research proposals sustainability

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Published: 19 May 2022

Integrating sustainability into scientific research

• Namrata Jain   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7673-1625 1  

Nature Reviews Methods Primers volume  2 , Article number:  35 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

951 Accesses

5 Citations

23 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Climate-change mitigation
• Environmental health

Laboratories have a large environmental impact, with high levels of resource consumption and waste generation. In this article, I discuss some of the actionable strategies that can bring real and impactful improvements, encompassing education, community engagement and the adoption of best practices by researchers. Building a global culture of sustainability in science will be crucial to reducing the carbon footprint of laboratories.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

24,99 € / 30 days

cancel any time

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 1 digital issues and online access to articles

92,52 € per year

only 92,52 € per issue

Buy this article

• Purchase on Springer Link
• Instant access to full article PDF

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

National Renewable Energy Lab. Laboratories for the 21st century: an introduction to low-energy design (revised). US Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information https://doi.org/10.2172/907998 (2008).

Article   Google Scholar  

Urbina, M. A., Watts, A. J. R. & Reardon, E. E. Labs should cut plastic waste too. Nature 528 , 479 (2015).

Article   ADS   Google Scholar  

Watch, D. & Tolat, D. Sustainable laboratory design. Whole Building Design Guide https://www.wbdg.org/resources/sustainable-laboratory-design (2016).

Gilly, Q. Validating cost and energy savings from Harvard’s shut the sash program: tackling energy use in labs. Harvard University https://green.harvard.edu/sites/green.harvard.edu/files/FumeHoodWhitePaper.pdf (2016).

Gumapas, L. A. M. & Simons, G. Factors affecting the performance, energy consumption, and carbon footprint for ultra low temperature freezers: case study at the National Institutes of Health. World Rev. Sci. Technol. Sustain. Dev. 10 , 129–141 (2012).

Espinel-Ingroff, A., Montero, D. & Martin-Mazuelos, E. Long-term preservation of fungal isolates in commercially prepared cryogenic microbank vials. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42 , 1257–1259 (2004).

Beekhof, P. K., Gorshunska, M. & Jansen, E. H. J. M. Long term stability of paraoxonase-1 and high-density lipoprotein in human serum. Lipids Health Dis. 11 , 53 (2012).

University of California San Diego. Water action plan. UC San Diego https://aquaholics.ucsd.edu/_files/water-action-plan/ucsd-water-action-plan-and-appendices.pdf (2017).

Greever, C., Nahreini, T. & Ramirez-Aguilar, K. A case study of the Biochemistry Cell Culture Facility at the University of Colorado Boulder: avoided costs and other benefits resulting from shared equipment in collaborative research space. University of Colorado Boulder https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/bccf_case_study_cu_boulder_2018_reduced.pdf (2018).

My Green Lab, Beyond Benign & Millipore Sigma. A guide to green chemistry experiments for undergraduate organic chemistry labs. My Green Lab https://www.mygreenlab.org/uploads/2/1/9/4/21945752/gc_-_green_chem_guide-_beyond_benign___my_green_lab.pdf (2020).

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

My Green Lab, San Diego, CA, USA

Namrata Jain

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Namrata Jain .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

N.J. is the marketing manager for the non-profit organization My Green Lab.

Additional information

Related links.

2022 IPCC report: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/04/1115452

Bringing Efficiency To Research (BETR) Grants: https://betrgrants.weebly.com/

Design Principles for Sustainable Green Chemistry & Engineering: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/greenchemistry/principles/design-principles-booklet.html

Harvard shut the sash program: https://green.harvard.edu/programs/green-labs/shut-sash-program

Independent study by My Green Lab: https://www.mygreenlab.org/blog-beaker/my-green-lab-measures-carbon-impact-of-biotech-and-pharma

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s climate report: https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1097362

International Laboratory Freezer Challenge: https://www.freezerchallenge.org/

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Jain, N. Integrating sustainability into scientific research. Nat Rev Methods Primers 2 , 35 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-022-00126-6

Download citation

Published : 19 May 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-022-00126-6

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

This article is cited by

Sustainable chemistry in practice.

Nature Reviews Methods Primers (2022)

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Research Areas

Learn more about the facets of research in sustainability and how you can contribute to advancing a sustainable future while at Hopkins.

Boundless Potential

The Johns Hopkins community is frequently recognized for groundbreaking research, and every day here is an opportunity for discovery. S ustainability-focused research efforts have expanded significantly in the last several years , including the establishment of the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute and the announcement of two new Bloomberg Distinguished Professor clusters in Climate, Resilience, and Health and Sustainable Transformations and Energy .

Read more about the diverse areas of research in sustainability to discover where your interests lie:

Affordable & Sustainable Energy

The future of sustainable energy is integral to society’s ability to combat the climate crisis. It is imperative that we develop and implement energy infrastructure and systems that make renewable, efficient energy widely accessible. Faculty, staff, and students alike are exploring the technology, policy, and infrastructure that would allow for the widespread adoption of just and sustainable energy alternatives.

Explore JHU Affordable & Sustainable Energy Researchers here . 

Clean Water & Sanitation

Water covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface and is a defining feature of our planet. Water availability and access to clean and safe drinking water are essential for human health and sustainable development beyond contributions to the atmospheric processes that allow for life on our planet. Engineering, risk assessment, epidemiology, and agriculture are samples of the subject areas impacted by water and are areas where Hopkins faculty are working to address global water challenges.

Explore JHU Clean Water & Sanitation Researchers here . 

Climate Solutions

Climate change poses one of the most — if not the most — pressing threats to this and future generations. It is a dire problem that demands immediate, collective action not just from climate scientists and policymakers, but from individuals across all disciplines. Johns Hopkins is dedicated to leveraging its world-class faculty, resources, and influence to develop and implement solutions to the climate problem.

Explore JHU Climate Solutions Researchers here . 

Healthy Communities, Workplaces & Lifestyles

The health and well-being of communities is dependent on a multitude of factors. Environmental sustainability touches many: community food systems, green space & urban tree canopy, and access to clean, drinkable water among them. Sometimes oversimplified to an issue of choice, the health status and lifestyle choices of community members are often a byproduct of the systems — political, economic, social — in which they exist. Many JHU affiliates study and implement methods to increase agency and accessibility to resources within communities across impact areas.

Explore JHU Healthy Communities, Workplaces & Lifestyles Researchers here .

Healthy Air

One of the costs of industrialization, clean and healthy air is not a guarantee and minority, impoverished, and disenfranchised communities are at an elevated risk of exposure to unhealthy, toxic, and even deadly air. The equation for healthy air, however, is much more complex than a formula of emissions from factories and automobiles; it involves the dynamic interplay between infrastructure, waste management, and public health — among other disciplines.

Explore JHU Healthy Air Researchers here .

Innovation & Economic Progress

The development of novel technologies is integral to our ability to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. From batteries for the storage of renewable energy and optimized grids for its delivery and use to carbon capture technologies, the potential for innovation is endless and promotes a diversified, strengthened circular economy in the process.

Explore JHU Innovation & Economic Progress Researchers here . 

Sustainable Ecosystems & Resource Use

Each day humans use and thus consume a multitude of products, the production and consumption of which directly impact the planet and human health. Hopkins faculty are working to understand how materials and products can be made and used so that they meet the needs of consumers without harming our fragile, diverse ecosystems.

Explore JHU Sustainable Ecosystems & Resource Use Researchers here . 

Sustainable Food Production & Diets

Land is where we spend nearly our entire lives and, as such, it provides us with a plethora of environmental services — including food and energy. Yet, current land-use practices and food systems are contributing to ecosystem degradation and chronic diseases. Hopkins faculty across disciplines are working to shape policy and ecosystem landscapes so that all people have access to nutritious, sustainable, and equitable diets.

Explore JHU Sustainable Food Production & Diet Researchers here .

Interested in an Area?

Dive into our curated directory for researchers at Hopkins championing the sustainable movement and filter by your area of choice.

Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships

Among the world’s most accomplished interdisciplinary scholars, these faculty link academic disciplines, open novel fields of inquiry, and invigorate the entire community, all in the service of tackling society’s most complex problems. BDPs are appointed in two or more schools or divisions, including academic centers reporting directly to the provost, or in two or more departments within a single school. They are grouped together as “clusters” under a common theme. In 2021, the Provost’s Office announced a new phase of BDP hires including those for clusters in Climate, Resilience, and Health and Sustainable Transformation and Energy.

Research at JHU

Researchers at our nine academic divisions and at the university’s Applied Physics Laboratory have made us the nation’s leader in federal research and development funding each year since 1979. Find additional information on funding opportunities, awards and initiatives, and ongoing projects.

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

• Undergraduate courses
• Events and open days
• Fees and finance
• Postgraduate courses
• How to apply
• Postgraduate events
• Fees and funding
• International students
• Continuing education
• Executive and professional education
• Courses in education
• How the University and Colleges work
• Term dates and calendars
• Visiting the University
• Annual reports
• Equality and diversity
• A global university
• Public engagement
• Give to Cambridge
• For Cambridge students
• For our researchers
• Business and enterprise
• Colleges & departments
• Email & phone search
• Museums & collections
• Postgraduate
• Master's in Sustainability Leadership

Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

• About overview
• Purpose and impact
• Who we work with and why 
• Our people overview
• Centre for Business Transformation
• Centre for Policy and Industrial Transformation
• Centre for Sustainable Finance
• Canopy and Accelerator
• Corporate Relations, Communications and Marketing
• South Africa Office
• Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellows
• Senior Associates
• Network Ambassadors
• Foresight overview
• Research and analysis
• Fellowships overview
• The Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship in Climate Risk in Aviation, supported by Heathrow
• The Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship in Nutrition in the first 1000 days of life, supported by Brighter Living Foundation
• CISL Research Webinar Series: Led by the Prince of Wales Fellows, this series of one-hour webinars allowed attendees to engage directly with our Fellows about their research.
• The Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship in Business Transformation and New Corporate Forms, supported by Anglian Water Services
• The Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship on the role of supermarkets in mitigating food insecurity at city and neighbourhood level, supported by Sainsbury’s.
• Content hubs overview
• Achieving Zero
• Building Change
• Business transformation for a sustainable future
• Entopia Building
• Global Leadership in an Age of Turbulence
• Nature Positive
• Nature-based solutions
• Sustainable Finance
• Sustainable Marketing and Creative
• The Future of Boards
• Advisory Services
• Education overview
• Boards and non-executives
• Executive overview
• Customised Leadership Programmes
• Customised Strategy Programmes overview
• Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program 2023: Registration form
• The Prince of Wales's Business & Sustainability Programme overview
• China Accessibility Sponsorship for BSP Asia delegates
• Cambridge – Earth on Board Programme
• Multi-generational Leadership Programme
• Find the education and development course that is right for you
• Postgraduate overview
• Sources of funding
• Master's in Sustainability Leadership overview
• Delivery format
• Assignments and dissertation
• College membership
• Dissertation supervisors
• Student impact stories

Programme governance

Admission requirements

• Assignment supervisors - flexible route
• Master of Studies in Sustainability Leadership: Supporting Documents
• Sustainability Leadership for the Built Environment (IDBE) overview
• Course Assignments and Dissertation
• IDBE testimonials
• IDBE sources of funding

Dissertation Supervisors

• Information for Employers
• Support for students
• What's the difference between an MSc and an MSt?
• Built Environment (IDBE) tutors

Who should apply?

• Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Business overview

Assignments

• Employer benefits and support
• Admission requirements, applying, fees and funding
• FAQs on our sustainable business courses
• Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business overview
• Organisational stream: Curriculum
• Value chain stream: Curriculum
• IDBE Tutors
• Overview of our part-time Built Environmrnt Master's-level sustainable business qualifications
• Postgraduate Diploma Stage 2 Supervisors
• Postgraduate Meet the Directors Webinars
• Sustainable Business
• Online courses overview
• Business Sustainability Management online short course
• High Impact Leadership online short course
• Sustainable Supply Chain Management online short course
• Communicating for Influence and Impact online short course
• Sustainable Finance online short course
• Business and Climate Change: Towards Net Zero Emissions online short course
• Business and Social Justice: A Force for Social Change
• Women Leading Change: Shaping Our Future
• Governance for a Sustainable Future
• Sustainable Food: Production and Processing
• Sustainable Real Estate
• Sustainable Marketing, Media and Creative
• Find your next steps
• Convening overview
• Corporate Leaders Groups
• Centre for Sustainable Finance overview
• ClimateWise (Insurance)
• Banking Environment Initiative overview
• Programme page diagram
• Investment Leaders Group
• Aviation Impact Accelerator
• Multisector alliances
• Innovation overview
• Accelerators
• Sino-UK Centre for Sustainability Innovation
• Network overview
• Network benefits
• Network groups
• Network events overview
• Network COP28 Dubai, 7 December
• News and Resources overview
• Blogs overview
• Events overview
• CISL COP26 events - CLGs Corporate Leaders Network dinner, Tuesday 9 November
• Reports overview
• Ahead of the Curve: A preparatory guide on nature for the agri-food sector
• Bank Action Guide: Towards a just transition for small–medium enterprises (SMEs)
• Broadening the horizon: How CFOs and Finance Functions can help drive corporate sustainability
• CISL publishes second stage of its Equality Action Plan
• CISL’s Business Transformation Framework Preliminary Diagnostic
• Climate and Nature: A Route to Mutual Acceleration
• Everything, everywhere, all at once: how can private finance be unlocked for nature and climate in the international financial architecture
• Fashioning a nature positive future: A biodiversity roadmap exploring the Transforming the Fashion Sector with Nature outputs for businesses in the fashion, textile and apparel sector
• Financing Africa’s Low Carbon Transition
• Global Leadership in the Age of Turbulence
• Let’s Discuss Nature with Climate: Engagement Guide
• Planning decisions, adaptive capacity and insurability: Findings from a case study of flooding in Somerset, UK
• Primer on the financial materiality of Nature-based Solutions (NbS)
• Quotes about
• Quotes about Let’s Discuss Nature with Climate: Engagement Guide
• Quotes about Risk sharing for Loss and Damage: Scaling up protection for the Global South
• Quotes about the Policy Brief
• Quotes from the authors of
• Risk sharing for Loss and Damage: Scaling up protection for the Global South
• The ClimateWise Principles Independent Review for 2023
• The Physical Impacts of Advertising
• Press enquiries

Research Proposal Template

postgraduate_button_templates_3.png

Ready to make a change? Download the brochure

Meet the Directors Webinars

Join a live webinar session hosted by the Directors of our part-time postgraduate courses as they give you an overview of our programmes and admissions process and answer your questions.

Meet the Directors Button

More information 

Master's course overview

Funding opportunities

Learning approach and time commitment

Assignment Supervisors

Flexible Route Supervisors

College Membership

Student blogs

Employer benefits and information

What's the difference between an MSc and an MSt?

Frequently asked questions

Email the team

If you can't find the answer to your query on the website please get in touch with the team here  [email protected]

Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership The Entopia Building 1 Regent Street Cambridge CB2 1GG, UK  

Site Privacy & Cookie Policies

Connect with us.

• CISL news feed
• Request our newsletter
• Download our brochure

Quick links

Online Payment

© 2023 University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. All rights reserved.

© 2024 University of Cambridge

• Contact the University
• Accessibility
• Freedom of information
• Privacy policy and cookies
• Statement on Modern Slavery
• Terms and conditions
• University A-Z
• Undergraduate
• Research news
• About research at Cambridge
• Spotlight on...

Open Access is an initiative that aims to make scientific research freely available to all. To date our community has made over 100 million downloads. It’s based on principles of collaboration, unobstructed discovery, and, most importantly, scientific progression. As PhD students, we found it difficult to access the research we needed, so we decided to create a new Open Access publisher that levels the playing field for scientists across the world. How? By making research easy to access, and puts the academic needs of the researchers before the business interests of publishers.

We are a community of more than 103,000 authors and editors from 3,291 institutions spanning 160 countries, including Nobel Prize winners and some of the world’s most-cited researchers. Publishing on IntechOpen allows authors to earn citations and find new collaborators, meaning more people see your work not only from your own field of study, but from other related fields too.

Brief introduction to this section that descibes Open Access especially from an IntechOpen perspective

Want to get in touch? Contact our London head office or media team here

Our team is growing all the time, so we’re always on the lookout for smart people who want to help us reshape the world of scientific publishing.

Home > Books > Education at the Intersection of Globalization and Technology

Addressing Sustainability Planning in Higher Education Research

Submitted: 25 June 2020 Reviewed: 13 August 2020 Published: 15 September 2020

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.93589

Cite this chapter

There are two ways to cite this chapter:

From the Edited Volume

Education at the Intersection of Globalization and Technology

Edited by Sharon Waller, Lee Waller, Vongai Mpofu and Mercy Kurebwa

To purchase hard copies of this book, please contact the representative in India: CBS Publishers & Distributors Pvt. Ltd. www.cbspd.com | [email protected]

Chapter metrics overview

575 Chapter Downloads

Impact of this chapter

Total Chapter Downloads on intechopen.com

Total Chapter Views on intechopen.com

In recent times, the term “sustainability” has come to gain significant popularity in policy-oriented research and has become part of our everyday lexis in higher education research. Yet, in an attempt to deal with the issue of sustainability planning in research project proposals, the term has been conceptualized to refer solely to financial sustainability as if to say other types of sustainability either do not exist or do not matter. This chapter addresses this issue of sustainability planning in higher education research. In the process, financial sustainability is elucidated, and through that two other categories/types of sustainability are identified and discussed crisply for rumination. Following up on this, steps to sustainability planning are outlined to set in context the contention of the chapter that sustainability planning in research project management requires long term planning to facilitate diverse donor engagements and for improving institutional capacity of target populations. Thereafter, and using an example of a research proposal which responds to Open Call for project proposals for funding from a renowned multilateral funding agency, the chapter exemplifies how sustainability planning in research project proposals can be addressed to help strengthen the proposals to attract research funding from potential donors.

• sustainability planning
• project management
• financial sustainability
• institutional sustainability
• programmatic sustainability
• higher education

Author Information

Hope pius nudzor *.

• Institute for Educational Planning and Administration, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

In recent times, the term “sustainability,” a word frequently used across several disciplines, has gained significant popularity in policy-oriented research and other social sectors of development, and consequently has become part of our everyday lexis in higher education research. Looking from the lenses of donors and NGO’s, it is the most sorted feature nowadays to ensure success to a project venture. Historically, the origin of the word “sustain” dates back several centuries, from two Latin words sus which means “up” and tenere meaning “to hold.” So literally the word “sustain” means “to hold up,” although in its current use implies something that continues for a long time. In its current usage, and in research project management sense, sustainability simply is the ability of an organization or research project team to continue its mission or programme of activities far into the future. Looking at sustainability from an organizational point of view, it means continuing to perform and deliver project benefits to the primary target group after the funding from a donor(s) terminate [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. In other words, sustainability is to maintain and continue your efforts as an organization and/or project management/implementation team after the funding for such activities is over.

