Bryant University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Undergraduate and graduate research studies in Science & Technology are jointly funded with a variety of governmental grants from NSF EPSCoR, NIH INBRE, and NASA, along with financial and facility support from Bryant University. In addition, faculty in other departments, such as Marketing, receive summer research grants/stipends from the University for inter-disciplinary sustainability-related research.

The SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow) program also provides opportunities for student research. See links below for more information:

http://www.bryant.edu/news/news-articles/2015/07/30/seven-bryant-students-to-present-research-at-statewide-surf-conference/

http://web.uri.edu/inbre/2013/10/15/undergraduate-research-opportunities-at-the-primarily-undergraduate-institutions/

http://expspace.risd.edu/?collaborator=christopher-reid

http://web.uri.edu/rinsfepscor/tag/bryant-university/

Although there are no campus wide programs specifically dedicated to sustainability research, most research conducted in the Science & Technology Department is completed using campus facilities and equipment, and the mission of the Department includes a strong commitment to sustainability studies. Sustainability research would be included in the Faculty Contract language as a field supported by the University.


Students who apply for SURF awards (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships) to study with Bryant professors and receive stipends and research laboratory experience (Summers 2019, 2020 and 2021). See links below:

2019: https://news.bryant.edu/undergrad-research-fellowships-help-students-chart-new-scientific-territory

2020: https://web.uri.edu/riinbre/training/surf-2020-update/

2021: https://news.bryant.edu/center-health-and-behavioral-sciences-supports-summer-research-opportunities-22-students

2022: https://web.uri.edu/riinbre/training/surf-undergraduate-fellowships/opportunities-at-network-institutions/

All faculty research is tied to reappointment, promotion, tenure and merit pay, as noted in the Faculty Contract (see Section 5-1 below):
"Section 5.1 Faculty Duties and Responsibilities. Faculty members are responsible for teaching and the discharge of related responsibilities and for mastery of the subject matter in their respective area or areas. They are expected to maintain current professional standards in their disciplines, to actively participate in professional development activities including the Faculty Development System, and to serve their profession and discipline through consulting, research, publishing and other scholarship."
Interdisciplinary research is allowed and respected for tenure and promotion, and is commonly practiced among faculty members who bring together diverse expertise.

The University supports faculty and students (both undergraduate and graduate levels) to work across laboratories and disciplines, this includes the sharing of budgets, knowledge, and supplies.

Promotion and tenure decisions have both an administrative and a faculty review process. For both of those assessments faculty research is carefully reviewed. Both administrators and faculty committees (departmental and university-wide) give credit for inter-, trans-, and multi-disciplinary research.

Library resources for sustainability research and learning include a wide variety of electronic resources, access to interlibrary loan arrangements, faculty recommended reference materials, and maintenance of the Digital Commons where all student research theses and reports are posted and available to any scholar to use. Faculty publications are placed in a variety of scholarly journals, each of which has its own access policies, but faculty can post any qualified scholarly documents of their choice in the Digital Commons. An example would be the Faculty Working Series papers.
The library’s subject guide on science is available here:
https://bryant.on.worldcat.org/search?format=&searchBy=kw%3A&searchType=startsWith&scope=sz%3A33875&queryString=sustainability%20research%20support&clusterResults=true&groupVariantRecords=false

A search for "support for sustainability research" on the Library website resulted in many publications available through the Library (see link below).