Indiana University Bloomington
AC-10: Support for Research

1. 2020 Research Scholars In academic year 2015-2016, the Office of Sustainability is partnering with other units on campus to provide undergraduate research scholarships for 15 first and second year undergraduate students. Each student will have a faculty mentor. Roughly half of the research projects are related to campus sustainability, while the other half connect with the research agendas of the faculty mentors. Total support for faculty mentors and students is approximately $26,000. 2. Sustainability Research Development Grants: This award program supports collaborative efforts of Indiana University graduate students and faculty to develop new, externally funded research programs related to research on sustainability. For academic years 2012-13 and 2013-14 the program was open to only graduate students. In 2014-15 the programs was available for undergraduate and graduate student proposals. During 2014-2015, ten projects were funded with total support approximately $50,000. 3. IU has a PhD minor in Human Dimensions of Global Change, and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Office of the Vice President for Research offer seed funding opportunities for graduate student led sustainability related research. 4. The Office of Sustainability internship program provides many opportunities for students of any background to apply to areas of research, which is conducted throughout school or summer sessions with paid compensation.

IU has Collaborative Research Grants (IUCRG) that reach into many fields. Sustainability is supported in the section for Social and Behavioral sciences: "innovative multi-disciplinary or multi-collaborator approaches, reliant upon quantitative methodologies of the social and behavioral sciences, to issues of local, state, national or international significance; research into effective approaches to K‐12 STEM education (not curricular development) or education for sustainability". IU also has an Integrated Program in the Environment (IPE). IPE brings together more than 90 faculty members–including world-renowned scientists and instructors. It reaches across 25 departments and 5 schools within IU–one of the Big 10's top universities. IPE encourages collaborations in the classroom, lab, field, outreach, and other activities. Its interdisciplinary nature reflects not only the contributions of the individual scholars, but a commitment to cooperation and shared purpose necessary to prepare the next generation of scientists and leaders. http://www.indiana.edu/~iuipe/about/index.php The Office of the Vice Provost for Research is also launching its Grand Challenges initiative, which is an internal grant process designed to generate high impact, interdisciplinary research efforts over the next five years. Although there is no guarantee that sustainability research will be selected, given the university's strengths and the desire for interdisciplinary collaborative research, some funding support for large sustainability efforts seems likely. http://ovpr.indiana.edu/grand-challenges1/grand-challenges/

With the growth of interdisciplinary research and with the emergence of exciting new fields, not all research/creative activity will fit comfortably into traditional “disciplinary” expectations or understandings. Candidates for tenure and promotion are encouraged to pursue innovation wherever it seems promising, even at the edges of disciplinary boundaries or in between them. Reviewers at all levels should be open to the possibility that work “on the edges” or straddling two fields may eventually transform research agendas in fundamental ways not always easily recognized by the home unit. A candidate’s interdisciplinarity may require that home units adapt their expectations/criteria and procedures. For example, practices for assembling review committees and soliciting external referees may need to be altered in order to insure that all aspects of research/creative activity get assessed by properly knowledgeable judges.

The libraries at IU Bloomington published information on sustainability resources at IU Libraries, which states, "The libraries at IU Bloomington contain resources on sustainable development under many classifications throughout the system and woven into virtually all major subject areas. "Sustainability is too rich, complex and diverse a topic to be confined to one area of the library or to a couple of different call numbers. "Looking for a specific sustainability-related topic? These librarians can help pinpoint Web resources and print materials that will best serve your needs in one of the deepest research libraries in North America. Christina Sheley: Business/SPEA Information Commons, sustainability as it relates to city planning, policy, business, finance and environmental science. Bob Noel: Swain Hall Library, sustainability related to engineering, energy, physics and climate change. Roger Beckman: Life sciences, chemistry; green chemistry, invasive species and biodiversity. Lou Malcomb: Geosciences, government information; water resources, hydrogeology, climate change Jian Liu: Public Health Library, sustainable consumption, food security and eco-tourism. "Documentary films on climate, food, agriculture and socioeconomics can be found in the Media and Reserves Services in the Herman B Wells Library."