Underscoring sustainability planning in research project management 1 principally is the view that all projects have to come to an end eventually at some point, but project impact should continue to be delivered for a considerable length of time [ 2 , 4 , 5 ]. Essentially, project donors want to see how project impacts will outlive their (i.e. donors’) direct involvement and inputs. This thus makes sustainability planning a key feature of project management practice. In this sense, typically, research project sustainability simply implies the continuation of the research project activities and sustenance of research project outcomes after the initial/primary grant expires. For this reason therefore, most donors are concerned about sustainability aspect of research projects and often fund projects which have a well-defined and/or comprehensive sustainability plans in place [ 4 , 6 , 7 ]. Besides, it is often a challenge for most organizations to ensure a steady flow of funds for executing their projects and programmes. Integrating sustainability principles in their ongoing projects can therefore be an effective way to ensure long term impact.

From a theoretical standpoint, this idea of project impact sustenance holds relevant for all organizations and institutions of higher learning to prevent them from having “donor-driven visions” [ 2 ]. However, in practice, the preponderance of available research evidence, particularly from Development and Project Management literature, identifies lack of sustainability planning as one major challenge that has plagued (and continues to plague) research project implementation and management efforts of countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa. In many of these countries, new policy initiatives are not adopted nation-wide and sustained after donor-funded projects end. In Ghana as a case in point, new initiatives recede after funding stops, particularly as most funding for projects come from donors [ 8 , 9 ]. Consequently, the term “sustainability,” at least in research project management sense, has come, all of a sudden, to gain enormous popularity and significance in policy-oriented research, and has become part of our everyday lexis in higher education research. Yet, in attempting to address the issue, sustainability planning, particularly in research project proposals, has been approached and conceptualized by many to refer solely to financial sustainability, as if to say other categories and/or types of sustainability either do not exist or do not matter.

This chapter addresses this issue of sustainability planning in higher education research. In the process, financial sustainability is elucidated, and through that two other categories/types of sustainability are identified and discussed crisply for rumination. Following up on this, steps to sustainability planning are outlined to set in context the contention of the chapter that sustainability planning in research project management in higher education requires long term planning to facilitate diverse donor engagements and for improving institutional capacity of target populations. Thereafter, and using an example of a research proposal which responds to Open Call for project proposals for funding from a renowned multilateral funding agency, the chapter exemplifies how sustainability planning in research project proposals can be addressed to help strengthen the proposals to attract research funding from potential donors. Essentially, the chapter argues that sustainability planning in higher education research is important in as it prepares higher education institutions to deliver positive outcomes in the absence of primary funding.

2. Addressing financial sustainability in research project management

Integrating sustainability principles in research project proposals is an effective way to convince donors about the long term impacts of one’s project activities. However, as was stated earlier, attempts by many prospective research funds applicants to demonstrate to funders or donor agencies how their proposals would continue after project funding ends appear to focus solely on the issues of finances. Admittedly, financial sustainability is of paramount importance as far as project management and sustenance are concerned. It is the pivot around which sustainability as a concept oscillates. However, as would be elucidated in this article, donor agencies look at other equally important aspects of sustainability to assure and/or satisfy themselves that such research projects will continue to deliver long term impacts in terms of benefits to the target community even after the grants expire.

So what is financial sustainability, and how can it be assured and sustained by a research project proposal in the long term? Financial sustainability simply refers how the financial support required for the project activities of an organization or research project team will continue after funding, mostly in the form of grants, have ended. It refers to ensuring a steady flow of funds and generating revenue for maintaining and continuing project activities with the view to providing project impacts to stakeholders or target groups, at least for a considerable length of time [ 2 , 3 , 10 ]. The financial sustainability process itself involves essentially developing a financial plan outlining the various options available for expanding the resource stream of the organization or research project. This may require undertaking research to understand the “terrain” and the various options that can be used to maintain a steady flow of funds. Efforts at this stage also help in knowing potential donors and understanding their priority areas of funding.

Sale of product: This entails outlining clearly plans to sell products that the organization or research project team will produce in the open market. Although viable, this may not generate huge returns. Nonetheless, this can help the project team continue its efforts to deliver project impact for a while.

Diversifying donors: This involves looking not and identifying a single funding source, but spreading ones tentacles to include funding agencies in related fields, including from corporate organizations, local institutions, individuals etc. Several studies (e.g. [ 11 , 12 ], etc.) show that sustainability increases when projects have multiple sources of funding.

Charging service Fees: This entails making plans to commence charging nominal fees from the target beneficiaries for the maintenance and functioning of the project once funding of project activities comes to an end.

Charging membership fees: This is about plans to charge annual fees from all beneficiary groups of the project’s impact in order to get project plans and activities to continue. This may be a small amount but can help continue some of the project activities as the project team explores other options.

Undertaking online Fundraising: Online fundraising is one sure way of reaching out to a wide audience and individuals who have interest in the project to support project activities. It involves soliciting for funds basically online to support the continuation of project activities.

In Kind donations: This involves soliciting for support, other than financial resources from agencies and individuals to sustain some of the project activities. This is especially the case where the agencies or individuals do not have the “financial muscle” to support the project activities but can render their services, platforms or physical recourses for use by the project team.

Undertaking annual/periodic appeal for funds: This mainly take the form of annual or periodic appeals rendered to agencies and individuals to make financial donations towards sustaining project activities.

Adopting environmental sustainability approaches : These approaches involve the use of project resources in such a way that the needed resources never disappear. It is instructive to note, however, that environmental sustainability approaches, most often, are project themes or cross-cutting themes within larger projects.

So while financial sustainability options take varied forms as illustrated, it is not to be taken or assumed in the least that they operate mutually exclusively. Most often, multiple financial sustainability options with practical and viable potencies are the ones that serve to convince donors that an organization can really deliver positive outcomes in the absence of primary funding. A good financial sustainability strategy to exemplify this point is a situation in which a research project team is able to, for example, demonstrate in their research project proposal, plans to ensure that paid up members of an organization receive a set of services (which include a regular newsletter, information on best practices, policy and regulatory advocacy and participation in annual conference), while at the same time making plans in the proposal to raise funds as well as provide specialized, accredited courses, information searches, published sectoral information and professional advisory services for fees which will be paid for by members and external agents.

3. Other categories/types of sustainability in research project management

The other categories or types of sustainability exemplified in the research project management and development literature vary significantly, but share some similar underlying characteristics with one another. For this reason, and in order not to sound repetitive, I focus on two other types of sustainability (i.e. aside financial sustainability) namely: institutional or organizational sustainability and programmatic sustainability [ 6 , 10 , 13 , 14 ] to drive home the argument of the chapter that there are different aspects of sustainability that are to be considered while writing the sustainability plan, particularly for research project proposals seeking to elicit funding from donors for project activities. 2

Succinctly defined, institutional or organizational sustainability refers to ways of ensuring proper working of the organization and its institutions that were developed as part of the project even after the period of funding elapses, [ 6 , 13 , 15 , 16 ], whereas programmatic sustainability means to continue the organization or project’s programme of deliverables in the absence of donor support [ 10 , 14 , 17 ].

So clearly, both of these definitions show that aside finances, project proposals (especially those seeking for funding from donors) ought to demonstrate how project teams and the organizations and/or institutions they represent as well as project activities and programmes would continue to exist and deliver required impacts even after primary funding from donors recede or dry out completely. The argument this chapter presents essentially is that the combination of these three categories/types of sustainability (i.e. financial, organizational or institutional and programmatic sustainability) builds a comprehensive suite of support services and materials for research project teams that wish to undertake sustainability to effect lasting project impacts and benefits on their beneficiary constituencies.

Exploring new opportunities: This involves demonstrating within the proposal a flexible approach to undertaking project activities while looking for new opportunities to exploit in order to ensure continued existence of the project. This also entails the readiness expressed in the proposal to modify priorities to fall in line with unforeseen changes that may occur in the course of implementing project activities. A number of studies (e.g. [ 7 , 18 , 19 ] etc.) show that the ability of a project to change in accord with changing circumstances can significantly affect its chances of survival positively.

Developing new partnerships: Developing a sustainable organization demands developing new partnerships. These partnerships, when indicated clearly in the project proposal, are helpful as they show the foresight of the project team regarding how stable the project will be and how they intend to take their mission ahead into the future ([ 18 , 20 ] etc.).

Boosting existing relations : Along with investing time and energy on developing new partnerships it is equally important to indicate clearly in the proposal how or ways by which existing relations with donors, stakeholders and beneficiaries will be managed in a proper way. This is essential as it is these relationships that are going to take activities of the project into the future and sustain them [ 11 , 12 , 21 ].

Undertaking communications and outreach activities: A good project proposal with the potential to attract funding from donors is one that has a well-crafted organizational/institutional sustainability plan with a strong communication strategy. This makes it clear how the project team intends to showcase project results to a large audience [ 4 , 20 , 22 ]. A good practice is to have a monthly communication plan within the proposal that can be used for updating your webpage, social media profile, sending donor mails etc.

Engaging volunteers: One of the strategies that many project teams use to indicate in their proposals their plans to sustain their projects in the long term is through engaging volunteers for performing specific activities. As volunteers do not draw salaries directly from organizations, they are a good source of resource to be used to continue the mission of project activities without spending much money [ 7 ].

Community involvement: Involving communities in some aspects of project activities is key to having long term impacts from projects. One way, therefore, by which project teams ensure that they address programmatic sustainability is by ensuring that their proposals involve communities at various stages of projects [ 4 , 7 , 13 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 23 ]. This indicates to donors the communities’ ownership of the project even after the project duration. Also, the entire process of participation is participatory, and also has the added advantage of indicating how the skills and knowledge to be gained by the present group of people within the communities will be transferable and also replicable to or with “others” within the community of beneficiaries.

Institutionalize local groups: Local groups play a very important role in maintaining programme objectives. For this reason, one way of ensuring programmatic sustainability in project proposals is by indicating plans to strengthen local institutions and involve them in the planning and implementation phases of projects [ 4 , 20 ].

Community advocacy: Indicating plans to sensitize communities about benefits of a particular project and initiating a policy advocacy plans within project proposals is also an effective way to ensure programmatic sustainability in the long run. The assumption here is that once the communities have been sensitized and incentivized enough to have buy in, they embrace and follow through with project activities even after the project duration [ 4 , 11 , 12 , 17 , 21 ].

Involving local government and departments: Making clear plans in project proposals to involve of local agencies and government also ensures improved access to the government initiatives in this direction. The point is that as these local government agencies and departments are permanent, they help in sustaining project activities beyond the project duration [ 7 , 13 , 19 , 22 , 24 , 25 ].

So clearly, although organizations (including research project teams) need financial muscle to move their activities and programmes ahead, as is being echoed here by the chapter, none of the three categories of sustainability (i.e. financial, organizational or institutional and programmatic sustainability) exemplified takes or should take pre-eminence over the other as far as project proposals seeking funds from donors are concerned. Rather, it is the combination of all three that builds a comprehensive suite of support services and materials for project teams that wish to undertake sustainability to effect lasting project impacts and benefits on their beneficiary constituencies.

4. Steps in sustainability planning

In practice, sustainability planning outlives research project proposal development and submission processes as it requires long term planning to facilitate diverse donor engagement and for improving institutional capacity of target populations. As such, it is always advised that great pains should be taken to discuss among members of the organization (including research project team members) the various processes and mechanisms to utilize even at the proposal development stage of project activities. Admittedly, and as a result of the strenuous processes, involved, views regarding steps to sustainability planning in the project management and development literature necessarily do not converge [ 3 ]. This notwithstanding, the following four suggested practical steps are most useful in guiding the discussion, planning and implementation processes of sustainability planning, particularly in higher education research.

4.1 Step one: understanding your organization

The key to sustainability planning in project management is understanding one’s own organization and having long term vision for it. As Director/MD/CEO, management, board or staff, of an organization, everyone, as the first step towards sustainability, should be familiar with the organization and have a clear picture of where they expect to see their organization after a period of 5 or 10 years. This ability to understand and envision the future of one’s organization in the long term serves to get the entire organization to think thoroughly about “what” to do and “how” to do the “what” to get the organization to become sustainable in terms of its programme of activities, impacts and resources [ 5 , 15 ]. Once the long term vision is known to members, the various things required to achieve sustainability could then be easily drafted. Having attained this, and with the use of data and facts, members of the organization are then enabled to explain to the donor(s) about the long term goal(s) of their organization and the processes, resources required to ensure it becomes sustainable in the long term.

4.2 Step two: getting the organization ready for sustainability

Once members of the organization have understanding and could envision the future of their organization, the next task towards sustainability is getting ready for sustainability. The assumption essentially here is that in order for organizations to start the transition towards sustainability, they need to be strong enough to manage change [ 4 , 5 ]. As such, activities at this stage involve gauging the readiness of the organization for sustainability using sustainability assessment tools. These tools take the organization through a detailed examination of its current efficiency and performance across all its activities and management processes. Of paramount importance at this stage is to ensure that the assessment is conducted as an organization wide process, with everyone (e.g. staff, management and board) fully involved, rather than a Director/MD/CEO conducting the assessment in isolation ([ 4 , 5 , 18 ] etc.). In this way, the whole team builds consensus on strengths and areas for learning and strengthening. Also, it is helpful at this stage to focus on helping the organization to recognize the difference between practices that “maintain” and those which “sustain” an organization. Often, good practices may already be in place. However, with a completely different understanding of sustainability owing to activities at this stage, the organizations can readily enhance its practices and performance [ 4 , 18 ]. The sustainability assessment may, for example, reveal that the organization is ready to implement a sustainability strategy or there may be areas where strengthening or additional capacity may be required, and this gives the entire organization an opportunity to come together and jointly agree on the optimal ways to move forward. Again, it is vital that leadership and staff work together to build these organizational foundations and prepare as a team for the new journey.

4.3 Step three: planning for sustainability

The next exciting stage after the necessary preparatory activities is to start planning for sustainability. The activities at this stage include providing staff and stakeholders training to support strategic planning skills, knowledge of needs assessment and logic model construction, leadership skills and fundraising expertise [ 7 , 15 , 18 , 22 ]. Owing to the activity-oriented nature of operations at this stage, peer relationships and support networks are encouraged, which the organization can continue and retain for shared learning in the long term. These help to create the opportunity for members of the organization to plan their sustainability strategies, generate a supportive atmosphere where participants can share, learn and plan jointly, and build supportive relationships that allow the organization to compare learning and winning strategies as they work alongside each other. The activities here also help to introduce members to new skill sets and ways of thinking and realizing sustainability.

Six key activities are undertaken as part of the planning process [ 3 ]. These include: integrating sustainability aspects into project activities [ 13 , 19 ]; developing communication and outreach strategy; involving key stakeholders in programmes development [ 4 , 20 , 22 ]; diversifying funding sources [ 11 , 12 ]; creating inventory of resources [ 5 , 15 ]; and using donor databases [ 11 , 12 , 15 ]. Concerning integration of sustainability aspects into programme of activities, it is always advisable to integrate sustainability aspects in projects right from the beginning as this helps to develop partnerships and relations with relevant stakeholders at an early stage of project development. This also ensures that once the primary funding for project activities terminates the organization has a strong support to continue its activities into the future. In a similar vein, developing a strong communication strategy is essential at this stage to achieve three key purposes. First, to ensure that project results can be shared with a large audience. Second, to ensure that the organization puts in place a well-documented project results that helps in getting support from a range of stakeholders and donors. Third, this serves to avoid last minute rush of donor search.

Another major step towards sustainability planning at this stage, and as intimated earlier, is stakeholder involvement in programme development. This can be done in several ways, but as part of the project planning activities, a multi-stakeholder dialog workshop can be initiated to seek the involvement and participation of relevant people and agencies in the programme of activities of the organization. Stakeholder involvement and participation is key in maintaining, sustaining and institutionalizing the organization’s missions, programme objectives and operations. The most important aspect of planning for sustainability at this stage is to diversify the organization’s funding sources or donor-base, and to develop long term partnerships with donors to support the organization’s activities. As the success of the organization at securing financial sustainability, for example, depends on partnerships developed with corporate organizations, local institutions and individuals, the advice always is not to focus on traditional donor agencies but explore new opportunities as well. Another useful way to plan for sustainability, particularly at this stage is to create and keep an inventory of all physical, material and human resources that the organization can make use of after its activities or project ends. This helps the organization to know in advance the resources it would need moving into the future. In this way, the organization gets to use some devices and equipment (such as training modules, camera, recorder, furniture for a school etc.) purchased during specific programme of activities even after the grant for such activities expire. Lastly, and on the part of using donor databases as an activity in sustainability planning, the advice always has been to enlist a few donors from the organization’s donor database who are likely to fund its project or programme of activities and to keep in touch with such agencies so that they are aware about the organization’s existence and its activities.

4.4 Step four: implementing the sustainability plan

Once the organization is able to develop, finalize and assess its sustainability plans, the next step is for it to commence implementation of its sustainability plan. The essence of finalizing and assessing the plans before commencing implementation is to allow for decisions and/or arrangements for technical support for implementation that probably may be needed. But essentially, the activities at this stage in the sustainability planning process involves putting into use or implementing the plans developed to ensure that an organization’s mission, programmes of activities and resources continue to exist after its funding regimes elapse. In practice, it is a generally acceptable practice for an organization’s sustainability plan to outlive or transcend project proposal development and submission processes. This is particularly the case since the organization may well commence implementation of its sustainability plans even before a proposal is developed to source funding from donor agencies to get or keep its operations sustainable.

In sum, it needs to be foregrounded that while the illustration in this article treats sustainability planning in the form of steps, it is not to be considered that the approach is compartmentalized into discrete components or stages. The processes and steps involved in sustainability planning are fluid and therefore in practice flow easily into each other.

5. Addressing sustainability planning in research project proposals: an exemplar

In this section, sustainability planning in research project proposal development in higher education research is exemplified. This is done to drive home forcefully the thesis of the chapter that ensuring project sustainability requires more than addressing financial sustainability alone, and that donors look at critically, scrutinize and fund proposals on the basis of how they address financial sustainability vis-à-vis other different but equally important aspects of sustainability to ensure that these projects continue to exist to deliver required impacts even after primary funding from donors recede or dry out completely. To be able to do this, excerpts from a research project proposal submitted recently in responds to an Open Call for project proposals for funding from a renowned multilateral funding agency is drawn upon for purposes of exemplification. For purposes of succinctness of presentation, the issues to be presented are dealt with under three sub-headings, namely: information about the Open Call for proposals; addressing the development challenge and impact of the proposed African Centre of Excellence for Educational Leadership and Teacher Training (ACE-ELTT); and outlining the sustainability plan for the proposed ACE-ELTT project. 3

5.1 Information about the open call for proposals

The Africa Centres of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) project is an initiative of the World Bank which is being implemented through/by the Association of African Universities (AAU) to, among other things, improve the quality, quantity and development impact of postgraduate education (defined to include Master’s and PhD degrees, and short term professional level courses and training) in selected universities in Africa through regional specialization and collaboration [ 26 ]. Each ACE Impact Centre proposed for funding is expected to identify an aspect of a developmental challenge (i.e. relative its host institution and country) that can be addressed with an integrated programme of work that is achievable over the period of four and half years project duration.

