Northwestern University
AC-10: Support for Research

Grants from the Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern fund creative student and student group research in sustainability. Research funds are available in two yearly award cycles, one in fall and one in spring. ISEN also partners with the Office of Undergraduate Research to fund summer projects centered around the environment, sustainability and energy. Students may be awarded a $3,000 Undergraduate Research Grant sponsored dually by ISEN and the Office of Undergraduate Research. The recently launched Resnick Family Social Impact Program supports student projects that address significant local and global challenges in sustainability and energy. The Program, seeded by a generous $500,000 gift from Paula Stamler Resnick (WCAS ’86) and Ira Resnick, bridges resource gaps between research and solution ideation, proof-of-concept work, and testing methods for implementation-at-scale. ISEN also runs the Cluster Fellowship initiative, which selects exceptional graduate students to "promote research, development, education, outreach and communication" on the topics of energy and sustainability. The Fellows are awarded scholarships and stipends to pursue and present their research. Past funded projects include research on solar cell technology, biofuels, culture and conservation in the Amazon, urban green roofs, and theatre as a medium for climate change messaging.

As a highly rated research institution, Northwestern strongly emphasizes interdisciplinary research across the college. "More than 100 school-based centers and 53 University research centers create knowledge across all fields, including nanotechnology, chemistry, neuroscience, biotechnology, international and domestic policy, materials science, and drug discovery......Northwestern's strong relationships with Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Laboratory encourage interdisciplinary research programs in nanotechnology, energy generation and storage, computation, and the biomedical and physical sciences".

The Northwestern library offers staff specialized in subjects relating to sustainability, including topics like environmental engineering, environmental studies and global health. These specialists can help students in their research and provide resources for students in these areas. Additionally, within the library's collection of "lib guides" are guides specifically tailored to environmental studies and sustainability. The guides allow students to search for environmental research materials easily from aggregated resources that specialize in policy, ecology, air quality, water quality, and other categories related to sustainability.

ISEN Cluster Fellowship: http://isen.northwestern.edu/graduate-cluster-fellowships http://isen.northwestern.edu/sites/default/files/docs/education/Cluster_Guidelines_AY16_17.pdf ISEN Resnick Family Social Impact Program http://isen.northwestern.edu/resnick-family-social-impact-program