculty Grants in Sustainability Science :: Sustainability Science Program :: Center for International Development

Sustainability Science Program

Faculty Grants in Sustainability Science

What is the Sustainability Science Program?
What is the Sustainability Science Faculty Grant competition?
Who can apply for Faculty Grants in Sustainability Science?
What financial support is available?
What is the application procedure due by 1 February 2009?
What criteria are grants evaluated on?
How do I receive updates about faculty opportunities with the Sustainability Science Program?

What is the Sustainability Science Program?

The Sustainability Science Program at Harvard’s Center for International Development is an international leader in the emerging field of "sustainability science" - problem-driven, interdisciplinary scholarship that seeks to facilitate the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective interventions that promote environmentally sustainable human development. To that end, we work to advance scientific understanding of human-environment systems; to improve linkages between relevant research and innovation communities on the one hand, and relevant policy and management communities on the other; and, more broadly, to build capacity for linking knowledge with action to promote sustainability. The Program supports major initiatives in policy-relevant research, competitive awards for individual faculty research, curriculum development, and fellows training. The Program directed by Bill Clark, Nancy Dickson and a Steering Group. More information about the Sustainability Science Program can be found at http://www.cid.harvard.edu/sustsci.

What is the Sustainability Science Faculty Grant competition?

Grants are intended to seed new research related to the core concerns of "sustainability science," an emerging field of use-inspired research seeking to advance understanding of the interactions between human and environmental systems, and to apply such understanding to sustainability challenges relating to advancing human well-being and alleviating poverty in ways that simultaneously conserve the earth's life support systems. Proposals to explore sectoral applications of sustainability science in the areas of agriculture/land use/food, habitation, energy and materials, health and water are welcome, as are applications to integrated regional development. Interdisciplinary research approaches are encouraged where appropriate. A list of faculty research activities that are supported by previous faculty awards can found at http://www.cid.harvard.edu/sustsci/activities/research/index.html.

Who can apply for Faculty Grants in Sustainability Science?

Full-time Assistant, Associate and Full Professors in any Harvard Department or School may apply for a grant. Preference will be given to funding faculty who did not receive a grant from SSP in the past year, but all faculty applications will be considered.

What financial support is available?

The Center for International Development expects to be able to provide up to $160,000 in direct expenses for Faculty Grants in Sustainability Science for use at any time during the period from April 2008 through June 2010. Grants can be used to support a broad range of expenses including but not limited to field research, workshops, faculty time, and Harvard University graduate students centrally involved in the proposed research. The maximum size of an individual grant is $40,000. Applications for smaller grant amounts, and for co-funded proposals, are encouraged.

What is the application procedure due by February 1, 2009?

Applications must be emailed to sustsci_grants@ksg.harvard.edu by February 1, 2009. Applicants should submit:

a cover sheet available at http://www.cid.harvard.edu/sustsci/grants/faculty/faculty_cover_sheet.htm
Proposal: A 3-page description of the proposed project including specific information demonstrating how the applicant’s work contributes to “sustainability science,” the emerging field of use-inspired research encompassing studies of the interactions between human and environmental systems as well as the sustainability challenges relating to agriculture/land use/food, biodiversity, cities, energy and materials, health and water. Include a budget for up to $40,000 in direct costs.
a curriculum vitae of 3 pages or last, listing no more than 10 publications relevant to the proposed research.

Decisions will be announced by April.

What criteria are used to evaluate grant applications?

Grant applications will be evaluated according to the criteria listed below. No proposal is expected to meet all of these criteria, but those scoring high on many of the criteria will be most likely to succeed in the competition.

Advances research promoting sustainable development in the developing world;
Intellectual merit;
Problem-driven relevance: How would successful completion of the project contribute to solving a practical problem of sustainable development?;
Contains a developing world component (this could include north-south relations; comparative work; solely be based in a developing country; work focusing on implications for the developing world of an issue such as trade, globalization…);
Conducts field work in the developing world;
Directly engages a co-investigator from the developing world;
Directly engages a practitioner from the developing world;
Develops institutional links with an academic or practitioner/ applications/ problem-solving oriented institution in the developing world;
Provides synergies with a regional center at Harvard, e.g., Latin America, Asia Center, Africa;
Directly engages a doctoral or post-doctoral fellow who can be either supported directly by the project or with other funds;
Directly engages a pre-doc, post-doc, or practitioner fellow from Italy or the developing world through the Program’s Sustainability Science Fellowship;
Provides opportunities for an undergraduate or masters student thesis or exercise;
Engages multiple Harvard University schools and departments.
For those who have received previous Sustainability Science Program grants, evidence of successful completion of previously funded work.

How do I receive updates about opportunities for Harvard faculty with the Sustainability Science Program?

To receive periodic messages about opportunities for Harvard faculty with the Sustainability Science Program, subscribe to the list "sustsci_faculty" by sending a message (with no subject) to:

majordomo@lists.hmdc.harvard.edu
containing the line in the message field:
subscribe sustsci_faculty