The ACE Impact project consists of three components, namely: establishing new and scaling-up well-performing existing ACEs for development impact; fostering regional partnerships for emerging centres and regional scholarships; and enhancing regional project facilitation, and monitoring and evaluation. This Call for Proposals, to which our research project team responded with a project proposal, is focused on the first of three components (i.e. establishing new and scaling-up well-performing existing ACEs for development impact).

As indicated in the Guidance Notes for the Open Call for proposals [ 26 ], Component 1 aims to build and strengthen the capacity of competitively selected ACE centres based in higher education institutions across West and Central Africa. To this end, each ACE centre is expected to address a regional development challenge through: higher quality postgraduate education addressing the skills gap and tackling priority applied research questions; leading regional education networks; and delivering short-term courses. In consultation with stakeholders, the centre are to update and/or launch new postgraduate degree programmes that are accredited to meet international high-quality standards. The centres are also expected to offer curricula that ensure that their students have the demanded competences upon graduating from their degree programmes, including analytical, digital, and entrepreneurial competencies.

According to the Guidance Notes for writing up proposals attached to the Open Call [ 26 ], partnerships with national, regional and global sectoral stakeholders (i.e. private enterprise, including but not limited to, multinational, regional, national or local enterprises; Ministries and other public authorities; chambers of commerce,; trade groups and professional associations; hospitals; policymakers; and other appropriate stakeholders) and academic institutions will ensure that the ACEs focus their activities on the education and research needs to solve specific problems associated with the targeted development challenge. Centres are expected to disseminate their research findings to policymakers and companies, as well as through international peer reviewed journals. Further, each Centre, according to the guidance notes, will be required to have policies backed by specific interventions in place to: (a) increase the number of females within their student body, faculty and academic leadership; and (b) ensure the overall well-being of their student population. Under this project, the Guidance Note adds, greater emphasis will be placed on ensuring ACE host institutions are incentivized to undertake several activities, including those which promote good governance; data collection and management; and regionalization of their institutions, that is, taking steps to make their institutions regionally (and ultimately globally) competitive [ 26 ].

increase in number of students, in particularly regional and female, enrolled and graduating from Master’s and PhD programmes;

improvement in the quality of programmes including an increase in the number of programmes (and ACE host institutions) that obtain international accreditation;

development impact attributable to the project, including improvement in the relevance of the education/training programmes and of the applied research evident through:

increase in the number, and strength, of sectoral partnerships that lead to production and hiring of high-performing graduates, internships for students, application and commercialization of research results, advisory board participation, etc.

increase in the amount of externally generated revenue, including from companies and other sectoral partners [ 26 ].

Thus briefly, it is against this background that the research proposal being described in the context of this chapter was developed and submitted in response to the Open Call for funding to establish ACE to address a pertinent developmental challenge facing Ghana, and by extension, West Africa and sub-Saharan Africa region as a whole.

5.2 Identifying and addressing the development challenge and impact of proposed ACE-ELTT

Literacy, Science, Technology and Mathematics Education and Leadership constitute a key to the socio-economic development of every nation. Knowledge in these five subject areas is critical for industrialization of Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries that share similar characteristics as Ghana. It is for this reason that past and present governments of Ghana, for example, have identified and channeled (and still continue to channel) a lot of resources into Literacy, Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. These areas put together have been considered as one of the pillars for the development of the nation. However, learning outcomes in these critical areas remain critically low, resulting in high population of people who are semi-illiterate and have very little knowledge in basic science and mathematics. This situation contributes to low industrial productivity, poor sanitation, high levels of crime and eventually poverty within the Ghanaian society.

This developmental challenge could be attributed to a number of significant gaps in the Ghanaian education system. Some of the gaps include poor orientation and exposure of pre-service teachers to pedagogical approaches that draw on students’ socio-cultural background to enable them understand school concepts. They also bring about institutional weaknesses in training effective and reflective teachers. These disparities equally affect leadership for learning and the training of well qualified teacher educators, especially in the areas of literacy, science, mathematics, and technology. Other gaps include the low level integration of new technologies and approaches into teaching and learning in training institutions; the disconnect between learning outcomes and gender balance among students as well as staff in teacher education and leadership institutions; and the limited opportunities for professional development for educators (tutors and lecturers) in teacher training institutions to develop their pedagogical and professional and leadership skills.

Currently, there is no specialist training programme in pedagogy for tutors/lecturers who handle Literacy, Science, Technology and Mathematics at the Colleges of Education and Universities running Teacher Education programmes in Ghana. Many of the educators who teach courses in pedagogy are those who took a few courses in pedagogy as part of their graduate programmes and therefore do not have in-depth knowledge in the area. Consequently, many of the teacher educators have limited ability to connect their leadership skills to the actual learning of students in within the classroom setting. Presently, a number of educational institutions have been established in Ghana and are mandated to undertake capacity building functions. However, efforts to assist teacher educators to connect their leadership skills and dispositions to actual learning of students in classrooms appear to be fragmented, incoherent and dysfunctional.

To address the above challenges, we propose the establishment of the, ACE-ELTT, and seek to mount academic programmes and engage in vigorous enrolment drive in postgraduate studies in educational leadership and teacher training to improve teaching and learning in Ghana and Africa. This, we believe, will go a long way to enhance global recognition and visibility of ACE-ELTT as a Centre of excellence for educational leadership and pedagogy training for teachers in literacy, science, mathematics and technology. The education, teaching and learning activities at the Centre will include teaching with modules and internship. The teaching with modules will involve classroom work, laboratory work and practicum. For the internship, the Centre will set up an Outreach Unit to be coordinated by a senior and experienced academic who has the passion for professional development to superintend over the unit. The Outreach Unit will support students and candidates on placement decisions and place them as interns at pre-agreed institutions that have a working relationship with the Centre. The ACE-ELTT Centre’s priority domains of Educational Programme are pedagogical and leadership skills development with the goal of addressing literacy, science, mathematics and ICT education that Ghana and the Sub-Saharan African region needs for economic and social advancement.

In terms of academic programmes, ACE-ELTT will be running M.Ed./M.Phil. as well as Ph.D./Ed.D in Pedagogy in Mathematics, Science, Technology, Literacy (in English, French, and other Regional Languages such as Kiswahili), Leadership and Management in Education, Educational Policy and Management, and Educational Planning. The ACE-ELTT project team further contend that the nature, content and approach of our newly designed programmes and courses for M.Ed, M.Phil, and Ph.D. will help improve the content and delivery of the existing programmes provided to our regular students in the mainstream. The Centre will run additional short courses on innovative approaches to teaching Science, Technology and Mathematics, as well as professional development courses in Action Research. Other short courses that will be run include: Literacy Programme Development, Approaches to teaching reading, National languages, Utilization of ICT for improved teaching and learning, Constructing Curriculum, utilizing teaching and learning materials, Developing Instructional Leaders (including developing school leaders as instructional coaches), Teacher management and deployment, Assessment and evaluation of learning, School based decision making, and Inclusive education, disability education, Assessment of cost effectiveness of education programmes/education budgeting, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change, Access planning, school mapping, utilizing GIS, Education Management Information Systems (EMIS)/data analysis and interpretation/designing surveys, and Human resources management. These short courses will be run for mid-career professionals in education and students in Ghana and the sub-Saharan African region. The target group will include Lecturers, Tutors in teacher training institutions, school leaders, Circuit Supervisors (School Inspectors), Teachers and other professionals of education at the National and decentralized education units. The short courses will be developed in a consultative setting where the voice of the theory and science meets practice from industry and service providers.

In the area of research, institutional and individual research will form an integral part of the ACE-ELTT in addressing the development challenge confronting education leadership and teacher training in the West and Central Africa Sub-regions. The Centre will undertake research into innovative approaches to teaching, focusing its attention on issues such as instructional leadership, curriculum, teaching strategies and learning environment that draw on the social and cultural background of learners. Additionally, there are many cross-cutting issues pointed out in the main proposal that are relevant in Ghana and the Sub-region of Africa which we intend to take care of. These cross-cutting and interdisciplinary issues include technology integration in education, quality of education, and gender and equity. A typical research agenda that informs policy and practice concerning the cross-cutting themes is identified with the following research project areas: (a) promoting transformational instructional leadership for improved learning outcomes; (b) improving learning outcomes through innovative teaching approaches, using ICT; (c) improving the learning environment and outcomes for learners; and (d) challenges faced by tutors in the implementation of the teacher training curriculum.

To achieve the project objectives and outcomes of ACE-ELTT, we will forge partnership with individuals and institutions at the national, regional and international levels in areas of mutual interest. Based on our established approach, we intend to work with four groups of sectoral partners. The four groups are: national, regional and international agencies of education; national, regional and international development partners working in education in Ghana and/or within the Sub-Saharan Africa; Teachers and educational workers union/associations; national, regional and international research bodies. These groups were carefully considered since they are better placed as relevant and notable fellows in making efficient partners in developing the desired relationships in the education sector as well as carrying the banner of the ACE-ELTT project. In this regard, we have made preliminary enquiries and had spoken to 45 potential partners who have experience in either the Ghanaian or the sub-Saharan African education contexts regarding what they consider to be African educational development challenge. In the final anaylsis, the apparent determinant to making improved education and education services delivery that was found related to two variables, which are pedagogy and leadership. The goal is to address the developmental challenge identified by means of filling in the skills gap and thereby contributing towards poverty reduction and the creation of safe, strong and resilient communities in Ghana and the entire sub-region.

In the final analysis, the proposed ACE-ELTT expects to achieve both short and long-term outcomes upon the establishment and implementation of its programmes of activities. In the short term, it is expected that there will be: increased enrolment (with an estimated target of 21 doctoral and 280 masters students in postgraduate programmes in educational leadership and pedagogy in the area of literacy, science, mathematics and technology); trained, skillful and effective teacher educators in pedagogy and leadership; improved capacity of educators in research; improved methods of teaching in literacy, mathematics, science and technology; improved interest of teachers in students’ learning progress; improved students’ interest, attitudes and learning outcomes in literacy and STM in particular; improved capacity of national and regional partners in performing their professional duties and/or roles. The long-term outcomes in ACE-ELTT’s activities will include increased number of literate Ghanaian and African populace who have adequate mastery of literacy, basic mathematical, scientific knowledge and leadership skills. This will contribute to the supply of quality labor force to industry thereby resulting in high industrial output, improved GDP, reduction in poverty, reduction in crime, safe secured environment and development of strong, vibrant and resilient communities in Ghana and Africa as a whole.

5.3 Outlining the sustainability plan for the proposed ACE-ELTT project

As indicated in the Guidance Notes for the Open Capp for proposals for this project, funding for the project activities of the proposed ACE-ELTT is to be provided over the multi-year funding window by the World Bank under the AAU’s Africa Centre of Excellence Programme. Beyond the period of ACE financial support, and in order to ensure that ACE-ELTT continues to play its role as Centre of Excellence for Education (that is, Educational Leadership and Teacher Training) and Research in the West African sub-region and beyond, a number of sustainability measures will be put in place and pursued vigorously. Given the national and regional and international character of the ACE-ELTT, the main focus of our sustainability strategy is on four key themes, namely financial sustainability; ongoing partnerships with sectoral stakeholders, continual improvement of the student educational opportunities and ongoing applied research that addresses improvement in students’ learning outcomes, especially in the areas of Literacy, Science, Technology/ICT and Mathematics.

Obviously, financial sustainability is key to the survival of ACE-ELTT beyond the period of ACE financial support. To ensure financial sustainability, fees will be charged on academic and professional development programmes, even before ACE financial support ceases. The Centre will also commercialize its research activities to bring in some additional funds. The Centre will undertake funded research projects for institutions that engage it services as well as for its national regional and global partners. Findings from research activities will be published as books, which will be sold to bring in some extra income to support its programme of activities. The Centre’s main/key staff will be drawn from the University. Hence, the Centre will not be responsible for payment of salaries and related benefits of its key staff. To ensure prudent financial management, the Centre will provide part-time teaching/research assistantship employment opportunities to graduate students who have the requisite qualification, knowledge and skills to support the Centre’s activities. Again, the Centre will strive to diversify it sources of funding to also include exploration of the possibility of attracting extra funding from other local and international sectoral and institutional partners such as National Council for Tertiary Education, NGOs, individual philanthropies and multinational development agencies. Also, some of its partner institutions with staff with relevant qualifications and experiences will be recruited to support the activities of the Centre through teaching, research and delivery of short professional development courses. Lastly but not the least, volunteers from the academic institutions of higher learning from within Ghana, the sub-Saharan region and globally will also be sought and engaged in all its activities to help save cost.

In order to ensure continuous and sustained partnerships with relevant sectoral stakeholders, such as Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, West African Examinations Council, Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), UNESCO and JICA, beyond the period of ACE financial support, the Centre will ensure that these sectorial partners are consulted and involved in major decisions. Representatives from these sectoral partners will be involved in identification of areas of interest in applied research and skills needs as well as development and innovations in the current and new programmes and short courses in order to sustain their interest in the activities of the Centre and make the programmes relevant to them. To ensure that the results from the Centre reach wider audience, the Centre will use communications such as social media profile, frequent emails to donor agencies about our activities and frequent update of the Centre’s webpage. Again, in the area of sustaining on-going partnership with the relevant sectoral stakeholders, our partnership activities will be organized in ways that will provide a “win-win” situation for the Centre and its sectoral partners. For example, relevant sectoral actors will be incentivized to drive the research agenda of the Centre through commissioning applied research based on their organizational development needs while they (i.e. sectoral stakeholders) support the research costs. Similarly, staff of sectoral stakeholders with requisite academic/research skills and competencies will be drawn in to teach academic and short professional development courses of the Centre while the Centre in return will provide professional development training workshops and programmes for them based on their specific needs and demands.

For the continual improvement of students’ educational opportunities to be sustained, ACE-ELTT will make concerted efforts to ensure that qualified and competent staff with the right attitudes and dispositions are attracted, recruited and retained both from Ghana and the sub-region to lead in teaching and research. This will ensure that the Centre activities are addressing the Development Challenges identified and thereby meeting the needs and aspirations of its clientele. As the Centre engages sectoral partners such as the Ministry of Education in its activities, these sectoral partners will be encouraged to provide employment opportunities for the graduates from the Centre. They will also be encouraged to provide for our students scholarships, internship grants and support for research activities. As an equal opportunity service provider, UCC and by extension ACE-ELTT will prioritize within its programmes and activities of delivery issues pertaining to social justice (and its related principles of equity, inclusion, fairness, disability, equality of opportunities and outcome, gender balance etc.) especially in dealing with students, collaborators and partner institutions. In order to stay competitive and make impactful presence in the sub-Saharan African region to improve the educational opportunities of our students, ACE-ELTT activities will be geared towards meeting high standards that are recognized internationally. Furthermore, the certification and accreditation of International Association of Universities (IAU) and Association of African Universities (AAU) will be pursued and obtained to ensure that our students are properly trained to become truly competitive at the global stage.

For on-going applied research that addresses ACE-ELTT’s Development Challenge to be sustained in the long term, the Centre will strive to ensure that it is abreast with current local, regional and international discourses relating to developmental challenges facing Ghana and the entire sub-Saharan Africa. In so doing, the Centre will involve its partners in the identification of areas of interest in applied research to make its research agenda timeless and relevant. Also, while making concerted efforts to boost its existing relationships with research partners to keep its research agenda on-track, attempts will be made to develop new partnerships with institutions, stakeholders and individuals to explore “new” trends, opportunities and possibilities arising from existing and/or new development agendas.

6. Concluding thoughts

In this chapter, the issue of sustainability planning in research project proposal development has been addressed. In the process the various categories/types of sustainability vis-à-vis the steps to sustainability planning in research project management have been identified and explored, although crisply. Through this, the question of how organizations, and for that matter research project teams, seeking funding from donors can ensure that their project proposals address sustainability issues in ways that satisfy financing criteria of the donors, while at the same time producing convincing evidence of how their project activities and programmes would have lasting impacts on communities of beneficiaries, has been exemplified. Typically, the effort and its corresponding evidence in this chapter lends support largely to Leon’s [ 2 ] contention that on the threshold of the twenty-first century, faced with an increasingly competitive market, a globalized economy, and a context in which change is a constant rather than a variable, organizations and project teams seeking project funding must “think outside the box.” They must, according to Leon, demonstrate the most advanced methods of income-generation they will use to achieve sustainability in all its facets and thereby ensure that their programme of activities fulfill their missions and have lasting impacts on target groups even after funding regimes for such activities elapse.

In this context, and in my candid view, therefore, the need to achieve sustainability planning in project proposals is both tangible and crucial as it enables organizations and project teams to make tremendous strides in increasing income generation internally and thereby see decline in donor dependence. While this may be the most obvious benefits of planning sustainability, organizations, higher education institutions and research project teams tend to benefit from sustainability planning additionally in the following four ways. First, having sustainability plans in place means that organizations, higher education institutions and project teams are enabled to make autonomous decisions that truly reflect local, rather than international priorities. That is, they do not dance necessarily to the whims and caprices of donors mainly because they have greater freedom and independence in deciding on their strategies and activities when they generate their own resources. Second, and following up on the first point, in the process of building sustainability strategies, higher education institutions most often routinely examine their operations and procedures which leads to internal strengthening, enhanced management and team building. Third, when a higher education institution or research project team has a clear sustainability strategy and a record of how they intend to generate internal income within its project proposal, this improves the institutional image of the organization or project team in the eyes of potential and existing donors and can enable them attract more external funding for undertaking project activities. Fourth, as higher education institutions and/or project teams demonstrate their sustainability plans and strategies in their project proposals, their relationships with partners in development programmes improve and they become recognized and incentivized to negotiate on the basis of exchange rather than as benefactor and recipient.

Acknowledgments

My sincerest and deepest gratitude goes to the authors whose works I have gleaned in order to put together this piece. My special thanks also go to all our ACE-ELTT Project team members who helped in diverse ways to put together the project proposal for onward submission for funding request from donors. Indeed I am indebted to you all for your ideas and support in putting together the bid described in this chapter.

