Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 75.88
Liaison Deborah Steinberg
Submission Date Dec. 17, 2024

STARS v2.2

Carnegie Mellon University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Deborah Steinberg
Green Practices and Sustainability Manager
FMCS
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Student sustainability research incentives 

Does the institution have an ongoing program to encourage students in multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
Yes

A brief description of the student sustainability research program:

Carnegie Mellon’s Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research offers direct support for research through doctoral fellowships and small grants for research at the undergraduate level.

The Steinbrenner Institute and Research Doctoral Fellowship Program in conjunction with the Presidential Graduate Fellowships provides competitively awarded grants to highly qualified second-year PhD students at Carnegie Mellon University who are involved in environmentally focused, interdisciplinary research projects for which traditional funding may not be available. Students across all seven colleges of Carnegie Mellon University are welcome to apply.

https://www.cmu.edu/steinbrenner/doctoral-fellowships 

 

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development hosts an annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, or "Meeting of the Minds". This is a university-wide celebration of undergraduate research. Beginning in 1995, Meeting of the Minds has served as the premier campus-wide forum to showcase the work of our undergraduate researchers and their mentors. All Carnegie Mellon undergraduate students engaged in research and creative projects are encouraged to apply. In 2024, more than 450 students shared their work through poster sessions, oral presentations, art installations, prototype demonstrations, and performances. In addition to the presentations, judges award prizes in six different competitions, one such competition is the Undergraduate Environmental Research Award. All participants undertaking projects with a strong environmental component are eligible to enter the competition for the Undergraduate Environmental Research Award. This award is sponsored by the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research and the Green Design Institute. The award winning poster receives a cash prize and at least one runner-up poster will also be awarded with a cash prize.

https://www.cmu.edu/uro/MoM/competitions.html 


Faculty sustainability research incentives 

Does the institution have a program to encourage academic staff from multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
Yes

A brief description of the faculty sustainability research program:
The Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation offers Seed Grants for Energy Research. The annual funding program supports the development of new research in areas such as decarbonization, energy equity, and resilience. The awards allow Carnegie Mellon professors to jump-start their cutting-edge work, and provide valuable funding to increase readiness for substantial external consideration and funding. In 2024, the Institute awarded almost 400,000 dollars to seven faculty-led projects.
 

https://www.cmu.edu/energy/research-innovation/seed-grants.html

The Scott Institute Energy Fellows Program incentivizes, promotes, and rewards Carnegie Mellon University's most dedicated tenure track energy faculty. There are three levels of fellows: director emeritus, senior fellows and fellows. Each fellow receives funding, resources and membership in the Scott Institute Fellow Council.

https://www.cmu.edu/energy/people/faculty-fellows.html 


Recognition of interdisciplinary, transdisciplnary and multi-disciplinary research 

Has the institution published written policies and procedures that give positive recognition to interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research during faculty promotion and/or tenure decisions?:
Yes

A copy of the promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
---

The promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:

Carnegie Mellon University’s strategic plan for 2025 specifically highlights the importance of supporting and promoting interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary encounters and collaborations for tenure decisions, and for research, teaching, and social impact.

Two goals focus on these ideas: A Culture of Interdisciplinary Approaches to Problem-Solving and An Interconnected Network for Research and Creativity. These goals are supported by specific strategic recommendations to support interdisciplinary research.

https://www.cmu.edu/strategic-plan/strategic-recommendations/foundational-research-and-creativity.html
https://www.cmu.edu/strategic-plan/strategic-recommendations/catalyzing-interdisciplinary-encounters.html


Library support

Does the institution have ongoing library support for sustainability research and learning?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s library support for sustainability research:

The Libraries offers expert consulting to all faculty, staff, and students. Departments have a librarian assigned to them who are information specialists with extensive knowledge of disciplinary information sources and methods who can help with everything from a first-year assignment to dissertation work and grant-funded research projects. For example, Julie Chen is the Library Liaison to Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy and a courtesy faculty in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Julie received both her M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests are environmental life cycle assessment, uncertainty estimation, and data analysis.

The library provides a wide collection of scholarly information resources to support all aspects of sustainability, as well as workflow solutions to facilitate open science, data curation, and impact assessment. Research guides are also available. These are curated resources across disciplines for specific topics and course information, including sustainability topics.


Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s support for sustainability research is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.