Binghamton University
AC-10: Support for Research

We have a Freshman Research Immersion program in which freshman with interested in science, math, and engineering are invited to be part of a program in which them conduct real research and gain valuable job skills. There are seven research streams that students can choose, with two explicit streams in sustainability: smart energy and biogeochemistry. Students are incentivized to apply to these streams through the opportunity to have publishable results, make a real impact, and develop valuable skills. There in explicit intention to add one more research stream in sustainability; geospatial remote sensing as it is used in environmental studies. The outcomes of this program include rapid expansion through internal support and external grant monies. From an initial cohort of 90 students in three research streams (30 per stream) in 2014-2015, there are 5 streams in 2015-2016, and 7 set for 2016-2017, with a final goal to research 300 students in 10 streams.

The University established five transdisciplinary areas of excellence, three of which include research areas related to sustainability (Sustainable Communities, Smart Energy, and Citizenship, Rights and Cultural Belonging). There have been at least 25 faculty hired to be affiliated with these TAEs who are expected to contribute research. The University also established a seed grant program and has made nineteen seed grants to these three TAEs from 2013-2015, totaling about $300,000 that will contribute to the success of their faculty.

To ensure that Binghamton makes the most of this rare opportunity, the Provost will allocate a significant portion of these new faculty positions to five transdisciplinary areas of research and scholarship in which the University has significant existing strength and can achieve international prominence. Two areas — health sciences and smart energy — emerged in 2010-11, as Binghamton developed its NYSUNY 2020 proposal. Three others were identified by a faculty committee appointed jointly by the Provost and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee: citizenship, rights, and cultural belonging; material and visual worlds; and sustainable communities. All five areas of excellence address critical social, scientific, technological, economic, cultural, and policy issues. By hiring faculty from a variety of disciplines to explore them, Binghamton will develop solutions to complex and consequential problems. We invite you to learn more about each of these five Transdisciplinary Areas of Excellence.

The library has developed and makes publicly available subject guides on its website in areas related to sustainability research such as sustainable communities and environmental studies. These guides provide databases, reports, government and other organizational links, campus and community organizations and search key words to aid research and learning in the subject areas.