• 1. Alonzi A. What is project sustainability? Available from: https://www.proposalsforngos.com [Accessed: 08 October 2018]
• 2. Leon P. Four pillars of financial sustainability. In: Resources for Success Series Volume 2. Arlington, Virginia, USA: The Nature Conservancy; 2001
• 3. Naidoo S. Building Financial Sustainability in Development Organisations: You Can Do it. 2014. Available from: https://www.ngopilse.org
• 4. Steadman HJ, Cocozza JJ, Dennis DL, Lassiter MG, Randolph FL, Goldman H, et al. Successful program maintenance when federal demonstration dollars stop: The access program for homeless mentally ill persons. Administration and Policy in Mental Health. 2002; 29 :481-493
• 5. Weiss H, Coffman J, Bohan-Barker M. Evaluation’s Role in Supporting Initiative Sustainability. Harvard Family Research Project. 2002. Available from: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/content/pubs/onlinepubs/sustainability/sustainability.pdf
• 6. Chovav H, Weinstein T. Continuation or Cessation? A Follow-Up Study of Projects in Neighborhoods Where Project Renewal Has Ended. Jerusalem: Ministry of Housing, Department of Neighborhood Social Rehabilitation; 1997
• 7. Scheirer M. Is sustainability possible? A review and commentary on empirical studies of program sustainability. American Journal of Evaluation. 2005; 26 (3):320-347
• 8. Nudzor HP, Dare A, Oduro GKT, Bosu R, Addy N. Examining activity-based learning (ABL) practices in public basic schools in the northern region of Ghana. Educational Research. 2015; 57 (4):437-450
• 9. Nudzor HP, Oduro GKT, Addy N. International programmes and research on effective activity-based learning (ABL): What can Ghana learn from international best practices? The International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives. 2018; 17 (2):40-59
• 10. Joshi U. How to ensure sustainability. Available from: https:www.2.fundsforngos.org [Accessed: 08 October 2018]
• 11. Light PC. Sustaining Innovation: Creating Non-profit and Government Organizations That Innovate Naturally. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers; 1998
• 12. Marek LI, Mancini JA, Brock DJ. Continuity, Success, and Survival of Community-Based Projects: The National Youth At Risk Program Sustainability Study. 1999. Available from: http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/family/350-801/350-801.html
• 13. Goodson P, Smith MM, Evans A, Meyer B, Gottlieb NH. Maintaining prevention in practice. Survival of PPIP in primary care settings. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2001; 20 :184-189
• 14. Healthy Teen Network. Sustaining grassroots community-based programs: A toolkit for community- and faith-based service providers. Tip sheet developed for JBS International, Inc., under contract #HHSP23320095638WC, Task Order HHSP20037006T with the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolecent Health. 2012. Available from: http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Sustaining-Grassroots-Community-Based-Programs/SMA09-4340
• 15. Johnson K, Hays C, Center H, Daley C. Building capacity and sustainable prevention innovations: A sustainability planning model. Evaluation and Program Planning. 2004; 27 :135-149
• 16. Pluye P, Potvin L, Denis J, Pelletier J, Mannoni C. Program sustainability begins with first events. Evaluation and Program Planning. 2005; 28 :123-137
• 17. Stephen M, Bekemeier B, Berkowitz B. Building sustainable public health systems change at the state level. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. 2005; 11 :109-115
• 18. Fagen MC. Building a Conceptual Model for Sustaining Prevention Programs: A Multiple Case Study. A Thesis submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health Sciences in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Chicago; 2001
• 19. O’Loughlin J, Renaud L, Richard L, Gomez LS, Paradis G. Correlates of the sustainability of community-based heart health promotion intervention. Preventive Medicine. 1998; 27 :702-712
• 20. Mancini JA, Marek LI. Sustaining community based program for families. Family Relations. 2004; 53 :339-347
• 21. Savaya R, Waysman M. Review of the Activities of the Bernard Van Leer Foundation in Israel, 1993-1997. A report submitted to the Bernard van Leer Foundation Department of Program Development and Management; 1998
• 22. Shediac-Rizkallah MC, Bone LR. Planning for the sustainability of community-based health programs: Conceptual frameworks and future directions for research, practice and policy. Health Education Research. 1998; 13 :87-108
• 23. Scheirer MA. The life cycle of an innovation: Adoption versus discontinuation of the fluoride mouth rinse program in schools. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 1990; 31 :203-215
• 24. Pluye P, Potvin L, Denis JL. Making public health programs last: Conceptualizing sustainability. Evaluation and Program Planning. 2004; 27 :121-133
• 25. Sarriot E, Winch P, Ryan LJ, Edison J, Bowie J, Swedberg E, et al. Qualitative research to make practical sense of sustainability in primary health care projects implemented by non-governmental organizations. International Journal of Health Planning and Management. 2004; 19 :3-22
• 26. Association of African Universities [AAU]. Call for proposals for Africa centres of excellence for development impact (ACE IMPACT) project. Call for Proposal Guidance. 2018. Available from: https://ace.aau.org/caa-for-proposal.guidance/ [Accessed: 24 August 2018]
• Sustainability planning and project management, as used in this article, have different meanings. Project management is used in this article to denote he step-by step process for planning, organizing and managing projects. It involves the practice of initiating, planning, organizing, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time. Sustainability planning, on the other hand, is used to depict that aspect of project management that ensures that project activities are planned and executed in such ways that make it possible for project impacts to continue to be delivered and sustained even after the project cycle elapses.
• So clearly, the focus of this chapter is on sustainability planning for research project proposals development in higher education research to convince donors to fund project activities, and not necessarily on sustainability planning for project management per se.
• The research proposal described in this chapter passed all the assessment evaluations for funding, and was particularly hailed by assessors for its sustainability strategies outlined. That notwithstanding, it is instructive to concede that the project was not funded eventually owing to infrastructural lapses on the part of UCC to house the ACE-ELTT to support project activities.

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Continue reading from the same book

Edited by Sharon Waller

Published: 07 April 2021

By Rebecca Nthogo Lekoko

588 downloads

By Esmeralda Sotoca Sienes

605 downloads

By Kivanc Aycan

604 downloads

• Reference Manager
• Simple TEXT file

People also looked at

Systematic review article, theoretical proposal for an integrated sustainability performance measurement system in the supply chain.

• Department of Production Engineering, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, Brazil

Environmental impacts due to supply chains are seen as a challenge to innovation and criteria for prioritizing the application of organizational resources. In this context, the research question arises: how to build the necessary knowledge about supply chain performance indicators in sustainability, systematizing in an evaluation process integrated with the organizational results? The general objective of this research is to build an integrated system of sustainability performance analysis of the supply chain. In order to achieve the general objective, the specific objectives are the following: (i) selection of the bibliographic portfolio and (ii) analysis of articles content. The exploratory-descriptive research method presents and illustrates a structured process for the selection of scientific articles on supply chain performance indicators in the sustainability context. The method identified the most important keywords and the main databases of full texts and abstracts aligned with the topic. An important review of the literature reveals that efforts to improve or influence the practice of sustainability in the supply chain raise critical questions about the transaction costs and effectiveness of the approach. The review promoted the development of a system of indicators inspired by the Balanced ScorCard (BSC) to address sustainability performance issues. The originality or value lies on the useful for managers throughout the supply chain. It was identified in the literature that supply chains still generate significant environmental impacts, social impacts, and use of natural resources, even though they individually present statements in their strategies and accountability indicating the priority regarding the mitigation of social, environmental, and economic impacts. Another finding is that it is not just a matter of complying with legal and institutional frameworks. The scientific literature defines the need to prioritize studies on Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM), which helps organizations in the production chain to achieve competitiveness and at the same time emphasize the reduction of social risks and environmental impacts. The main findings of the paper are related to the possibility of interfacing the dimensions present in TBL with performance measurement in a supply chain.

Introduction

The high expansion in the number of companies involved in production, along with a subsequent increase in manufacturing activities, has intensified supply chain activities that lead directly to social and environmental impact.

Until recently, operational managers were concerned only with their unit, with the supply chain component units taking responsibility for social and environmental impacts simultaneously with economic performance, in product development, process design, operations, logistics, marketing, regulatory compliance, and waste management. Only since the quality revolution in the 1980s and the supply chain revolution in the 1990s, would the integration between supply chain companies make their practices more competitive. Today, Sustainable Supply Chain Management, also known as Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM), is increasingly arousing the interest of researchers and practitioners in operations and supply chain management ( Srivastava, 2007 ).

According to Magacho (2017) the food industry in Brazil is a sector in constant growth and investment, as well as its turnover in research, food biogenesis, fungi, and enzymes in food technology, among other aspects, consolidate. Carletto (2006) exemplifies companies that act in an integrated manner throughout the supply chain, in the segment of grains such as soybeans, wheat, providing raw materials for the food industry, in addition to the production of food for the final consumer.

Given the relevance of the context, and the representativeness that the information offers, the research question that is intended to be answered is: What criteria are appropriate to assess the maturity of sustainable management in a supply chain?

For this, it is necessary to use a sustainable approach integrating environmental, social, and economic factors, to help achieve sustainability in companies' supply chains. According to the Paris agreement (2015), Global trade pressure has increased significantly in recent years to achieve a series of sustainable development goals by the year 2030. In this way, performance measurement systems that monitor the performance of sustainable supply chain management practices are attracting more attention in both developed and developing countries ( Hofmann et al., 2018 ; Gardner et al., 2019 ; Raut et al., 2019 ; Shaharudin et al., 2019 ).

Another justification for choosing this theme is based on the fact that the use of performance measurement methods in the supply chain has been studied by some authors. However, these studies are scattered in the literature, which makes it difficult to have a panoramic view of the theme. Aiming to provide a systematic view on this subject, this article presents a study about the publications on the theme of performance indicators in sustainability in the supply chain.

Sustainability started to be debated after the publication of the Brundtland Commission Report which presented sustainable development as one that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy their own needs” ( Standing and Jackson, 2007 ). The sustainable policy in organizations translates into actions aimed at the economic use of resources, respecting the environment, and providing ergonomics and safety in activities in order to minimally impact the region in which their facilities are located ( Golinska and Kuebler, 2014 ).

For Pojasek (2012) and Okongwu et al. (2013) , Brundtland's (1987) definition of sustainability is too abstract, conceptualizing sustainability as the ability of an organization to transparently manage its responsibilities for environmental management, social, and economic well-being in order to ensure long-term prosperity. At the same time, the organization must also meet the needs of the interested parties.

In addition to the context described above, on March 11, 2020, global supply chains awoke to a dangerous reality, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a new coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Originating in Wuhan, China, the cases spread rapidly to Japan, South Korea, Europe, and the United States, as they reached global proportions ( Ibn-Mohammed et al., 2020 ).

The Covid-19 pandemic provides additional evidence that the three dimensions of sustainability are inextricably linked. It should be noted that significant economic changes occurred with supply chain shutdowns in all industries. In addition, new social sustainability standards emerged as people started to live differently—for example, social distancing has resulted in people working from home and fewer physical meetings ( Sarkis, 2020 ).

Thus, it is relevant to highlight the concept of Supply Chain Management (SCM), which refers to the management of all activities involved in purchasing and supplying, including logistics management.

In addition to the elements presented in Grant (2017) 's definition, for Lambert and Enz (2017) , SCM provides interfaces that occur between the functions of marketing, logistics, and production within a company, and also those that occur between companies that are separated within the product flow channel.

Given this context, the concept of SCM has gained even more relevance in a worldwide organizational scenario. At the same time, there has been a growing concern about the increasing degradation of the planet and the legacy left to future generations. Therefore, there is a growing concern about the damage to the environment caused by production systems. There is also a widespread concern about the social responsibility of industrial companies. This culminated in the strengthening of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept, addressing the necessary balance between results in companies' financial, social, and environmental dimensions ( Lopes and Pires, 2020 ).

The updated image of a modern supply chain has become inseparably associated with its care for ecological aspects and sustainable development. Thus, the search for sustainable supply chain management results from the needs of the modern world. Furthermore, efficiency and responsibility toward natural resources contribute not only to improve image, but also to reduce waste, innovate, generate profits, and build a competitive advantage. However, the whole process related to sustainable management is closely related to measuring the performance of the supply chain. Performance measurement allows full monitoring of actions related to sustainability ( Zimon et al., 2020 ).

The connection between sustainability and supply chain allows for the emergence of the concept of a sustainable supply chain, which has been extended to the understanding of TBL thinking and closed-cycle supply chains ( Andersen, 2019 ). The TBL concept was coined in the 1990s by business consultant John Elkington to describe the economic, environmental, and social value of the investment that can be accumulated outside a company's financial result ( Hammer and Pivo, 2017 ). The definition by Touboulic and Walker (2015) adds the transparent integration of an organization's social and environmental dimension and economic objectives to the concept of sustainable supply chains.

Performance measurement systems are important for companies, supply chains (sustainable or not), and society in general, because they are the central mechanisms in the implementation of supply chain management. The structuring of a performance measurement system adequate and incorporated in the supply chain provides the following aspects: implementation, control, decision-making, communication, and improvement of the supply chain strategy. However, not all performance measurement and measurement systems designs are equally effective in achieving these beneficial results. Therefore, it is important to understand how supply chain performance measures and measurements are designed and used and how they evolve over time when incorporated as a practice in the supply chain ( Laihonen and Pekkola, 2016 ; Hald and Mouritsen, 2018 ).

The Balanced ScorCard (BSC) is a system that integrates several perspectives (customer, process, finance, people) of performance measurement that provides a structured understanding of the business processes that occur in a supply chain ( Hald and Mouritsen, 2018 ).

The work of Neri et al. (2021) presents a direct relationship with the objectives established in this article. Considering the insertion of the environmental and social perspectives, the indicators would be distributed as described below:

Financial Perspective

✓ Return on investment; Return on sales; Return on assets; Total supply chain cost; Inventory cost; and cash-to-cash cycle time.

Internal Process Perspective

✓ Capacity utilization; recycling; certifications; supply chain responsiveness; supply chain cycle time; and supply chain process time.

Learning and Growth Perspective

✓ Labor productivity; new product development time; investments; integration with supply chain partners; and use of new technology.

Customer Perspective

✓ Market share; customer satisfaction; product quality; product/service variety; order fulfillment; and delivery reliability.

Environmental Perspective

✓ Energy use; water use; material use; environmental impacts; and waste.

Social Perspective

✓ Stakeholders relationships; philanthropic investments; Occupational Health and Safety (OHS); labor turnover; and employee satisfaction.

Given the context, the overall objective of the research is to build a theoretical proposal for an integrated sustainability performance measurement system in the supply chain.

To enable the attainment of the general objective, the specific objectives are as follows: (i) selection of the bibliographic portfolio and (ii) the analysis of the contents of articles.

The themes addressed in this work are presented in the initial phase of their studies and development. Due to this initial phase, the article is limited to the understanding of the scientific scenario of publications, requiring its validation in the future in the practice of industries.

The paper is structured as described below:

• Introduction : description of the context and presentation of the research problem.

• Methodology : presentation of the research steps for the construction and analysis of the article base.

• Theoretical framework : description of the performance measurement systems with interface in issues related to sustainability.

• Theoretical proposal : presentation of a theoretical proposal to integrate sustainability into performance measurement systems.

Methodology

The bibliometric analysis process for performance measurement systems was built based on the steps shown in Figure 1 . Each of these steps are described below:

Figure 1 . Stages of the systematic review.

Formulation of the Research Objective

To identify, based on the research parameters, the main supply chain performance measurement systems present in the literature.

Literature Search

The survey of measurement systems in supply chains was carried out on the scientific base SCOPUS, using the following keywords: “performance measurement system” and “supply chain.” The keywords cited above have been combined with: “sustainability,” “environment * ,” and “social.” The survey was conducted for the interval between 2000 and 2020.

Research Evaluation

First, a set of results (Step 1) was obtained using the keywords in each database. In Step 2, studies that did not refer to measurement systems to measure the performance of a given aspect of the supply chain were analyzed and excluded.

The Table 1 describes the results obtained with the research.

Table 1 . Results after steps 1 and 2 of the bibliographic database.

Research Interpretation and Analysis

The bibliometric analysis of the supply chain performance measurement systems is focused on the survey of the main performance measurement systems that present a direct relationship with the BSC concepts and sustainability-related issues.

The Table 2 presents a summary of main features of the supply chain measurement systems found in the literature.

Table 2 . Summary of supply chain performance measurement systems surveyed in the literature.

Supply Chain Performance Measurement Systems: Relevant Concepts and Aspects

For Neely (1999) , the concept of performance measurement refers to a process that scales the action and, while the measurement corresponds to the quantification process, it is the action that leads to performance. This author also states that performance measurement is the process of measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of the action.

According to Neely (1999) , the main reasons for studies about performance measurement systems becoming so relevant since the 1990s are:

• Change in the nature of work;

• Fierce competition between companies;

• Specific improvement initiatives;

• National and international awards for quality and performance;

• Changes in the role of the organization;

• Changes in the external environment; and

• Intensification in the use of IT.

According to Bititci et al. (2015) , the performance measurement system is an information system that operates at the center and integrates all relevant information to cooperate with the management of organizational performance.

For Bourne et al. (2003) , the performance measurement system is a multidimensional set of performance measures to be applied in business planning and management.

Franco-Santos et al. (2012) found three points of similarity in the concepts of performance measurement system:

• Performance measures and supporting infrastructure.

• Functions of performance measurement systems: measuring performance, managing strategy, engaging in communication, influencing behavior, and providing improvement as well as learning.

• Processes of performance measurement systems: selection and development of measures; data collection and manipulation; information management; evaluation and reward of performance; and system review.

According to Hald and Mouritsen (2018) , the measurement system acts as a central factor in GCS collaborating for its performance improvement. The performance measurement system must present a balanced structure, aligned with the focus company's strategy. In addition, the supply chain performance measurement system is influenced by four elements: conflict and objection (political/social/commercial tensions, actors' perceptions, and decisions); technical challenges (relationships between measures and links with other relevant systems); attitudes and commitment (lack of interest and egocentric attitude); and alignment (alignment with strategy, with organizational characteristics, and with product characteristics).

The next topics should describe the main supply chain treatment systems found in the literature.

Gunasekaran et al. (2001) 's Proposal

The proposal by Gunasekaran et al. (2001) aims to measure performance at a strategic, tactical, and operational level in a supply chain. In addition, a list of key metrics to measure supply chain performance is presented. Emphasis is placed on performance measures that address suppliers, delivery performance, customer service, and inventory and logistics costs at GCS.

According to Gunasekaran et al. (2001) the need to analyze measures and metrics in the supply chain context is linked to two main reasons:

Absence of a balanced approach: lack of balance between metrics focused on the financial aspect and operational metrics. Another relevant point is the number of metrics available.

Lack of a clear distinction between strategic, tactical, and operational metrics: no classification of metrics according to the decision level (strategic, tactical, and operational).

In order to address the gap described above, Gunasekaran et al. (2001) separate performance metrics in levels (strategic, tactical, and operational) and in the categories financial and non-financial. The Table 3 shows this grouping.

Table 3 . A framework on metrics for assessing the performance of a supply chain.

Proposta Park et al. (2005)

Park et al. (2005) propose a BSC for GCS. For this, a comparative case study which explores the effect of product characteristics on measuring importance and design was used.

The fusion of the concepts related to BSC and the management of the chain and supplies produced the Balanced Supply Chain Scorecard (BSCS). The Figure 2 presents the items that were considered in each perspective (financial, customer, internal and external business process, learning, and growth).

Figure 2 . Objectives in BSCS. Source: Park et al. (2005) .

Hervani et al. (2005) 's Proposal

The proposal of Hervani et al. (2005) aims to present and provide an overview of the various issues related to measuring the performance of environmental (green) management in the supply chain.

