| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 55.04 |
| Liaison | Prabhakar Shrestha |
| Submission Date | Jan. 13, 2023 |
New Jersey Institute of Technology
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Prabhakar
Shrestha Director of Sustainability Office of Sustainability |
Does the institution have an ongoing program to encourage students in multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
A brief description of the student sustainability research program:
Research is an integral part of a strong academic experience and a critical priority in NJIT’s 2025 Strategic Plan. Environment and Sustainability is one of the five research clusters through which various NJIT researchers operate.
NJIT research enterprise provides undergraduate and graduate students an outstanding academic and research experience through various externally and internally funded research programs, centers of excellence and collaborative interdisciplinary initiatives.
Students can pursue sustainability projects in a number of student research programs. NJIT offers several undergraduate research, innovation and design programs including Provost Undergraduate Summer Research, Undergraduate Research and Innovation Student Seed Grants, and New Jersey Innovation Acceleration, and several capstone design programs across NJIT colleges. Several competitions, such as TechQuest, focusing on innovation, research and design within and across disciplines have been developed that are offered annually promote undergraduate research and innovation, and to educate our undergraduate students on how to take future leadership roles and be highly competitive in the global market. The incentives include summer support, grants to carry out research, and competitive prizes. Over 600 students have participated in the last few years.
Undergraduate Research and Innovation (URI) programs give students a chance to flourish in various ways. Students learn how to do research, but also how to pick projects that will improve a societal problem and enhance the quality of life for a community of people. These programs are designed to help students develop the vision to contend with global challenges.
Apart from these programs students collaborate with different faculty through the faculty seed grants, and through sustainability research conducted at various research centers at NJIT and at the York Center for Environmental Engineering & Science.
Does the institution have a program to encourage academic staff from multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
A brief description of the faculty sustainability research program:
NJIT full-time faculty with specific research initiative to enhance the critical mass in key and emerging areas may apply to Faculty Seed Grant program for internal funding with a budget of $7500 per project over the project period. Multidisciplinary collaborative projects with 2 or more PIs are strongly encouraged and will receive priority consideration at the funding level of $10,000 per project. The intent of the program is to provide faculty an opportunity to develop a project that can be turned into a proposal for external funding from a federal agency, foundation, or industry partner. Approximately 30 grants are awarded each year.
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?:
A copy of the promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
The promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
NJIT's strategic research plan, as a part of 2025 Vision, sets the overall goal of achieving prominence in research in key areas of high societal impact. Our mission is to promote the highest quality of creativity, research, and innovation.o this end, our research enterprise focuses on basic, applied and translational research through five research clusters: Bioscience and Bioengineering, Environment & Sustainability, Data Science and Management, Material Science & Engineering, and Robotics and Machine Intelligence. We currently have eight interdisciplinary research centers devoted to sustainability and interdisciplinary research.
Does the institution have ongoing library support for sustainability research and learning?:
A brief description of the institution’s library support for sustainability research:
NJIT Library supports sustainability research and learning on an ad-hoc basis. NJIT library will purchase educational and research resources on demand. Our librarian will provide support when needed.
NJIT Library services is formally developing an ongoing library program to support sustainability research and learning.
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.