University of Louisville
AC-10: Support for Research

• Conn Center Fellows: The Leigh Ann Conn Fellows Program funds grads & undergrads planning to conduct renewable energy-related research. Areas include Solar Decathlon, Solar Manufacturing R&D, Biofuels/Biomass R&D, and Materials Discovery/Manufacturing.

• Students interested in social sustainability are encouraged seek funding through the Anne Braden Institute's Social Justice Research Awards. Graduate and undergraduate students from any discipline are asked to engage one or more social justice topics, with a preference given to papers engaging race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, environmentalism, disability, and/or age. The best two undergraduate applications receive $100 each, while the best graduate application receives $300.

• The Ali Scholars Program, offered by the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice to full-time undergraduate UofL students, is a unique 2-year experience combining training, research and service in the areas of violence prevention and peace building in an urban living context. A special emphasis is placed on understanding and addressing the social conditions that impact those issues. Scholars will receive a $500 scholarship each semester, for a total program scholarship of $2,000.

• Students interested in researching sustainability are encouraged to apply for UofL's Intramural Research Incentive Grants:

o Vice President for Research Undergraduate Research Scholar Grant (URS): The primary purpose of a URS is to enrich the research, scholarship and creative arts experience of the undergraduate student by involving the student in research collaboration with a faculty member. The student is expected to become intellectually involved in design and execution of the research project, not just serve as "another pair of hands." The undergraduate student writes the URS proposal after he or she has identified a faculty mentor who is interested in serving as the mentor. The faculty mentor is expected to make arrangements for the student to receive up to three hours of course credit for the research or creative activity and provide a grade for the work completed by the student. Students are encouraged to present a poster, or an equivalent demonstration of the research, on the Undergraduate Research Day. The student may request up to $300 (dry lab/creative activity) or $500 (wet lab) for supplies and expenses required for conducting the research or creative activity. URS proposals may be submitted at any time.

o Undergraduate Research Grants (URG): The primary purpose of a URG is to enhance the research environment of a unit by involving undergraduate students in research in collaboration with a faculty mentor. Special consideration will be given to projects in which the student is intellectually involved in design and execution of the research. Students will be expected to provide a written report on their project participation and have it evaluated by faculty. Students are encouraged to co-author scholarly research papers with their mentors. Priority will be given to projects involving UofL undergraduates and no awards will be made to projects in which students provide just "another pair of hands." URG funds may be used for undergraduate student stipends and supplies. They may range from a 10-week summer project to a full year. Grants up to $3,000 are provided.

• The Office of Community Engagement Faculty Grants Program fosters UofL faculty and staff projects within the west Louisville community and Jefferson County. This is a great opportunity for those interested in weaving community-based sustainability issues into courses and research. The grant focuses on infrastructure development, research and non-research projects which hold a community participatory action perspective.

• The Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research Faculty Research Fund helps sponsor, stimulate and disseminate research relevant to the Louisville community and the U.S. South on social movements, citizen participation, and public policy reforms around racial and social justice. Proposals that engage one or more social justice topics (historical or contemporary) such as race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, environmentalism, disability, and/or age will be given preference. Any faculty member in the College of Arts & Sciences is eligible to apply for a grant of up to $1,000 during a period not to exceed 12 months (this includes term and part-time faculty). Proposals that represent faculty/community or faculty/student collaborations are especially encouraged.

• Faculty interested in researching sustainability are encouraged to apply for UofL's Intramural Research Incentive Grants:

o Multidisciplinary Research Grant (MRG): The goal of the MRG program is to identify new areas of promising multidisciplinary research in the university that will lead to improvements in federally-funded research competitiveness. The focus is to seed innovative research activities that have potential for competing in multidisciplinary extramurally funded grants programs. NSF's Crosscutting/Interdisciplinary programs and NIH's programs in Biomedical Engineering are two specific examples, but other federal funding agencies support multidisciplinary research programs in specific high priority areas as well. Applicants are required to be full-time faculty members. Awards will be made up to $10,000 for one year.

o Project Completion Grant (PCG): The primary purpose of a PCG is to assist faculty who are nearing the end of a scholarly project and need some ancillary support to bring it to completion. PCG funds may be used to cover the costs of travel required to complete the project, manuscript preparation, library computer searches, release from teaching duties, or other reasonable and appropriate research expenses. Grants up to $4,000 are provided.

o Research Initiation Grant (RIG): The primary purpose of a RIG is to assist faculty in the initiation of new research projects. Funds may be used for equipment, expendable supplies, travel necessary for the conduct of the research, student wages, release from teaching duties, or other reasonable and appropriate research expenses. In general, priority is given to new faculty, those entering new areas of research and scholarship and others who have not previously received an RIG. Grants up to $5,000 are provided.

o Research On Women Grant (ROW): This grant is available to full- and part-time faculty. The primary purpose of an ROW grant is to provide support to stimulate scholarship on women and encourage research on women's issues. Funds may be used for equipment, expendable supplies, travel necessary for the conduct of the research, student wages, release from teaching duties, or other reasonable and appropriate research expenses. Grants are provided up to $4,000.

Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

UofL will be recognized among the nation’s foremost public metropolitan research universities with a faculty of distinction who have outstanding national and international reputations in areas of research and other scholarly activities. These scholars will serve as outstanding mentors for undergraduate, graduate and professional students as well as postdoctoral scholars. UofL will achieve and maintain excellence in selected disciplines and will develop novel niche and interdisciplinary research foci that will rapidly gain national prominence.

Interdisciplinary and collaborative research will draw on and support the scholarship of many disciplines, including the arts, humanities, social sciences and others without traditional access to extensive research funding. These disciplines will be recognized as critical components of success in discovery research and civic engagement. UofL will have a national reputation for translational and applied research that both stimulates the educational experience and provides rapid delivery of the benefits of discovery and creativity to the public. Excellence in research will be translated to solutions for problems and to meet community needs.

Discoveries of UofL scholars will generate intellectual property, and UofL will assist such scholars in bringing ideas to the marketplace for the benefit of the public, the inventor and the university. The research enterprise of the university will be funded from financial rewards from these activities as well as from strong support from government and foundation granting agencies and creative development strategies will fund the research enterprise of the university.

Sustainability curriculum development efforts:
Green Threads: Sustainability across the Curriculum is a faculty development workshop, sponsored by UofL’s Sustainability Council and the Office of the Provost which has been run annually since 2009. The intention is to infuse themes of sustainability across the curriculum and is open to full- & part-time faculty as well as Graduate Teaching Assistant Academy participants from all disciplines. Participants receive inspiration, resources, and mutual support. Incentives also include an honorarium of $500, a series of workshops and tours with local food meals, and resource materials on sustainability. In return, Green Threads participants are required to revise an existing course or create a new course with sustainability content and must agree to: (1) Participate in the day-long workshop; (2) Read materials prior to the workshop; (3) Submit a syllabus for the revised or new course and a paragraph on the intellectual process involved; and (4) Report back to the group on progress during a Fall gathering of all Green Threads alumni. Details at http://louisville.edu/sustainability/education-research/green-threads.html

Sustainability literacy promotion:
The UofL Sustainability website provides encouragement to evaluate students using the International Sustainability Literacy Test to measure knowledge of sustainability issues and the skills required to make change. The UofL Sustainability Council also maintains a small lending library for faculty containing a dozen sustainability and environmental education books plus the full set of course books produced by the Northwest Earth Institute. These books are available for loan to anyone at UofL interested in weaving sustainability into their courses or educational events. Details at http://louisville.edu/sustainability/education-research/green-threads.html#sustainability-course-books-available

E-learning objects focused on sustainability:
The UofL Sustainability website includes the following e-learning resources for teaching about sustainability:
• UofL's EcoReps Program - provides a series of short online training videos and supplementary readings on a variety of sustainability topics which can easily be incorporated into courses. The program also offers a certification program and service opportunities for students, faculty, and staff. http://louisville.edu/sustainability/operations/eco-reps/eco-reps.html
• Campus and Course Conversations - an adaptation of Living Room Conversations that offers a practical and powerful approach to support the rising spirit of citizens coming together, outside of the partisan bickering, to create new relationships, to spark opportunities and to encourage sustained engagement to address local and national challenges.
• Sustainability Education & Economic Development (SEED) Center - offers an online resource center featuring curricular materials and more organized around 7 sectors: Solar, Wind, Green Building, Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Agriculture/Food/Land, Transportation&Fuels, Clean Tech, and Sustainability Education.
• Climate, Adaptation, Mitigation, E-Learning (CAMEL) - A free, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, multi-media online resource of credible content and curricular tools to help educators more effectively teach about climate change.
• Key Components of Quality Sustainability Assignments - focus on solutions and systemic change, rather than disempowering "doom and gloom." Advice on making the work relevant to the skills of being change managers (key sustainability learning outcomes). Encouragement to evaluate students using the International Sustainability Literacy Test to measure knowledge of sustainability issues and the skills required to make change.
• Disciplinary Associations Network for Sustainability (DANS) and the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) have created the Sustainability Learning at Colleges and Universities discussion forum where you can post questions, discuss ideas, and get insights from colleagues around the world.
• A Links page containing great online resources to engage students and make teaching about sustainability issues easy and fun. Topics include:
1. Tools & Footprint Calculators which can be used for assignments and demonstrations;
2. Local Organizations engaged in sustainability which may provide guest speakers or service learning opportunities;
3. News, Articles & Stories covering the pressing sustainability issues of our time in all forms of media;
4. Energy & Climate Change resources;
5. Food related sites that make connections between food, health, economy, justice, and environment;
6. Products & Services guides to local, green businesses;
7. Social Justice issues and organizations working on the social side of sustainability;
8. Sustainability at Other Kentucky Schools to find out what other schools are doing to address this issue;
9. Transportation resources;
10. Understanding Sustainability links to help provide the bigger picture; and
11. Waste & Recycling resources for improved handling of solid waste.
http://louisville.edu/sustainability/links.html