According to Hervani et al. (2005) , there are internal and external issues that exert pressure on the implementation of a performance measurement system aimed at green or sustainable supply chains.

According to Hervani et al. (2005) , internal issues are linked:

Pressures for internal controls for green or sustainable GCS performance measurement systems are largely cost- and profit-oriented. Waste streams, disposal costs, and overall waste and excesses from lack of recycling. Internal controls are numerous, and include all forms of legal systems, data management systems, links to other performance systems including those based on total quality management, and other industry-specific standards.

According to Hervani et al. (2005) the external issues are:

They can be grouped in different ways, but they are essentially those of external and competing stakeholders. The pressures can be regulatory or market-related (including influences from countless stakeholders, such as communities, employees, customers, suppliers, and competitors, to name a few).

The following is a list of selected environmental performance metrics from the toxic release inventory and the GRI (a multi-stakeholder process by an independent institution whose mission is to develop and disseminate globally applicable sustainability reporting guidelines) ranging from atmospheric emissions to energy recovery and recycling ( Hervani et al., 2005 ):

• Non-punctual air emissions;

• Point of atmospheric emissions;

• Discharges to receiving streams and bodies of water;

• Underground injection at the site;

• Discharges to land on site;

• Discharges to public property treatment works;

• Other off-site transfers;

• Energy recovery on-site and off-site;

• On-site and off-site recycling;

• On-site or off-site treatment;

• Non-productive discharges;

• Reduction activities at source;

• Prevention of spills and leaks;

• Inventory control;

• Modification of raw material;

• Process modifications;

• Cleaning and descending;

• Surface preparation and finishing;

• Product modifications;

• Pollution prevention opportunity audits; and

• Material balance audits (selected metrics of environmental performance used by the toxic release inventory and GRI).

Additional general measures are detailed in the list below ( Hervani et al., 2005 ):

• Employees and participatory management;

• Mission/s and declaration/s of values available to the public;

• Management systems related to social and environmental performance;

• Magnitude and nature of penalties for non-compliance;

• Number, volume, and nature of accidental or non-routine releases on land, air and water;

• Costs associated with environmental compliance;

• Environmental liabilities in accordance with applicable laws and regulations;

• Site remediation costs according to applicable laws and regulations;

• Main prizes received;

• Total energy use;

• Total electricity use;

• Other energy uses;

• Total use of non-combustible materials;

• Total water use;

• Habitat improvements and damage due to business operations;

• Quantity of non-product production returned to the process or to the market by recycling or reuse;

• Major environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with the life cycle of products and services;

• Formal written commitments, requiring an assessment of life cycle impacts;

• Programs or procedures to prevent or minimize potentially adverse impacts of products and services; and

• Procedures to assist product and service designers in creating products or services with reduced adverse life cycle impact.

According to Hervani et al. (2005) , the project of the performance management system ISO 14031: 2013 involves collecting information and measuring the effectiveness with which an organization manages its environmental aspects in a continuous basis. ISO 14031: 2013 was designed for use in assessing environmental performance with indicators in three key areas:

(1) indicators of environmental conditions;

(2) operational performance indicators; and

(3) management performance indicators.

Regarding the tools that could measure performance in a supply chain, Hervani et al. (2005) mention the BSC in which organizational performance is viewed from four perspectives (the development of metrics, data collection, and analysis of the organization will take place from the perspectives described below):

(1) Learning and growth perspective;

(2) Perspective of the business process;

(3) Customer's perspective; and

(4) Financial perspective.

The Figure 3 presents the four perspectives with the BSC approach focused on sustainable aspects.

Figure 3 . Environmental performance measures by BSC categories. Source: Hervani et al. (2005) .

Bhagwat and Sharma's Proposal

The proposal of Bhagwat and Sharma (2007) p develops a BSC for GCS and illustrates the ways in which the BSC was developed and applied in small and medium-sized companies.

The BSC is applied in relation to some metrics to assess GCS performance comprehensively. Four BSC perspectives are applied to these metrics, or the different metrics are adjusted in four different BSC perspectives. Each of the four perspectives must be represented in corresponding metrics and measures that reflect strategic milestones and objectives. Perspectives should be reviewed periodically and updated as necessary. The measures included in the BSC in question must be tracked over time, and explicitly integrated into the strategic process of the GCS ( Bhagwat and Sharma, 2007 ). The Tables 4 – 7 present the metrics for each of BSC perspectives (financial perspective; and customer perspective; learning/innovation perspective; and internal business perspective).

Table 4 . Performance metrics for the financial perspective.

Table 5 . Performance metrics for the customer.

Table 6 . Performance metrics for the innovation/learning perspective.

Table 7 . Performance metrics for the innovation/learning perspective.

Financial performance measures signal whether the company's strategy, implementation, and execution are contributing effectively to improving results. Financial objectives include achieving profitability, maintaining liquidity and solvency in both short and long term, growth in sales volume, and maximizing shareholder wealth ( Bhagwat and Sharma, 2007 ).

The customer perspective at BSC requires management to translate their overall vision of the company into specific measures that reflect the factors that really matter to customers ( Bhagwat and Sharma, 2007 ).

The innovation/learning perspective refers to the ability to identify the points and factors that must be developed and maximized to facilitate and make the achievement of the strategical objectives more efficient. Innovation and continuous learning process can bring efficiency in the operational domain of the business. In addition, they ensure cost savings and product differentiation to meet customers' varied requirements. As a result, it strengthens financial capacity through increased profitability and a greater degree of profit appropriation and retaining a larger share of profits to finance the next expansion of the company's future projects under consideration ( Bhagwat and Sharma, 2007 ).

The internal business perspective stems from the business process that has the greatest impact on customer satisfaction factors that affect cycle time, quality, employee skills and, of course, productivity. Companies must decide in which processes and competencies they should stand out and specify measures for each one of them ( Bhagwat and Sharma, 2007 ).

Thakkar et al. (2009) 's Proposal

The proposal by Thakkar et al. (2009) develops a system and performance measurement based on BSC and Scor for small and medium-sized companies.

The metrics used to measure performance need to consider the following aspects: they must be able to capture the essence of organizational performance; the measurement system should ensure an appropriate assignment of metrics to the areas where they would be most appropriate; minimum deviations must exist between organizational objectives and measurement targets; the metrics must reflect an appropriate balance between the measured financial and non-financial targets and the measures must reflect a clear link with the strategic, tactical, and operational levels ( Thakkar et al., 2009 ).

The construction of supply chain performance measurement systems should consider the following dimensions ( Thakkar et al., 2009 ):

• Total supply chain cost: the cost of service as a percentage of revenue.

• Service level : includes fill rate (availability rate of number of items ordered by customers and number of items delivered to customers), operational performance (in terms of average order cycle time, consistency of order cycle time, and/or punctual deliveries), and service reliability (deals with the precision of work in incoming order, warehouse picking, document preparation, etc.).

• Asset management : use of capital investments in facilities and equipment, as well as working capital invested in inventory.

• Customer accommodation : capturing the measurement of perfect orders (zero defect logistics), absolute performance (how a company's logistics performance really impacts customers), and customer satisfaction.

• Cash-to-cash cycle time: time required to convert a dollar spent on inventory into a dollar charged from the sales revenue.

• Benchmarking : makes management aware of state-of-the-art business practices.

Based on the concepts presented above and, on the aspects, present in the BSC and Scor models, the proposal by Thakkar et al. (2009) , the Figure 4 presents the elements that form the Scor-BSC structure for small and medium-sized companies.

Figure 4 . Scor-BSC structure for small and medium-sized companies. Source: Thakkar et al. (2009) .

The selected and remarkable characteristics of the proposed Scor-BSC structure for small and medium-sized companies are summarized as follows:

• Inclusion of tangible as well as intangible measures —tangible measures: cost, time, capacity, productivity, and utilization; intangible measures: effectiveness, reliability, availability, and flexibility. These measures need to be transformed into other performance indicators.

• Flexibility and product mix —delivery flexibility can be measured by assessing on-time delivery rate and error rate.

• Each metric describes a critical dimension of activity and process performance. It is impossible for these metrics to cover all dimensions of any activity performance.

• Instead of proposing a fragmented view, an attempt was made to interconnect several issues for the complexity of the business of small and medium-sized companies in managing the flow of goods and information from the point of origin to the final consumers.

• The proposed structure clearly defines the inputs and outputs for each process. The framework includes metrics for various categories of BSC and users are advised to further classify them on a strategic, tactical, and operational level.

The steps for building a proposal for an integrated performance measurement system aligned with TBL, BSC, and SCOR concepts will be described in the topics below.

Identification of Metrics Present in Performance Measurement Systems

The Table 8 presents the metrics present in the performance measurement systems present in the literature.

Table 8 . Metrics present in performance measurement systems.

Insertion of the Variables in the Dimensions Proposed in the Concept of Sustainability for the TBL

The insertion of variables in the dimensions proposed in TBL was carried out based on the study developed by de Almeida Santos et al. (2020) . In that proposal, a maturity model in sustainability was developed and a fourth dimension was added to the concept of TBL, called transversal (refers to the variables of the maturity models in sustainability that present a holistic relationship with the other three dimensions simultaneously and interface with some aspect of corporate strategy).

The Table 9 represents the insertion of the metrics in the dimensions proposed in TBL and added to the transversal dimension.

Table 9 . Insertion of metrics in the dimensions of TBL and in the transversal dimension.

Presentation of the Integrated Performance Measurement System in Line With TBL and BSC Concepts

In a rapidly changing environment, organizational survival depends not only on operating as profitably, effectively, and efficiently as possible, but also on its commitment to environmental regulations and social demands ( Garza-Reyes et al., 2016 ). For this reason, operational improvement programs have equally important goals of improving sustainability performance and enhancing competitive advantage.

The integrated performance measurement system presented in Figure 5 is a contribution to fulfill the need for tools that help managers and decision makers, considering the social, political, and economical interactions with natural systems. The objective of this work was stated in chapter 1 and consists of a theoretical proposition of a system to evaluate the maturity in sustainability present in the supply chain.

Figure 5 . Proposal for an integrated performance measurement system. Source: Adapted de Almeida Santos et al. (2020) .

This work will generate the continuity of research, developing tools that help managers and decision makers. Considering that decisions occur in complex environments, where there are social, political and economic interactions with natural systems. From this, practical mathematical models along with technological and analytical solutions can be important tools for decision support in the real world, and the importance of having the right models, tools and methodologies in decision making is increasingly evident.

The integrated performance measurement system has the configuration described in Figure 5 .

The choice for a measurement system of maturity and performance in sustainable management in the supply chain, visually presented in Figure 5 , can contribute to the organizational performance and evolution of its practices, reaching more satisfactory results.

Several companies have used tools to improve their performance in the social and environmental areas, as well as adhering to corporate programs and social balance sheets. According to Jin and High (2004) , among the objectives sought by companies with the adoption of a strategy aimed at sustainability are: obtaining information for internal and external benchmarking of their activities, compliance with laws and regulations, improvement of the company's image, and finally, constant monitoring to improve operational efficiency over time. The benchmarking actions are part of continuous improvement programs, where performance measures of the organization are compared with reference values.

Veleva and Ellenbecker (2001) place sustainability indicators as important support tools for sustainability management. Indicators can facilitate the creation of a more eco-efficient and socially responsible production system. The following is a list of objectives that must be met by companies and their performance measurement system in order to make sustainable production possible:

– Produce periodic information on facility performance;

– Promote organizational learning on sustainability;

– Continuously measure performance to track advances in sustainability;

– Update and improve company performance through external benchmarking;

– Establish communication channels with stakeholders;

– Encourage stakeholder participation in decision makin.

Due to the constant mutability in the economic, political, and organizational scenarios, measuring sustainability maturity is a challenge.

Because organizations interact with several areas in a dynamic environment, being vulnerable to crises at any time.

Measuring a company's sustainable management has an impact on its competitiveness for obtaining new contracts and for business continuity, because it helps the organization plan, execute, and monitor improvement initiatives and process management.

Moreover, assessing the level of sustainable management performance enables the identification of each organization's strengths and weaknesses, and can generate measures to fill existing gaps and improve corporate governance and sustainable management.

It is known that companies need to implement sustainable management in a consistent and systematized way, but there is no decision support tool for performance evaluation focused on Sustainable Management that measures or evaluates the level of performance of this process within organizations according to the requirements of a Management System and, therefore, applicable to companies of different sizes and market segments.

Critical Evaluation of the Theoretical Proposal

After the construction of the theoretical proposition, some aspects were evaluated for the proposition of future studies. According to Anthony (2019) , information technology (professionals in the field) exert positive influence on environmental performance.

Another aspect is the positive influence of the artificial neural network (ANN) approach in establishing the relationship between supply chain integration; quality leadership; supply focus; consumer focus; and information sharing and the dependent variable (sustainability performance) ( Lim et al., 2021 ).

The value chain should be another point for evaluation regarding sustainability performance. According to Anthony (2019) , primary activities positively influence the adoption of sustainable value chain concepts. Another important aspect is that sustainable value chain adoption is mainly influenced by operational performance. Similarly, green education and environmental awareness of professionals is one of the crucial initial steps to improve sustainable value chain adoption.

Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Studies

The relationship between companies that are part of a supply chain is important to influence the sustainability of products and services. For example, the buyer may choose to incorporate criteria that consider sustainability performance in the selection of suppliers.

In this context, the research question arises: how to build the necessary knowledge about supply chain performance indicators in sustainability, systematizing in an evaluation process integrated with the organizational results?

The general objective is to build an integrated system of sustainability performance analysis for the supply chain. In order to achieve the general objective, the specific objectives are the following: (i) selection of the bibliographic portfolio and (ii) analysis of articles content. All of these items were carried out in Chapter 4: “Theoretical proposal for an integrated performance measurement system for sustainability in the supply chain.”

The contribution to the scientific literature lies on the fact that the performance measurement of the production chain has been studied by some authors. However, these studies are distributed in a dispersed way in the literature, which makes a panoramic view on the subject difficult. In order to provide a systematic view on this subject, this article presented a report on publications within the scope of applying indicators to monitor sustainability performance in the supply chain.

The main applications of this work are to support and guide organizational practices toward an integrated performance measurement system for sustainability in the supply chain.

The contribution to organizational practices is explained in Chapter 4, in which the system for measuring sustainability performance in the supply chain is presented.

The literature review allowed the development of a system to address issues of sustainability performance in the supply chain.

Future studies can be suggested, such as the application of the systematic proposed in this article in case studies in several economic sectors. Similarly, the application of the system to influence supplier selection and development.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

Author Contributions

DS: conceptualization, project administration, and visualization. DS, OQ, CG, and JF: formal analysis, investigation, validation, and writing—original draft, review, and editing. DS and OQ: methodology and resources. OQ, CG, and JF: supervision. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Andersen, P. H. (2019). “Sustainable Operations Management (SOM) strategy and management: an introduction to part I,” in Operations Management and Sustainability (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan), 15–25. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-93212-5_2

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Anthony, B. Jr. (2019). Green information system integration for environmental performance in organizations: an extension of belief–action–outcome framework and natural resource-based view theory. Benchmark. Int. J . 26, 1033–1062. doi: 10.1108/BIJ-05-2018-0142

Bhagwat, R., and Sharma, M. K. (2007). Performance measurement of supply chain management: a balanced scorecard approach. Comput. Indust. Eng. 53, 43–62. doi: 10.1016/j.cie.2007.04.001

Bititci, U. S., Garengo, P., Ates, A., and Nudurupati, S. S. (2015). Value of maturity models in performance measurement. Int. J. Product. Res. 53, 3062–3085. doi: 10.1080/00207543.2014.970709

Bourne, M., Neely, A., Mills, J., and Platts, K. (2003). Implementing performance measurement systems: a literature review. Int. J. Bus. Perform. Manage. 5, 1–24. doi: 10.1504/IJBPM.2003.002097

Carletto, B. (2006). Competências Essenciais Requeridas para o Gerenciamento das Linhas de Produção da Indústria Alimentícia: A Visão dos Seus Gestores . Master's thesis, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná.

Google Scholar

de Almeida Santos, D., Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas, O., Francisco Simões Gomes, C., Perez Zotes, L., Luiz Braga França, S., Vinagre Pinto de Souza, G., et al. (2020). Proposal for a maturity model in sustainability in the supply chain. Sustainability 12, 9655. doi: 10.3390/su12229655

Franco-Santos, M., Lucianetti, L., and Bourne, M. (2012). Contemporary performance measurement systems: a review of their consequences and a framework for research. Manage. Account. Res. 23, 79–119. doi: 10.1016/j.mar.2012.04.001

Gardner, T. A., Benzie, M., Börner, J., Dawkins, E., Fick, S., Garrett, R., et al. (2019). Transparency and sustainability in global commodity supply chains. World Dev. 121, 163–177. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.05.025

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Garza-Reyes, J. A., Villarreal, B., Kumar, V., and Molina Ruiz, P. (2016). Lean and green in the transport and logistics sector–a case study of simultaneous deployment. Product. Plann. Control 27, 1221–1232. doi: 10.1080/09537287.2016.1197436

Golinska, P., and Kuebler, F. (2014). The method for assessment of the sustainability maturity in remanufacturing companies. Proc. Cirp. 15, 201–206. doi: 10.1016/j.procir.2014.06.018

Grant, D. (2017). Gestão de Logística e Cadeia de Suprimentos . São Paulo: Saraiva Educação SA.

Gunasekaran, A., Patel, C., and Tirtiroglu, E. (2001). Performance measures and metrics in a supply chain environment. Int. J. Operat. Product. Manage . 21, 71–87. doi: 10.1108/01443570110358468

Hald, K. S., and Mouritsen, J. (2018). The evolution of performance measurement systems in a supply chain: a longitudinal case study on the role of interorganisational factors. Int. J. Product. Econ. 205, 256–271. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2018.09.021

Hammer, J., and Pivo, G. (2017). The triple bottom line and sustainable economic development theory and practice. Econ. Dev. Quar. 31, 25–36. doi: 10.1177/0891242416674808

Hervani, A. A., Helms, M. M., and Sarkis, J. (2005). Performance measurement for green supply chain management. Benchmark. Int. J . 12, 330–353. doi: 10.1108/14635770510609015

Hofmann, H., Schleper, M. C., and Blome, C. (2018). Conflict minerals and supply chain due diligence: an exploratory study of multi-tier supply chains. J. Bus. Ethics 147, 115–141. doi: 10.1007/s10551-015-2963-z

Ibn-Mohammed, T., Mustapha, K. B., Godsell, J. M., Adamu, Z., Babatunde, K. A., Akintade, D. D., et al. (2020). A critical review of the impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and ecosystems and opportunities for circular economy strategies. Resourc. Conserv. Recycl. 164, 105169. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105169

Jin, X., and High, K. A. (2004). Application of hierarchical life cycle impact assessment in the identification of environmental sustainability metrics. Environ. Prog. 23, 291–301. doi: 10.1002/ep.10048

Laihonen, H., and Pekkola, S. (2016). Impacts of using a performance measurement system in supply chain management: a case study. Int. J. Product. Res. 54, 5607–5617. doi: 10.1080/00207543.2016.1181810

Lambert, D. M., and Enz, M. G. (2017). Issues in supply chain management: progress and potential. Indust. Market. Manage. 62, 1–16. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.12.002

Lim, A. F., Lee, V. H., Foo, P. Y., Ooi, K. B., and Tan, G. W. H. (2021). Unfolding the impact of supply chain quality management practices on sustainability performance: an artificial neural network approach. Supply Chain Manage. Int. J . doi: 10.1108/SCM-03-2021-0129

Lopes, L. J., and Pires, S. R. I. (2020). Green supply chain management in the automotive industry: a study in Brazil. Bus. Strat. Environ. 29, 2755–2769. doi: 10.1002/bse.2541

Magacho, C. S. (2017). Proposal for an Environmental Sustainability Assessment Model in the Supply Chain: A Case Study. Dissertation, Master's Degree in Production Engineering and Systems, Federal Technological University of Paraná. Pato Branco.

