University of Michigan
AC-10: Support for Research

Dow Sustainability Fellows Programs. Made possible by The Dow Chemical Company Foundation, the Dow Sustainability Fellows Program at the University of Michigan supports full-time graduate students and other scholars at the university who are committed to finding interdisciplinary, actionable, and meaningful sustainability solutions on local-to-global scales. The program prepares future sustainability leaders to make a positive difference in organizations worldwide. The diverse array of fellows brings together many relevant interests related to water, energy, health, consumption, green chemistry, transportation, built environment, climate change, biodiversity, human behavior, environmental law, and public policy, among others. The program comprises masters/professional degree, and doctoral fellows and undergraduate students (Dow Distinguished Awards), who engage with one another within and across cohorts, thrive on collaboration, learn to employ interdisciplinary thinking, experience diverse stakeholder perspectives, and implement projects with significant potential for impact on local-to-global scales. Positive Outcomes: There has been a high degree of enthusiasm for the program across the University with 74% of U-M Schools and Colleges participating. The Dow program has supported more than 674 scholars to date. All of these students have been inspired to reach across disciplinary boundaries and incorporate diverse perspectives as they pursue their passion for making the world more sustainable.

The Emerging Opportunities Program. The University of Michigan Graham Sustainability Institute’s Emerging Opportunities Program supports collaborative sustainability research and assessment activities that span multiple disciplines and sectors and connect science to real-world decisions and actions. To support and encourage these efforts, which range from planning efforts and workshops to multi-year projects, the program offers a variety of regular funding opportunities to U-M faculty and researchers: Transformation Grants ranging from $200,000 - $450,000; $10,000 Catalyst Grants; $2,500 Fast Track Grants; and $10,000 MCubed Block Grant Incentives. Additional communications, project management, evaluation, and event support are also available. Positive outcomes: There has been broad and strong response to the program. Over the last two rounds of funding, over 50 proposals were submitted in response to the various calls, and the program awarded more than $750,000 to 17 multidisciplinary project teams including 43 U-M faculty and researchers representing 7 different schools, colleges or academic units. The specifics of the projects supported vary, but in general, the projects are framed to identify sustainable solutions and actions; bring together faculty from multiple disciplines and campus units; engage partners external to the university interested in identifying and implementing actionable options; advance the scholarly work of faculty; and provide opportunities for students to pursue action-based sustainability learning. Note that additional U-M programs provide incentives for work on specific areas of sustainability research. As just one example, the U-M Energy Institute’s Beyond Carbon Neutral Program has provided over $200,000 to support a multidisciplinary research effort investigating technologies, processes and policies to increase the rate at which carbon is removed from the global carbon cycle.

One of the guiding principles for faculty tenure review states: Develop standards and criteria for assessing the quality of scholarship and teaching, with special attention to the unique features of interdisciplinary/collaborative activities.

The University of Michigan Library System, the Deep Blue archival system, the Graham Sustainability Institute website, and the Dow Sustainability Fellows website. The Graham Institute supports the dissemination of faculty and student research reports, summaries and other project-related outcomes of efforts supported by the Dow Sustainability Fellows Program and the Graham Sustainability Institute through a searchable interface on the following pages: • Product Finder: http://graham.umich.edu/find-products • Global Impact Series (project summaries and videos with links to project reports): http://sustainability.umich.edu/dow/media/global-impact-series • Distinguished Award – Funded Projects: http://sustainability.umich.edu/dow/distinguished-awards/projects In addition to the data-driven archive supported by the Graham Institute, the University of Michigan Library System supports the Deep Blue datatabase, see https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/. Positive Outcomes: Through the Dow Global Impact Series, thousands have learned about the impact of this program and multidisciplinary team projects conducted throughout the globe.