University of Oregon
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

The University of Oregon facilitates student sustainability research through internal funding and by connecting students with opportunities to secure external funding.

The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI) maintains two websites providing consolidated location for students to find resources on research funding opportunities, including those on sustainability research. One serves graduate students: https://research.uoregon.edu/plan/find-funding/internal-funding-opportunities#departmental. The other serves undergraduate students: https://research.uoregon.edu/plan/undergraduate-research

Examples of sustainability research programs for students include the Eco Systems Workforce Program ( http://ewp.uoregon.edu/about/experience) and the Environmental Leadership Program (http://envs.uoregon.edu/environmental-leadership-program-2/).

The University of Oregon’s Environment Initiative (EI) also provides robust opportunities for student research in sustainability related issues. The EI represents a campus-wide coordinated effort to create an intellectual and active hub focused on higher education’s role and contribution to a just and livable future, and leverages the intellectual energy and endeavors of faculty, students, and community partners towards societal contribution through transdisciplinary research, teaching, and experiential learning. More information can be found at https://environment.uoregon.edu/. See also https://environment.uoregon.edu/ei-seed-funding-program

The EI seed funding program has two award mechanisms, both of which contribute to student engagement in research and learning related to sustainability: the Research Awards and the Curriculum Awards. For research awards, students are often included in the budget for these pilot projects. As these grants are meant to jump-start applications to external funding for continued research (such as through the National Science Foundation or other major funders), even if students are not funded directly via the original research grant from EI, students are nearly always included on the research project. The Curriculum Awards support the development of new coursework related to environmental issues. Successful curriculum proposals focus on problem-centered methodologies and research models, and articulate student-centered outcomes that relate to future professional work. More information can be found at: https://research.uoregon.edu/plan/find-funding/ovpri-internal-funding-opportunities/environment-initiative-seed-funding-program.

Another ongoing activity that the university conducts is providing training workshops for graduate students seeking research funding from external grantors. These workshops are aimed at teaching graduate students (across disciplines) to search for funding opportunities, to navigate applying to external funders at the university, to understand funder requirements, and to develop a grant narrative that is clear, persuasive, scientifically rigorous, and meets the conditions of the granting agency. As many students from all colleges and schools at the university focus on sustainability related topics, this training activity supports the conducting of sustainability research.

The University of Oregon is known for its national leadership in environmental studies and sustainability across nearly every school and college. In 2019, the University of Oregon launched the Environment Initiative (EI) which serves to bring together all of the high-impact work related to sustainability and the environment. The EI represents a campus-wide coordinated effort to create an intellectual and active hub focused on higher education’s role and contribution to a just and livable future, and leverages the intellectual energy and endeavors of faculty, students, and community partners towards societal contribution through transdisciplinary research, teaching, and experiential learning. The EI is the place for promoting and answering questions on how to conserve, preserve, and sustain our environment.

The Environment Initiative is the place for promoting and answering questions on how to conserve, preserve, and sustain our environment. Currently, the research themes of the EI include: Hazards Resilience; Energy and Decarbonization; Ecology, Systems, and the Designed Environment; Natural Climate Solutions, Restoration, and Biodiversity; Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Sovereignty; Water Futures, Lifeways, and Sustainable Systems; Social Change through Environmental Education and Communication. More information can be found at https://environment.uoregon.edu/

Research is funded directly by the EI, but the EI also coordinates with the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation to convene faculty to identify new research directions and bolster efforts for faculty to engage in sustainability-related research.

The EI seed funding program has two internal, multi-disciplinary award mechanisms: Research Awards and Curriculum Awards. Research Awards are designed to support the development of new collaborations and/or pilot work that leads to the submission of one or more major external proposals. Partnerships between natural scientists and social science, humanities scholars, and/or faculty from the professional schools are preferred, although all types of collaboration across disciplines will be considered. Partnerships should emerge from shared research interests and a problem-centered approach and represent new research directions for the team members. Curricular proposals are meant to (1) build from and advance the EI Guiding Principles, (2) connect directly with one or more EI Nodes, and (3) recognize that the Curriculum Proposal process represents the first step in enhancing our environment related academic and experiential offerings.

More information can be found at: https://research.uoregon.edu/plan/find-funding/ovpri-internal-funding-opportunities/environment-initiative-seed-funding-program.

Another support for faculty research is the UO Sustainability Awards. This award program aims to recognize individuals whose contributions deepen our culture of sustainability across a range of institutional activities. The OVPRI sponsors 2 of the Sustainability Awards: one for research and scholarship, and one for innovation and impact. More information at: https://research.uoregon.edu/plan/find-funding/ovpri-internal-funding-opportunities#Individual.

All academic departments and programs with tenure-related faculty appointments must have promotion and tenure criteria that have been reviewed and approved by their dean and by Academic Affairs. Several allude to the interdisciplinary nature of teaching and research in that particular field. Department-level criteria for tenure can be found at https://provost.uoregon.edu/department-unit-policies.

University of Oregon Libraries provides Research Guides for a variety of research areas, including sustainability. These guides can be divided by subject area (see: http://researchguides.uoregon.edu/?b=s). The Environmental Studies subject area contains 10 different guides related to sustainability. However, a number of other subject areas also contain relevant research guides, notably Food Studies, Marine Biology, and Planning and Public Policy.

Additional information regarding institutional support for sustainability research can be found at:
https://research.uoregon.edu/plan/find-funding/internal-funding-opportunities
https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/university-sustainability-awards