Neely, A. (1999). The performance measurement revolution: why now and what next? Int. J. Operat. Product. Manage . 19, 205–228. doi: 10.1108/01443579910247437

Neri, A., Cagno, E., Lepri, M., and Trianni, A. (2021). A triple bottom line balanced set of key performance indicators to measure the sustainability performance of industrial supply chains. Sustain. Product. Consump. 26, 648–691. doi: 10.1016/j.spc.2020.12.018

Okongwu, U., Morimoto, R., and Lauras, M. (2013). The maturity of supply chain sustainability disclosure from a continuous improvement perspective. Int. J. Product. Perform. Manage . 2, 827–855. doi: 10.1108/IJPPM-02-2013-0032

Park, J. H., Lee, J. K., and Yoo, J. S. (2005). A framework for designing the balanced supply chain scorecard. Eur. J. Inform. Syst. 14, 335–346. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000544

Pojasek, R. B. (2012). Understanding sustainability: an organizational perspective. Environ. Qual. Manage. 21, 93–100. doi: 10.1002/tqem.20330

Raut, R. D., Mangla, S. K., Narwane, V. S., Gardas, B. B., Priyadarshinee, P., and Narkhede, B. E. (2019). Linking big data analytics and operational sustainability practices for sustainable business management. J. Clean. Prod. 224, 10–24. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.181

Sarkis, J. (2020). Supply chain sustainability: learning from the COVID-19 pandemic. Int. J. Operat. Product. Manage . 41, 63–73. doi: 10.1108/IJOPM-08-2020-0568

Shaharudin, M. S., Fernando, Y., Jabbour, C. J. C., Sroufe, R., and Jasmi, M. F. A. (2019). Past, present, and future low carbon supply chain management: a content review using social network analysis. J. Clean. Prod. 218, 629–643. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.016

Srivastava, S. K. (2007). Green supply-chain management: a state-of-the-art literature review. Int. J. Manag. Rev. 9, 53–80. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2007.00202.x

Standing, C., and Jackson, P. (2007). An approach to sustainability for information systems. J. Syst. Inform. Technol . 9, 167–176. doi: 10.1108/13287260710839247

CrossRef Full Text

Thakkar, J., Kanda, A., and Deshmukh, S. G. (2009). Supply chain performance measurement framework for small and medium scale enterprises. Benchmark. Int. J . 16, 702–723. doi: 10.1108/14635770910987878

Touboulic, A., and Walker, H. (2015). Theories in sustainable supply chain management: a structured literature review. Int. J. Phys. Distrib. Logist. Manage . 45, 16–42. doi: 10.1108/IJPDLM-05-2013-0106

Veleva, V., and Ellenbecker, M. (2001). Indicators of sustainable production: framework and methodology. J. Clean. Prod. 9, 519–549. doi: 10.1016/S0959-6526(01)00010-5

Zimon, D., Tyan, J., and Sroufe, R. (2020). Drivers of sustainable supply chain management: practices to alignment with unsustainable development goals. Int. J. Qual. Res. 14, 219–236. doi: 10.24874/IJQR14.01-14

Keywords: sustainability, supply chain, performance measurement system, logistic, production chain

Citation: Santos DdA, Quelhas OLG, Gomes CFS and Filho JRdF (2021) Theoretical Proposal for an Integrated Sustainability Performance Measurement System in the Supply Chain. Front. Sustain. 2:720763. doi: 10.3389/frsus.2021.720763

Received: 04 June 2021; Accepted: 30 August 2021; Published: 27 October 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Santos, Quelhas, Gomes and Filho. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Davidson de Almeida Santos, dasantos@id.uff.br

• Automated reasoning
• Cloud and systems
• Computer vision
• Conversational AI
• Information and knowledge management
• Machine learning
• Operations research and optimization
• Quantum technologies
• Search and information retrieval
• Security, privacy, and abuse prevention
• Sustainability
• Publications
• Conferences
• Code and datasets
• Alexa Prize
• Academics at Amazon

Amazon Research Awards

• Research collaborations

Sustainability ARA Call for Proposals — Fall 2023

About this CFP

Amazon Sustainability works to make Amazon the most environmentally and socially responsible place to buy or sell goods and services. We conduct research to map, model, and measure the end-to-end environmental and social impact of the company and vet sustainability topics that will have the greatest future impact to Amazon to inform business planning and resilience. We develop and test strategies that support revenue growth while reducing negative environmental and social impact. We work with the external science community to drive our mission goals. We accelerate sustainability practices at Amazon by guiding critical decision makers with crisp recommendations backed by scientific rigor. We remove ambiguity around sustainability and provide them scientifically credible concepts, reports, data, and tools that they can use to make informed decisions.

We welcome proposals in the following research tracks:

Machine learning applications for Life Cycle Assessment

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an instrumental method for corporations disclosing their environmental footprint. The primary challenges associated with corporate footprinting are scalability, automation, transparency, and lack of appropriate data to measure impacts of a wide range of products and services. Currently, much of the LCA work remains manual, and requires subject matter expertise. We solicit proposals that primarily focus on machine learning application in life cycle assessment ranging from to automating assessment and validation, completing life cycle inventories using approximation, use of large language models in LCA setting, and building tools to conduct scenario analysis and assess emissions abatement potential at scale.

Supply chain analytics

Much of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with a product or service are embodied in their supply chain, referred to as Scope 3 as per the GHG protocol. We solicit proposals that study the global supply chain, publish datasets that shows the dependency across sectors and regions, creates mechanisms for verified reporting of data without leaking proprietary secrets, develops methods to identify the key bottlenecks in abatement of carbon emissions. We solicit methods that assess the downstream impact of large investments in GHG mitigation actions such as use of alternative materials and clean energy electrification. We favor proposals that are domain agnostic and amenable to large scale analytics.

Data-driven sustainable product design and manufacturing

There is a lack of methods, tools, and systems to enable product manufacturers to incorporate sustainability performance metrics into decisions made across the product’s life cycle, from product development to manufacturing to post-use recovery and treatment. We are welcoming research proposals focused on innovative approaches to create, test, and implement decision support capabilities for multiple sustainability criteria (e.g., carbon, waste, and water) to increase the velocity and lower the cost of sustainable product development. Proposals that demonstrate broad applicability across different product sectors, supply chain complexity, and manufacturing types (discrete and continuous) are highly encouraged.

Climate risk assessment

Climate change is expected to increase extreme weather events and bring about large-scale socioeconomic changes. While risks are acknowledged at a global level, there is a lack of methods, datasets, and open-source code to assess risk at a local level. We solicit proposals that will assess risks from extreme weather events such as wildfire, drought, flood, sea-level rise, storms, storm surge, tornadoes, hurricanes, and heat waves. We welcome research proposals in assessing the impact of such events to infrastructure, human health, global supply chain, environment, and resources. Proposals addressing compound and cascading risks are encouraged.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity and natural capital is becoming increasingly discussed on the global stage. Despite this push, there is a lack of agreed upon methodology and datasets to complete holistic, site-specific biodiversity assessments at scale in a meaningful way to understand the intersecting dimensions of risk to companies as well as risk to the broader environment and community. We solicit proposals that will assess and establish methodological measurement of risks on biodiversity and ecosystems across different drivers of change such as climate change, pollution, land use change, invasive alien species and zoonoses, exploitation, and the contribution to systemic risks such as ecosystem collapse; as well as the positive drivers of nature protection and restoration. Proposals linked to climate risks and scenario analysis, or consideration of, are encouraged.

Advanced biofuels

The development of advanced biofuels derived from non-food and waste feedstocks, while promising in terms of sustainability and carbon reduction, faces several challenges that need to be addressed for broad commercial implementation. Some of the main challenges include complex biomass composition, energy/chemical intensive conversion processes (lead to high production costs and negative environmental impact), optimization of separation/upgrading techniques for high yields. We invite research proposals focusing on novel production methods for advanced biofuels addressing these technical challenges to provide a viable pathway to commercialization.

Submission period: September 21, 2023 - November 13, 2023 (11:59PM Pacific Time)

Decision letters will be sent out March 2024

Award details

Selected Principal Investigators (PIs) may receive the following:

• Unrestricted funds, no more than $50,000 to $100,000 USD on average
• AWS Promotional Credits , up to $40,000 USD
• Training resources, including AWS tutorials and hands-on sessions with Amazon scientists and engineers

Awards are structured as one-year unrestricted gifts. The budget should include a list of expected costs specified in USD, and should not include administrative overhead costs. The final award amount will be determined by the awards panel.

Eligibility requirements

Please refer to the ARA Program rules on the Rules and Eligibility page.

Proposal requirements

Proposals should be prepared according to the proposal template . In addition, to submit a proposal for this CFP, please also include the following information:

• Please list the open-source tools you plan to contribute to.
• Please list the AWS ML tools you will use.

Selection criteria

Sustainability will make the funding decisions based on the potential impact to the research community, and quality of the scientific content.

Expectations from recipients

To the extent deemed reasonable, Award recipients should acknowledge the support from ARA. Award recipients will inform ARA of publications, presentations, code and data releases, blogs/social media posts, and other speaking engagements referencing the results of the supported research or the Award. Award recipients are expected to provide updates and feedback to ARA via surveys or reports on the status of their research. Award recipients will have an opportunity to work with ARA on an informational statement about the awarded project that may be used to generate visibility for their institutions and ARA.

Work with us

News & events

33 projects awarded grants to cut environmental footprint of labs.

The Royal Society of Chemistry has announced the first projects funded by our new Sustainable Laboratories Grants , which are designed to help improve the environmental footprint of chemistry research.     The grants, a new scheme developed and shaped with input from members of the RSC’s Science Subject Community Councils, will support initiatives that make research more sustainable.     The projects selected represent a broad range of sustainability topics across the whole of chemistry – from greener analytical techniques to reducing plastic waste – and are expected to inspire and inform others in the chemistry community with ideas and guidance on how to improve the environmental footprint of their labs. The project teams also represent a broad range of roles and career stages within chemistry, with five led by technicians, and four including a PhD student within the project team. 

The list of awardees represents a huge range of creative and inventive solutions for attaining a better environmental footprint in the lab. Several projects look at the use of solvents, such as how to recycle them, use them more sustainably, or use less toxic alternatives. Other projects include the management of water in the lab, the recycling of palladium waste, and the usage of plastic consumables such as pipette tips. Several projects also focus on education and training in lab sustainability. One project, based in Ethiopia, aims to promote sustainability in science laboratories within local universities and high schools, and another is developing a digital education tool for sustainable laboratory research practice.

Each of the projects went through a rigorous review and decision-making process involving members of our Researcher Grants Peer Review Group, and an expert Decision Panel involving members of our Subject Community Councils. The panel selected 33 projects for funding, across 11 countries, with a total of £305K awarded. A second round of funding will open on 2 September 2024. 

Meet the awardees (PDF download)  

In 2022 we published our Sustainable Laboratories report , in which we uncovered what chemists are already doing to reduce the environmental footprint of their research, while at the same time continuing to deliver the ground-breaking discoveries and innovation that make the world a better place. We also shared the barriers and trade-offs they face in making sustainability-related changes, and the many opportunities for collaboration and other positive action.     The Sustainable Laboratories Grants form part of our commitment to accelerate our communities’ work towards more sustainable labs. It also forms part of our commitment to a positive science culture, set out in our 2023 Vision for science culture .    This funding will have impacts beyond these projects alone. As a key element of the scheme, all awardees are asked to ensure that their work has applications that can support the community as a whole towards more sustainable labs. This follows on from a key finding of the Sustainable Laboratories Report – the necessity of communities for sharing knowledge and best practice.   

Apply for your own grant

Subscribe to our Free Newsletter

Developing a Sustainability Plan in a Project Proposal

By Eva Wieners

Sustainability has become a buzzword in the field of philanthropy. More and more donors and organizations put a lot of emphasis on this topic. When talking about sustainability in general, most people only think of environmental sustainability. This concept deals with environmental issues like climate change, depletion of soils, air pollution, etc. In most calls for proposals, the donor asks for a sustainability plan though that entails much more and is focused on the sustainability of the project itself. Many NGOs see this more as an afterthought than a prime concern, but the sustainability plan is actually very important.

Learn everything you need to know about it in this article and use it to your advantage in your next project proposal .

What is the sustainability plan?

The sustainability plan is basically a document, that describes how your project will be sustained in the long term. This document focuses on community sustainability, financial sustainability, and organizational sustainability. The sustainability plan has become more and more important because donors would like to fund projects that have the potential to survive and thrive in the long term. The sustainability plan describes the different aspects in which the project has to be sustained in the long run to still function.

The sustainability plan spells out how your project will survive in the long term. It makes sure that resources spent on the project are not lost. It gives you and the donor reassurance that the grant is well spent and will have a long-lasting impact, even once the support runs out.

Why do I need a sustainability plan?

Most donors require at least a paragraph in your proposal to be about the sustainability of your project. Some want you to write a full sustainability plan. But why do they want you to focus a lot of time on spelling out the sustainability of your project? Actually, when a donor decides to fund you, they invest in your project. Like with every investment, the donors want the money they spend to go a long way – and to have a lasting impact. They do not want your project to end after their support but want to spark sustainable change which has a long-term effect.

When you develop a thorough sustainability plan that makes sense and has all the important information, you show the donor that you think about the success of your project in the long term. It can convince the donor, that you are the absolute expert in the field you are working on and that you know what you are doing. It also shows the donor, that you truly have the best for the beneficiaries in mind, as you think about how the project will be sustained after the short-term financial support runs out.

But even if it is not required, it makes a lot of sense to think about the sustainability of the project and your organization and write a plan for this. This way, it becomes much clearer for everybody, what the long-term perspective for the project is and where you want to go with your project. Writing down a plan for the sustainability of your project will help you to become clearer on what you have to do and what the timeline for actions would be.

Many NGOs don’t put enough attention to writing the sustainability plan, as it is often the last part of a proposal. This leaves this section with a lot of potentials for you to stand out. When your sustainability plan is great, it can be the section that distinguishes your proposal from your competition and convinces the donor to actually fund your project.

What are the parts of a sustainability plan?

The sustainability plan normally has three parts. Like mentioned earlier, the sustainability plan does not necessarily refer to the environmental sustainability of the project – even though it is very important that you address this issue somewhere in your proposal. In the sustainability plan, you should focus only on the sustainability of your project itself. The three parts that you should address are the community sustainability, financial sustainability, and organizational sustainability of your project.

What is community sustainability?

Community sustainability addresses the issue of how well the project is rooted in the community. It also describes how the community will continue with the project, once there is no more financial support from the donor. This part has been recognized as very important in the last decades, as it became more and more clear that without the support of the community, many projects have no chance of survival. If the community does not feel ownership of the project, even with a well-thought-out financing strategy, the project will probably fail.

A good way to ensure community sustainability is to include beneficiaries from the get-go in planning and implementation. Participatory methods can be very helpful for this. Consult with all stakeholders whenever possible to make sure that the community feels ownership for the project and that their preferences are implemented with your project.

What is financial sustainability?

Financial sustainability describes the ability of your project to survive financially. Here, you have to state what kind of funding sources you have for the future to make sure, the project can sustain its financial needs. Basically, you have two options to do this: rely on external sources or internal sources.

External sources of financing mean that the money comes from outside of the organization and is not raised by project activities. This could be more grants, government funding, donations, etc. When this is your plan, make sure to be as precise as possible, because if you only tell the donor that you will apply for more grants after the project finishes, you do not actually give them a lot of information.

Internal sources of financing mean that you have a plan to raise the money within the organization or through revenue-creating activities. This could be business ventures, membership fees, and other income-generating activities. It is important that you nevertheless have a good strategy in place from the first stages, as i.e. a social enterprise component needs to be smartly embedded in your project and cannot be added by the end.

Of course, your section about financial sustainability will look very different depending on the kind of project you want to implement. If you apply for a one-off project that will likely have almost no follow-up cost, you need to put much less thought into it than if you have a project that will have reoccurring costs that need to be covered in the long run.

What is organizational sustainability?

Organizational sustainability describes the ability of your organization as a whole to survive. The donors want to establish a long-lasting partnership, so they want to know if your organization will still be there in 10 years. This can also be achieved through external sources like grants and long-term funding or through internal sources like income-generating activities or membership fees. This section of the sustainability plan should not be neglected, as it is important to show the donor that you are a great partner that they can reckon with in the future.

The Sustainability Plan – How to Score with Donors (Webinar)

How to develop a sustainability plan.

Like we said above, normally the sustainability plan is one of the last sections in the proposal. Many fundraisers make the mistake of only thinking of it in these last stages of the proposal writing process. But if you have paid close attention earlier when we described the different kinds of sustainability, you will already have noticed that the sustainability plan does not only influence this section but the entire proposal. If you want to have strong community sustainability, you will need to design your approach in a way that fosters participation. If you want to ensure financial sustainability through the establishment of a social enterprise, your activities need to reflect that. Therefore, the sustainability plan is something that should be on your mind throughout the entire proposal writing process and something that you should have determined right in the beginning.

Make sure that your entire team is on board when you discuss your vision of a sustainability plan. It will influence many areas of your organization and your project, and everybody needs to know what the long-term strategy is to be able to implement it in a strategic way. Try to approach every aspect of your project planning with the question of how this is going to run in the long term and write these ideas down to develop your sustainability plan.

What makes for a successful sustainability plan?

So now you know what a sustainability plan is, why you need one, and how you can develop one.

But what makes for a successful sustainability plan? What should you look out for to write a good one?

There is actually quite some research out there, and according to studies, these are the most important factors that can influence project sustainability:

• Having a coherent mission/theory of change for the organization
• A good monitoring and evaluation system
• The adaptability of the approach
• Staff training in administrative tasks
• Having multiple sources of funding
• The organizational stability
• Integration into existing systems and political support
• Community support

Knowing this, you should try to keep these factors in mind and address them as detailed as possible in your sustainability plan. As many NGOs still neglect this section of the proposal, you have a great chance to shine here and make your proposal the special one that will ultimately win the grant!

