Stanford University
AC-10: Support for Research

RISING ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS PROGRAM
The Rising Environmental Leaders Program provides graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with leadership and communications skills as well as guidance on how to use those skills and their research for the greatest impact. Participants are also extended professional development opportunities including introductions to global leaders from government, NGOs, think tanks and business.For more information, visit http://woods.stanford.edu/ideas/rising-environmental-leaders-program.html

MENTORING UNDERGRADUATES IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
The Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Program from the Woods Institute for the Environment provides full- and part-time student stipends to Stanford undergraduates to conduct interdisciplinary environmental research during the summer term. Faculty are welcome to apply on behalf of undergraduates at all levels and from all departments. Funding priority goes to Woods Institute fellows, lecturers and affiliated faculty. Students wishing to initiate a project will need to approach a faculty member who is willing to apply on the student's behalf. For more information, visit https://woods.stanford.edu/educating-leaders/education/mentoring-undergraduates-interdisciplinary-research-program-muir

DC BOOT CAMP
The Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment’s DC Boot Camp is a one-week hands-on program where graduate students learn the “do’s and don’ts” of funding environmental research and how to have impact in the policy environment of Washington DC. Twenty graduate students and postdocs garner first-hand knowledge about national policy development, partnership building and public service, leadership and communications skills and how to use those skills and their research for the greatest impact. For more information, visit https://woods.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2014-DC-Boot-Camp-Agenda.pdf

SES SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAM
Through the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program, undergraduate students work with faculty, post-docs, and graduate students throughout the School. Their research projects span the breadth of the four departments (Energy Resources Engineering, Earth System Science, Geophysics, and Geological Sciences), interdisciplinary programs (Earth Systems and E-IPER), and associated research institutes (Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, Woods Institute for the Environment, and the Carnegie Institute). The Summer Undergraduate Research Program in the School of Earth Sciences has been in place since 2001, and many undergraduate students have been involved over that time. For more information, visit https://earth.stanford.edu/2016-stanford-earth-summer-undergraduate-research-program

MEL LANE GRANT PROGRAM
Mel Lane Student Program Grants are provided to student-driven and managed environmental projects that make a measurable impact on an issue through action or applied research. Preference is given to projects that focus on environmental sustainability within one of the following topic areas: built environment, climate, food security and supply, natural capital, ocean and coasts, public health, sustainable development and water. In addition, projects should involve Stanford students and provide an educational experience for students and the broader community. Proposals are accepted twice a year during fall and winter terms. The institute has an annual budget of $10,000 to support projects. For more information, visit https://woods.stanford.edu/mel-lane-program.php

TOMKAT CENTER INNOVATION TRANSFER PROGRAM
The Tomkat Center’s Innovation Transfer Program helps Stanford inventors of sustainable energy technology bridge the gap between research and commercialization. Grants are awarded to develop prototypes, to refine business plans, and to conduct customer trials and market research. The teams, which mostly comprise Stanford students, must have a Stanford facuty advisor to compete for a grant. The program assigns an industry mentor to each funded project for ongoing guidance as the teams assess market opportunities, plan the commercialization of their inventions, and prepare to launch startup companies. The program helps participants develop a business-centric approach through Stanford resources, like the Stanford Entrepreneurship Network. The program also connects teams with relevant entrepreneurs, executives with experience in startups and venture investors. For more information, visit https://tomkat.stanford.edu/innovation-transfer

The Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Institute for the Environment (http://woods.stanford.edu/) harnesses the expertise and imagination of leading academics and decision-makers to create practical solutions for people and the planet. The Institute played a critical role in Stanford’s Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability, and is one of just a few campus Institutes with the ability to appoint faculty Fellows. Faculty interested in conducting sustainability research can become Fellows at the Woods Institute either in addition to departmental status or as an exclusive appointment.