Also Read: Common Mistakes When Developing the Sustainability Plan

About the author.

Eva is based in Germany and has worked for nearly a decade with NGOs on the grassroots level in Nepal in the field of capacity development and promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. Before that, she worked in South America and Europe with different organizations. She holds a Ph.D. in geography and her field of research was sustainability and inclusion in development projects.

Thank you for the article I want to learn more about this

Dear Mhuru:We are planning to publish a full webinar next month. Please subscribe for updates!

Thanks for this

With gratitude, I thank you very much for the Article. Indeed, it is so helpful for me to learn

I am joining the group to learn more.

Hi Eva; Thank you very much for the article, I really enjoyed it and hope to join your sessions in order to improve the capacity for projects design and management, as well as fundraising.

Nice one very educations

Thanks for sharing

Simply Excellen.

Very interesting and important, may like to join the discussion

Very insightful Content and quite timely. Thank you so much for adding value and helping me understand what Sustainability really is.

This is very informative! Thank you for clarity!

Thank you so much. Your article is rich and beneficial to me as an upcoming consultant. Would like to be attached to your work.

Hello David: For more information- please email us at [email protected] Thank you!

Ma’am , can I have a sample sustainability template which you made so that I can have a clear idea on what it is..

this is wonderful, its something that me and my team has not been paying keen attention to.

Dear Kmoses: I am glad that the article is helpful to you.

The concept of sustainability is helpful when you have a chance of a collaborative team in the organization…multi gifted and deployed according to strengths at various posts…all should have a fair say in what needs to be done… How it will be done. By who will it be done. When done…how will the project remain as interesting as as attractive… What should change… What should stay the same and what should stop. . Exciting learnings you shared… Thank you.

Dear Nzwaki: I am glad that the article is helpful to you.

Very good document

Dear Wafa: I am glad that the article is helpful to you.

Hi Eva ..this is very helpful and I am sure readers and NGO leaders will appreciate this article

I found this information useful while development my project proosal

Hello Jonathan: I’m glad you found this article helpful! We would love it if you shared this review on our office Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/proposalsforngos . Seeing positive reviews from existing readers makes others more comfortable knowing they’ll get the support they need on the topics related to fundraising and proposal writing. Thank you!

may you email me any sample.

Thank you [email protected]

Hello M. Aamir: All our samples and templates are uploaded here .

very interesting presentation.

Dear Joseph; I am glad that the article is helpful to you.

Very useful

Hello Benson: I am glad you found this article helpful!

Thank you Eva for putting this together.Quite helpful

Dear Mourine: I am glad you found this article helpful!

Well explained, thanks

Dear Noah: Glad you found the article helpful.

Thanks a lot for this very nice presentation. Very simple way for conveying the idea very deeply.

Dear Mohammad: Glad you found the article helpful.

Hi, good morning, we have need for funds

Dear Sayed: Unfortunately, We are not a funding organization and do not provide grants. We are a social enterprise that provides a platform to connect you with expert advice on proposal writing to get your amazing projects funded.

Please check out the many resources available on our site to help you on creating a fundraising strategy.

Thank you very much for the article, I really enjoyed it and hope to join your sessions in order to improve the capacity for projects design and management, as well as fundraising.

Dear Bakari: Glad you found the article helpful.

Great insight into project sustainability!!!

Respected and dear Eva, Good morning and thank you so much for this very very useful guidance to me on developing sustainability plan for our projects and also for our Organisation.Please keep me updated with your future programmes. Thank you and regards. Sincerely, NabinChandra Sadhu Founder-CEO,Dynamical Operation for Social Transformation(DOST) Nabarangpur-764059,Odisha,India

Lecturer in physiotherapy, eductor, clinician and researcher

Good morning Eva. Many thanks for this very important article on sustainability plan.This will a lifelong lesson learning for me.Regards.

• Hi, what is actually required when you elaborate on Integration into existing systems and political support

Hello, when was this published?

The article was updated on February of 2023.

It is very supportive article thank you so much for sharing this important information With kind regards Sr Tachawet Salilih

hello, everyone. I am habtamu debasu from Ethiopia, I am a project designer in Ethiopia plus a university lecturer. so if any NGOs went me don’t hesitate to get in touch with me via email: [email protected] or phone at +251938272133

Dear Alonzo, Can’t appreciate you less for the wonderful works you do for humanity. I have learned tremendously from you and l pray that God should bless you with more wisdom and strength to sail through the Humanitarian world. I am Azie, a Cameroonian Refugee taking refuge in Nigeria. I created a CBO known as Save The Woman And Protect The Girl Child(Satwo Foundation). For 4 years now we have been very active in filling the gaps and vacuums left by UNHCR and her partners. We provide free early childhood education to refugees (2 to 5years), Agricultural assistance to Refugee …  Read more »

Dear Azie: Wishing you the best of luck with your projetcs! Explore our website for a variety of proposal samples and templates, designed to help you kickstart your own proposals. Stay tuned, as we’ll be adding more resources regularly.

Don’t miss out on our bimonthly webinars – subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed and join the engaging sessions!

Ohio State nav bar

The Ohio State University

• BuckeyeLink
• Find People
• Search Ohio State
• Becoming a Principal Investigator
• Find Funding
• Research Administration Tools
• Student Involvement
• Knowledge Enterprise Resources
• Research Commons
• Report Emergency or Animal Concerns
• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
• Animal Care and Use Policies and Guidelines
• Animal Study Team Requirements
• Per Diem Rates and Fees
• Lab Animal Handling and Technique Training
• Laboratory Animal Medicine Training
• Animal Facilities and Access
• Animal Transfer
• Animal Ordering or Imports
• Surgery and Technical Services
• Quality Assurance Assessment Program
• Accreditation
• Recombinant DNA, Biohazard and Animal Incident Reporting
• Institutional Biosafety Committee
• IBC Registration Process
• Biosafety Study Team Requirements
• Biosafety Protocols and Amendments
• Biosafety Policies and Guidelines
• Report Human Subjects Concerns
• Institutional Review Board
• IRB Member Rosters and Meeting Dates
• IRB Submission Types
• Human Research Study Team Requirements
• Human Subject Research Policies and Guidance
• IRB Time to Approval
• Informed Consent, Assent and Parental Permission
• HIPAA and Human Subjects Research
• Exempt Research
• Event Reporting
• Collaborative and Multi-Site Research
• Research vs. Quality Assurance/Improvement
• Quality Improvement Program
• Information for Research Participants
• Community-Engaged Research
• Clinical Trials Registration
• Information for IRB Members
• Responsible Conduct of Research
• Disclosure Process
• Tips for Disclosing
• What Not to Disclose
• Common Disclosure Scenarios
• Policies and Documents
• Foreign Talent Programs
• Conflict Approval Committee
• Controlled Substances
• Dual Use Research
• University Activities
• Export Control Regulations
• International Research Engagements
• Export Control Training
• Export Control Terms and Definitions
• Human Gene Transfer
• LabArchives - Electronic Lab Notebook
• Research Diving
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Research Security Governance Board
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Proposal Development and Submission Guidelines
• Types of Sponsors
• Grants, Gifts and Contracts
• Working with Business and Industry Sponsors
• Working with Federal Agencies
• Other Support/Current and Pending Support
• Clinical Trials
• Uniform Guidance
• Institutional Information
• Direct Cost Categories
• Employment Benefits (Fringe) Rates
• Subcontracts for Budget Preparation
• Participant Support Costs
• Facilities and Administrative Costs
• Central Cost Share Request
• Submission Checklist
• Sponsored Program Officers
• Bayh-Dole Certification
• Award Acceptance and Initiation
• Award Management Roles and Responsibilities
• Award Terms and Conditions
• Cost Sharing Requirements
• Cost Transfers
• Personnel Appointments
• Payments to Research Subjects
• Absence or Transfer of Principal Investigator
• Patents and Copyrights
• Travel on Sponsored Projects
• Ordering in Workday
• Procurement Policies and Procedures
• Purchasing Basics
• Bid Opportunities
• Consultant Agreement Procedures
• Subcontracting on Sponsored Awards
• Procurement and Receipt of Radioactive Material
• Equipment and Property
• Software License Agreements
• Special Purchasing Needs
• Physical Facilities
• International Purchasing
• Award Closeout
• Corporate Partnerships at Ohio State
• Invention Disclosure and Assessment
• Licensing Your Technology
• Forming a Startup Company
• Peter Mohler
• Cynthia Carnes
• Animal Care and Use Program
• Office of Research Compliance
• Office of Responsible Research Practices
• Office of Secure Research
• Office of Sponsored Programs
• Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center
• Campus Chemical Instrument Center
• Campus Microscopy and Imaging Facility
• Center for Emergent Materials
• Center of Microbiome Science
• Center for RNA Biology
• Chronic Brain Injury Program
• Foods for Health
• Gene Therapy Institute
• Global Water Institute
• Infectious Diseases Institute
• Institute for Materials Research
• Institute for Optical Science
• Translational Data Analytics Institute
• Facts and Figures
• 150 Years of Excellence
• Awards and Honors
• Associate Deans for Research
• Submit an Event
• Research and Innovation Showcase 2022
• Research and Innovation Showcase 2021
• Research and Innovation Showcase 2020
• Research and Innovation Showcase 2019

Sustainability Research Seed Grant Program Seeks Proposals

Electronic Submission - Read the RFP for details

The Sustainability Institute at Ohio State is pleased to announce a request for proposals for the FY2023 Sustainability Research Seed Grant Program to build capacity in sustainability and resilience research at the university. The program supports new interdisciplinary research teams that lay a foundation for convergence research. 

This funding mechanism will support teams of scholars from two or more distinct disciplines and relating to one or more of the  Sustainability Institute research program areas . Proposals must take an interdisciplinary approach and consider components and interactions of both human (social, behavioral, economic, or engineered) and natural (earth, environmental, or ecological) systems. Preference will be given to proposals that include early-career faculty, are diverse (e.g., participants with varied backgrounds or viewpoints, and/or from communities that are historically underrepresented in the research area) and have potential for external funding. The Sustainability Institute anticipates the average award size will be $25,000.

• Postgraduate taught degree courses
• Postgraduate taught tuition fees
• Pre-masters for international students
• Funding your postgraduate taught studies
• How to apply for a postgraduate taught degree
• Create your own research project
• Find a PhD project
• Funding your research degree
• How to apply for a PhD or research degree
• How to make a PhD enquiry
• Support while studying your PhD or research degree
• Undergraduate degree courses
• Foundation year programmes
• Undergraduate tuition fees
• Customise your degree
• Funding undergraduate studies
• How to apply
• Choose your halls of residence
• Apply for accommodation
• Guaranteed accommodation
• Your accommodation options
• Accommodation for those with additional requirements
• International and pre-sessional students
• Postgraduate accommodation
• Couples and students with children
• Renting privately
• Our accommodation areas
• Privacy notice
• Terms and conditions
• Fees and contracts
• Southampton
• Sports facilities
• Sports clubs
• Watersports centres
• Avenue Campus
• Boldrewood Innovation Campus
• City Centre Campus
• Highfield Campus
• University Hospital Southampton
• Waterfront Campus
• Winchester Campus
• What's on
• Clubs and societies
• Sports teams
• SUSU places
• Representing you
• SUSU support and advice
• Living costs
• Academic and mental health support
• Support for disabled students
• Part-time work
• Health services

Create your own research proposal

A research proposal is a short document that summarises the research you want to undertake. If you cannot find a suitable advertised project, this is a route to create your own.

When creating a research proposal, you’ll need to consider the question or issue you want to address with your project. Think about the background of the subject and how your research will be an original contribution to the field. You’ll also need to think about the methods you'll use to conduct this research. Your proposal helps us assess your suitability for a research degree and decide if we can offer you the right supervision.

Preparation

You may want to make contact with 1 or more potential supervisors to discuss project ideas. They may also be able to help with funding your degree .

You can search our academics to find a supervisor whose research interests align to yours. When you find a match, contact them to discuss your proposals. Allow time for responses and to consider their feedback.

Learn how to make a supervisor enquiry

Writing your research proposal

You should keep it clear, objective and realistic. Include:

• an outline of your research interests
• your initial thoughts about your topic
• clear objectives of what you aim to achieve or the question you want to address
• references to previous work
• why the research is relevant and original
• your proposed method and general approach
• why you believe the research should be funded
• how your skills will help to conduct the research
• any training you may need to undertake the project

How to structure your proposal

Your research proposal should include:

• a working title for your project
• up to 1,500 words (excluding a bibliography)

It’s best to write with short paragraphs and sentences. You can use images and diagrams if it’s appropriate.

Example structure:

• introduction statement (200 words)
• your background reading and the area you want to contribute to (400 words)
• your research question or issue to investigate (200 words)
• data sources, research methods and critical approaches to use (500 words)
• conclusion on how your project will contribute to the field (200 words)
• bibliography

Submit your proposal

Your potential supervisor will inform you of when to start the application process and how to include the details of your agreed project.  