In addition, the Woods Institute manages a special research grant program for sustainability projects. Environmental Venture Projects (EVP) are seed grants awarded annually to Stanford faculty for innovative research that focuses on finding solutions to key environmental and sustainability challenges, such as protecting endangered species in California or delivering clean drinking water in Africa. To catalyze transformative environmental and sustainability research around the world, the Stanford Woods Institute has awarded millions of dollars in EVP seed grants to interdisciplinary faculty research teams from all seven of Stanford’s schools and 34 of its departments. For more information, please visit:
https://woods.stanford.edu/research/environmental-venture-projects

In addition, more than 200 Stanford faculty members and their students, postdocs and technicians are engaged in six key areas of energy research: Renewable Energy, Fossil & Nuclear Energy, Energy Storage & Grid Modernization, End/Use Efficiency, Environmental Impacts, and Policy & Economics. Faculty seed grants are awarded for research proposals with a strong potential for high impact on energy supply and use. These “proof of concept” awards bridge theory to early experiments and analyses. Seed grants are awarded each year by the Precourt Institute for Energy (PIE), the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center (PEEC), the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy and the Natural Gas Initiative. The Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) also provides funding for exploratory research. The Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium (BAPVC) awards grants for research that will reduce the cost of utility-scale solar modules.

For more information, please visit:
https://energy.stanford.edu/research/seed-grants

Stanford places a strong emphasis on multidisciplinary work by its faculty. Multidisciplinary research is one of the central themes of the Stanford Challenge, a university-wide program introduced in 2006 to tackle the most pressing global challenges of the next century. Through the Stanford Challenge, hundreds of millions of dollars were raised to support multidisciplinary research, with funds going towards Professorships and Faculty Support, Programmatic and Research Support, and new multidisciplinary facilities. More than 100 new faculty positions and more than 300 new graduate fellowships were endowed.

For more information on multidisciplinary research and the success of the Stanford Challenge, please visit:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/february/stanford-challenge-concludes-020812.html

Since 1990, Stanford has allowed selected Interdisciplinary Institutes on campus to make their own faculty appointments and promotions. The university states, “while reaffirming the value of coupling academic appointments in policy centers and institutes to faculty appointments in existing academic departments, it was recognized that interdisciplinary policy centers may have needs not met by regular professorial appointments in existing departments.” These Interdisciplinary Institutes include the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and the Woods Institute for the Environment. Each of these institutes can appoint Senior Fellows and Center Fellows, both of which are members of the Academic Council, regardless of any other appointments. These fellows can be faculty in their own department or can be completely appointed by that institute, giving institutes the freedom to promote anyone without university restrictions.

The faculty handbook articulates how departments and institutes should carry out appointment and promotion processes that give a fair review and evaluation of interdisciplinary faculty. Relevant excerpts from the faculty handbook can be found at the links below.

Relevant excerpts from the Faculty Handbook include:
http://facultyhandbook.stanford.edu/ch2.html#joint
http://facultyhandbook.stanford.edu/ch2.html#senior

For example, within the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, faculty policies emphasize the importance of giving at least equal weight to multi-authored and interdisciplinary research and teaching efforts, compared with more traditional disciplinary approaches (including those that are single-authored). The School does provide incentive funds for interdisciplinary research.

Stanford University Libraries maintains extensive collections to support sustainability research. Librarians regularly support classes and research in this area, including the following examples:

Program in Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) 1: “‘Everyone Has a "Climate Thing’: The Discourse of Sustainable Energy”
http://library.stanford.edu/guides/planet-edge-rhetoric-sustainable-energy-0

Earth Systems 200: “Sustaining Action: Research, Analysis and Writing for the Public (SAGE)”

http://library.stanford.edu/guides/sustaining-action-research-analysis-and-writing-public

PWR 1: “Writing Nature: Discourses in Ecology, Culture, and Technology”
http://library.stanford.edu/guides/writing-nature-discourses-ecology-culture-and-technology

PWR 1: “Staying Cool on a Hot Planet: Environmental Rhetoric for a Changing World”
http://library.stanford.edu/guides/staying-cool-hot-planet-environmental-rhetoric-changing-world

Librarians develop research guides to assist researchers in sustainability fields:
http://library.stanford.edu/guides/green-building-resources

In addition, the libraries have occasionally hosted presentations with a sustainability theme, including this presentation by Martin McDonough:
http://library.stanford.edu/blogs/special-collections-unbound/2013/05/upcycle-beyond-sustainability-designing-abundance