More about how to apply

• View all courses
• Pre-sessional English courses
• Course modules
• Acoustical engineering
• Biomedical and medical engineering
• Civil engineering
• Every day I’m completely immersed in an environment that’s creative in all aspects
• Everything I learn feels so relevant, even If it’s a subject rooted in the past
• Maritime engineering
• Photonics and optoelectronics
• Social statistics and demography
• A missing link between continental shelves and the deep sea: Have we underestimated the importance of land-detached canyons?
• A seismic study of the continent-ocean transition southwest of the UK
• A study of rolling contact fatigue in electric vehicles (EVs)
• Acoustic monitoring of forest exploitation to establish community perspectives of sustainable hunting
• Acoustic sensing and characterisation of soil organic matter
• Advancing intersectional geographies of diaspora-led development in times of multiple crises
• Aero engine fan wake turbulence – Simulation and wind tunnel experiments
• Against Climate Change (DACC): improving the estimates of forest fire smoke emissions
• All-in-one Mars in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) system and life-supporting using non-thermal plasma
• An electromagnetic study of the continent-ocean transition southwest of the UK
• An investigation of the relationship between health, home and law in the context of poor and precarious housing, and complex and advanced illness
• Antibiotic resistance genes in chalk streams
• Being autistic in care: Understanding differences in care experiences including breakdowns in placements for autistic and non-autistic children
• Biogeochemical cycling in the critical coastal zone: Developing novel methods to make reliable measurements of geochemical fluxes in permeable sediments
• Bloom and bust: seasonal cycles of phytoplankton and carbon flux
• British Black Lives Matter: The emergence of a modern civil rights movement
• Building physics for low carbon comfort using artificial intelligence
• Building-resolved large-eddy simulations of wind and dispersion over a city scale urban area
• Business studies and management: accounting
• Business studies and management: banking and finance
• Business studies and management: decision analytics and risk
• Business studies and management: digital and data driven marketing
• Business studies and management: human resources (HR) management and organisational behaviour
• Business studies and management: strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship
• Carbon storage in reactive rock systems: determining the coupling of geo-chemo-mechanical processes in reactive transport
• Cascading hazards from the largest volcanic eruption in over a century: What happened when Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted in January 2022?
• Characterisation of cast austenitic stainless steels using ultrasonic backscatter and artificial intelligence
• Climate Change effects on the developmental physiology of the small-spotted catshark
• Climate at the time of the Human settlement of the Eastern Pacific
• Collaborative privacy in data marketplaces
• Compatibility of climate and biodiversity targets under future land use change
• Cost of living in modern and fossil animals
• Creative clusters in rural, coastal and post-industrial towns
• Deep oceanic convection: the outsized role of small-scale processes
• Defect categories and their realisation in supersymmetric gauge theory
• Defining the Marine Fisheries-Energy-Environment Nexus: Learning from shocks to enhance natural resource resilience
• Design and fabrication of next generation optical fibres
• Developing a practical application of unmanned aerial vehicle technologies for conservation research and monitoring of endangered wildlife
• Development and evolution of animal biomineral skeletons
• Development of all-in-one in-situ resource utilisation system for crewed Mars exploration missions
• Ecological role of offshore artificial structures
• Effect of embankment and subgrade weathering on railway track performance
• Efficient ‘whole-life’ anchoring systems for offshore floating renewables
• Electrochemical sensing of the sea surface microlayer
• Engagement with nature among children from minority ethnic backgrounds
• Enhancing UAV manoeuvres and control using distributed sensor arrays
• Ensuring the Safety and Security of Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems
• Environmental and genetic determinants of Brassica crop damage by the agricultural pest Diamondback moth
• Estimating marine mammal abundance and distribution from passive acoustic and biotelemetry data
• Evolution of symbiosis in a warmer world
• Examining evolutionary loss of calcification in coccolithophores
• Explainable AI (XAI) for health
• Explaining process, pattern and dynamics of marine predator hotspots in the Southern Ocean
• Exploring dynamics of natural capital in coastal barrier systems
• Exploring the mechanisms of microplastics incorporation and their influence on the functioning of coral holobionts
• Exploring the potential electrical activity of gut for healthcare and wellbeing
• Exploring the trans-local nature of cultural scene
• Facilitating forest restoration sustainability of tropical swidden agriculture
• Faulting, fluids and geohazards within subduction zone forearcs
• Faulting, magmatism and fluid flow during volcanic rifting in East Africa
• Fingerprinting environmental releases from nuclear facilities
• Flexible hybrid thermoelectric materials for wearable energy harvesting
• Floating hydrokinetic power converter
• Glacial sedimentology associated subglacial hydrology
• Green and sustainable Internet of Things
• How do antimicrobial peptides alter T cell cytokine production?
• How do calcifying marine organisms grow? Determining the role of non-classical precipitation processes in biogenic marine calcite formation
• How do neutrophils alter T cell metabolism?
• How well can we predict future changes in biodiversity using machine learning?
• Hydrant dynamics for acoustic leak detection in water pipes
• If ‘Black Lives Matter’, do ‘Asian Lives Matter’ too? Impact trajectories of organisation activism on wellbeing of ethnic minority communities
• Illuminating luciferin bioluminescence in dinoflagellates
• Imaging quantum materials with an XFEL
• Impact of neuromodulating drugs on gut microbiome homeostasis
• Impact of pharmaceuticals in the marine environment in a changing world
• Impacts of environmental change on coastal habitat restoration
• Improving subsea navigation using environment observations for long term autonomy
• Information theoretic methods for sensor management
• Installation effect on the noise of small high speed fans
• Integrated earth observation mapping change land sea
• Interconnections of past greenhouse climates
• Investigating IgG cell depletion mechanisms
• Is ocean mixing upside down? How mixing processes drive upwelling in a deep-ocean basin
• Landing gear aerodynamics and aeroacoustics
• Lightweight gas storage: real-world strategies for the hydrogen economy
• Long-term change in the benthos – creating robust data from varying camera systems
• Machine learning for multi-robot perception
• Marine ecosystem responses to past climate change and its oceanographic impacts
• Mechanical effects in the surf zone - in situ electrochemical sensing
• Microfluidic cell isolation systems for sepsis
• Migrant entrepreneurship, gender and generation: context and family dynamics in small town Britain
• Miniaturisation in fishes: evolutionary and ecological perspectives
• Modelling high-power fibre laser and amplifier stability
• Modelling soil dewatering and recharge for cost-effective and climate resilient infrastructure
• Modelling the evolution of adaptive responses to climate change across spatial landscapes
• Nanomaterials sensors for biomedicine and/or the environment
• New high-resolution observations of ocean surface current and winds from innovative airborne and satellite measurements
• New perspectives on ocean photosynthesis
• Novel methods of detecting carbon cycling pathways in lakes and their impact on ecosystem change
• Novel technologies for cyber-physical security
• Novel transparent conducting films with unusual optoelectronic properties
• Novel wavelength fibre lasers for industrial applications
• Ocean circulation and the Southern Ocean carbon sink
• Ocean influence on recent climate extremes
• Ocean methane sensing using novel surface plasmon resonance technology
• Ocean physics and ecology: can robots disentangle the mix?
• Ocean-based Carbon Dioxide Removal: Assessing the utility of coastal enhanced weathering
• Offshore renewable energy (ORE) foundations on rock seabeds: advancing design through analogue testing and modelling
• Optical fibre sensing for acoustic leak detection in buried pipelines
• Optimal energy transfer in nonlinear systems
• Optimizing machine learning for embedded systems
• Oxidation of fossil organic matter as a source of atmospheric CO2
• Partnership dissolution and re-formation in later life among individuals from minority ethnic communities in the UK
• Personalized multimodal human-robot interactions
• Preventing disease by enhancing the cleaning power of domestic water taps using sound
• Quantifying riparian vegetation dynamics and flow interactions for Nature Based Solutions using novel environmental sensing techniques
• Quantifying the response and sensitivity of tropical forest carbon sinks to various drivers
• Quantifying variability in phytoplankton electron requirements for carbon fixation
• Resilient and sustainable steel-framed building structures
• Resolving Antarctic meltwater events in Southern Ocean marine sediments and exploring their significance using climate models
• Robust acoustic leak detection in water pipes using contact sound guides
• Silicon synapses for artificial intelligence hardware
• Smart photon delivery via reconfigurable optical fibres
• The Gulf Stream control of the North Atlantic carbon sink
• The Mayflower Studentship: a prestigious fully funded PhD studentship in bioscience
• The calming effect of group living in social fishes
• The duration of ridge flank hydrothermal exchange and its role in global biogeochemical cycles
• The evolution of symmetry in echinoderms
• The impact of early life stress on neuronal enhancer function
• The oceanic fingerprints on changing monsoons over South and Southeast Asia
• The role of iron in nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis in changing polar oceans
• The role of singlet oxygen signaling in plant responses to heat and drought stress
• Time variability on turbulent mixing of heat around melting ice in the West Antarctic
• Triggers and Feedbacks of Climate Tipping Points
• Uncovering the drivers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progression using patient derived organoids
• Understanding recent land-use change in Snowdonia to plan a sustainable future for uplands: integrating palaeoecology and conservation practice
• Understanding the role of cell motility in resource acquisition by marine phytoplankton
• Understanding the structure and engagement of personal networks that support older people with complex care needs in marginalised communities and their ability to adapt to increasingly ‘digitalised’ health and social care
• Unpicking the Anthropocene in the Hawaiian Archipelago
• Unraveling oceanic multi-element cycles using single cell ionomics
• Unravelling southwest Indian Ocean biological productivity and physics: a machine learning approach
• Using acoustics to monitor how small cracks develop into bursts in pipelines
• Using machine learning to improve predictions of ocean carbon storage by marine life
• Vulnerability of low-lying coastal transportation networks to natural hazards
• Wideband fibre optical parametric amplifiers for Space Division Multiplexing technology
• Will it stick? Exploring the role of turbulence and biological glues on ocean carbon storage
• X-ray imaging and property characterisation of porous materials
• Exchanges and studying abroad
• Postgraduate Taught Diversity Scholarship (Environmental and Life Sciences)
• Southampton Business School Postgraduate UK Scholarship
• Southampton Genomics Talent Scholarship
• Southampton History Patricia Mather and Helen Patterson Scholarship
• Southampton MA Holocaust scholarships
• Southampton Philosophy David Humphris-Norman Scholarship
• Southampton Physics and Astronomy Achievement Scholarship
• GREAT Scholarships 2024 – Greece
• Undergraduate scholarships for UK students
• Winchester School of Art Postgraduate Global Talent Scholarship
• Southampton University Corporate Civil Engineering Scholarship Scheme
• Merit scholarships for international postgraduates
• Merit scholarships for international undergraduates
• Scholarships, awards and funding opportunities
• Becas Chile Scholarship
• Chevening Scholarships
• China Scholarship Council Scholarships
• COLFUTURO Scholarships
• Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships
• Commonwealth Master's Scholarships
• Commonwealth PhD Scholarships
• Commonwealth PhD Scholarships for high income countries
• Commonwealth Shared Scholarships
• Commonwealth Split-Site Scholarships
• FIDERH Scholarships
• Fulbright Awards
• FUNED Scholarships
• Great Scholarships 2024 – India
• Great Scholarships 2024 – Bangladesh
• Great Scholarships 2024 – Mexico
• Great Scholarships 2024 – Nigeria
• Marshall Scholarship
• Saïd Foundation Scholarships
• British Council Scholarships for Women in STEM
• Xiamen University PhD Scholarships
• GREAT scholarships for justice and law 2024 – Indonesia
• Scholarship terms and conditions
• Southampton Canadian Prestige Scholarship for Law
• Southampton Presidential International Scholarship
• Continuing professional development
• Lunchtime evening and weekend courses
• Summer schools
• Get a prospectus
• Archers Road
• City Gateway
• Erasmus Park
• Highfield Hall
• Orion Point
• Wessex Lane
• Research projects
• Research areas
• Cancer Sciences Protein Facility
• Geotechnical Centrifuge
• Maritime Robotics and Instrumentation Laboratory (MRIL)
• Collaborate with us
• Active Living
• Advanced Fibre Applications
• Advanced Laser Laboratory
• Advanced Project Management Research Centre
• Antibody and Vaccine Group
• Astronomy Group
• Autism Community Research Network @ Southampton (ACoRNS)
• Bioarchaeology and Osteoarchaeology at Southampton (BOS)
• Bladder and Bowel Management
• Cell and Developmental Biology
• Centre for Defence and Security Research
• Centre for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
• Centre for Digital Finance
• Centre for Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (CEEES)
• Centre for Empirical Research in Finance and Banking (CERFIB)
• Centre for Geometry, Topology, and Applications
• Centre for Global Englishes
• Centre for Global Health and Policy (GHaP)
• Centre for Health Technologies
• Centre for Healthcare Analytics
• Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration
• Centre for Imperial and Postcolonial Studies
• Centre for Inclusive and Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CISEI)
• Centre for International Film Research (CIFR)
• Centre for International Law and Globalisation
• Centre for Internet of Things and Pervasive Systems
• Centre for Justice Studies
• Centre for Linguistics, Language Education and Acquisition Research
• Centre for Machine Intelligence
• Centre for Maritime Archaeology
• Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture (CMRC)
• Centre for Modern and Contemporary Writing (CMCW)
• Centre for Music Education and Social Justice
• Centre for Political Ethnography (CPE)
• Centre for Research in Accounting, Accountability and Governance
• Centre for Research on Work and Organisations
• Centre for Resilient Socio-Technical Systems
• Centre for Transnational Studies
• Child and Adolescent Research Group
• Clinical Ethics, Law and Society (CELS)
• Computational Nonlinear Optics
• Cyber Security Academy
• Data Science Group
• Digital Oceans
• EPSRC and MOD Centre for Doctoral Training in Complex Integrated Systems for Defence and Security
• Economic Theory and Experimental Economics
• Economy, Society and Governance
• Electrical Power Engineering
• Environmental Hydraulics
• Gas Photonics in Hollow Core Fibres 
• Geochemistry
• Global Health (Demography)
• Global Health Community of Practice
• Gravity group
• Healthy Oceans
• High Power Fibre Lasers
• Hollow Core Fibre
• Human Genetics and Genomic Medicine
• Infrastructure Group
• Institute of Maritime Law (IML)
• Integrated Photonic Devices
• Integrative Molecular Phenotyping Centre
• Interdisciplinary Musculoskeletal Health
• International Centre for Ecohydraulics Research (ICER)
• Language Assessment and Testing Unit (LATU)
• Laser-Direct-Write (LDW) Technologies for Biomedical Applications
• Law and Technology Centre
• Long Term Conditions
• Magnetic Resonance
• Mathematical Modelling
• Medicines Management
• Molecular and Precision Biosciences
• Multiwavelength Accretion and Astronomical Transients
• National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC)
• National Centre for Research Methods
• National Infrastructure Laboratory
• Nature-Based Ocean Solutions
• Nonlinear Semiconductor Photonics
• Ocean Perception Group
• Operational Research
• Optical Engineering and Quantum Photonics Group
• Paediatrics and Child Health - Clinical and Experimental Sciences
• People, Property, Community
• Photonic Systems, Circuits and Sensors Group
• Physical Optics
• Primary Care Research Centre
• Product Returns Research Group (PRRG)
• Quantum, Light and Matter Group
• Silica Fibre Fabrication
• Silicon Photonics
• Skin Sensing Research Group
• Southampton Centre for Nineteenth-Century Research
• Southampton Ethics Centre
• Southampton Health Technology Assessments Centre (SHTAC)
• Southampton High Energy Physics group
• Southampton Imaging
• Southampton Theory Astrophysics and Gravity (STAG) Research Centre
• Stefan Cross Centre for Women, Equality and Law
• String theory and holography
• The India Centre for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development
• The Parkes Institute
• Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory
• Ultrafast X-ray Group
• Vision Science
• Work Futures Research Centre (WFRC)
• Support for researchers
• Faculties, schools and departments
• Research jobs
• Find people and expertise
• Why work with us?
• Collaboration
• Consultancy
• Commercialisation
• Use our facilities
• Connect with our students
• How we operate
• Make a business enquiry
• International students
• International Office
• Partnerships and initiatives
• Visiting delegations
• Visiting fellowships
• Departments

Research & Innovation Office

• About the Research & Innovation Office
• Vice President for Research & Innovation
• RIO Leadership Team
• E4 by Design
• UMN Research Statistics
• Administrative Support Units
• Academic Centers & Institutes
• Council of Research Associate Deans (CRAD)
• Community Oversight Board
• Research Integrity & Safety Collaborative (RISC)
• Research Facilities & Expertise
• Research Tools & Applications
• The Office of Research Information Systems
• ORIS Staff List
• Research Animal Resources
• About BSL-3
• Frequently Asked Questions
• BSL-3/ABSL-3 Research Laboratory Suites
• Related Resources
• Contact BSL-3
• International Research Support & Guidance
• Disclosing Foreign Support to Federal Science Agencies
• Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs
• Hosting International Visitors, Scholars & Researchers
• Traveling Abroad
• International Institutional Agreements
• Export Controls & Sanctions Compliance
• Helpful Resources & Contacts
• About Artist-in-Residence Awards
• Award Recipients
• About Biotechnology & Biomanufacturing Seed Grants
• BBIC Awardees
• About Grant-in-Aid
• Exemplary Proposals
• Awarded Equipment
• NC A&T & UMN Research Partnership
• About the Program
• Past Awards: 2023
• Past Awards: 2022
• Past Awards: 2021
• Past Awards: 2020
• Past Awards: 2019
• Past Awards: 2018
• Past Awards: 2017
• Past Awards: 2016
• Past Awards: 2015
• Past Awards: 2014
• Past Awards: 2013
• Past Awards: 2011
• About Social Justice Impact Grants
• SJIG Awardees
• About the Innovation Impact Case Award
• 2022 Awardees
• 2023 Awardees
• Research Technical Staff Award
• Matching Funds
• Research Computing Funding
• COVID-19 Rapid Response Grants
• About the International Institute for Biosensing
• About Minnesota Futures
• Minnesota Futures: Past Awards
• Review Committee
• MnDRIVE Funding
• U of M Internal Funding
• Limited Extramural Funding
• Proposals & Awards (SPA)
• F&A Costs, Effort Reporting
• Research Integrity & Compliance (RIC)
• Human Research Protection
• Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Animal Care & Use (IACUC)
• Biotechnology Activities Oversight (OBAO)
• Export Controls
• Conflict of Interest
• Reporting Research Misconduct
• Research Compliance Training Guide
• Research Ethics Week
• Partnerships for Corporations & Industry
• Building Successful Industry Partnerships
• Research Agreements
• Confidentiality Agreements
• Starting a Company (Venture Center)
• Technology Commercialization
• About MnDrive
• Louis Stokes North Star STEM Alliance/MnDRIVE Partnership
• Transdisciplinary Research Program
• Sponsor Research (MN-IP)
• News & Announcements
• All Past News & Announcements
• UMN Research Newsletter
• UMN Washington Update

UMN and Partner Institutions Initiate Sustainable GeoCommunities Program

University of Minnesota, in partnership with University of Buffalo, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), IIT Bombay (IITB), and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, a multicampus Indian university, is launching Sustainable GeoCommunities, a community-based program with the goal of solving problems that our global communities are facing today. Discussions are ongoing with other partners in the U.S. and India to continue expanding the reach of this program. The Sustainable GeoCommunities program will leverage the power of research to help local communities meet UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that try to create healthy, equitable, and prosperous conditions for people across the globe.

The Sustainable GeoCommunities program builds upon the understanding that basic problems affecting the daily lives of residents in a community are local in nature. Local scenarios related to geography, climate, natural resources, healthcare, educational institutions, employment opportunities, transportation, governance, wireless connectivity, and many other variables play a dominant role in determining quality of life.

Local Problems, Global Impacts

To transform a community into a Sustainable GeoCommunity requires thinking that is local but incorporates a global perspective. This involves invoking principles of geodesign that consider geographic information, culture, demographics, natural resources, and climate in informing the potential solution. More importantly, communities actively participate to co-develop solutions, shaping and configuring the evolution of local solutions that are sustainable, resilient, and, potentially, scalable across different regions. Connected across the globe through the common theme of geodesign, these Sustainable GeoCommunities will develop and apply innovative solutions, and then test, measure and validate their effectiveness. In time, successful interventions will inform policy recommendations to help implement promising solutions more broadly. For example, one can think of an ultra-cheap sensor that can provide a simple display of the contamination type and range in a community’s water source . Such a sensor could provide real time guidance to the community whether the water is suitable for drinking or not.

According to Shashank Priya, vice president for research and innovation at the University of Minnesota, a local problem affecting a community could have many shapes and forms. For example: lack of clean water that leads to complex health issues; climate change causing drought-like conditions which require adaptations in local agricultural practices; absence of public transportation and good roads that presents difficulties in accessing healthcare and employment opportunities that are not directly local; lack of wireless connectivity and electricity, which restricts the population’s access to education and networking opportunities; and many such scenarios. 

“We need to involve the community itself in co-development of the solution, where everyone that will be expected to utilize that solution can play a role in shaping and configuring the evolution of concepts and then drive the sustainable deployment,” said Priya. “We believe that such geodesign and community (i.e., GeoCommunity) driven solutions can help to solve the most pressing problems that people are facing today and build a better world for everyone.”

Geospatial Expertise

The University of Minnesota is a leader in geospatial information technologies and analysis with strengths in mapping, satellite imaging, data science, and machine learning, geography, and census and demographic information, with a number of specialized units, including U-Spatial, the Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation, Polar Geospatial Center, and the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, that are leaders in their fields. 

As a land-grant institution, UMN also has a wealth of experience and knowledge in engaging Minnesota communities to create local solutions in education, agriculture, energy, and sustainability. UMN is already engaged in several projects across the state through its Extension programming and has sponsored broader impact activities that leverage its geospatial expertise. This expertise and experience will assist in driving the community-oriented solutions to the problems through on-ground interactions. Geospatial thinking needs to be embedded in these solutions for their sustainability and intended impact.

Support of National and International Partnerships

UMN researchers will be partnering with colleagues at the University at Buffalo (UB) who will draw on that flagship university’s growing capacity for machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), as illustrated by their leadership of the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, which is creating AI systems to assist children with speech and language processing challenges, and the recent announcement of Empire AI, a $400 million statewide consortium committed to AI for social good.

International Sustainable GeoCommunities partners include the Indian Institutes of Technology in Kanpur and Bombay and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, a university with seven campuses across five Indian states. Discussions are ongoing with the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi to further expand the reach and impact of this program. Following up on an earlier visit in February, Priya and Venu Govindaraju, vice president for research and economic development at UB, plan to travel to Delhi in late June to meet with partner institution team members and various government and industrial leaders there to develop an operational framework for Sustainable GeoCommunities as well as initiative priorities and a funding model that can be shared with policymakers and potential decision-makers in New Delhi and Washington.

"We are excited to collaborate with the University of Minnesota and scholars from top research universities in India to apply our unique problem-solving approach to community challenges," said Govindaraju of UB. "It's an innovative approach, utilizing leading AI and machine learning technologies to tackle real-world issues in disadvantaged communities globally. Our mission is to enhance quality of life and foster equitable environments worldwide."

“Community-oriented sustainability solutions require a collaborative approach that transcends the boundaries of institutions and disciplines,” said Ashish Garg, professor-in-charge at the Kotak School of Sustainability at IITK. “IITK is excited to be part of this group of motivated researchers from different universities in the United States and India and looks forward to working together to develop a solutions-driven approach to solving real-world sustainability problems.”

“Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham is deeply honored to be part of this consortium and we are eager to contribute for a larger societal benefit,” said that university’s Provost for Strategic Initiatives, International, Research & Innovation, AI + X Maneesha Vinodini Ramesh. “Our Chancellor AMMA envisioned empowering communities in 2013, and for more than a decade, Amrita has actively engaged with 1200+ communities in India through our Live-in-Labs® Program, offering sustainable solutions through participatory and human-centered design methods. All our work resonates with the activities envisaged by the Sustainable GeoCommunities program.”

Seed Grants for Sustainable GeoCommunities

Priya and other Sustainable GeoCommunities leaders envision the program beginning as a seed funding program for researchers at UMN, UB, and Indian partner institutions to brainstorm ideas and begin working with local communities on the science and innovation solutions needed for local, regional, and global problems. (Interested UMN scholars should watch for a Sustainable GeoCommunities Request for Proposals in early fall at research.umn.edu/sgc or contact Associate Vice President Kim Kirkpatrick, [email protected] , for more information.) Over the next few years, they envision the program developing into a framework for state, national, and global partnerships and philanthropic efforts that provides training opportunities for national and global cohorts from developing countries in innovative science and geodesign techniques.

“While we are talking a lot about SDGs and new technologies, ultimately, the goal is to leverage all these metrics and tools to improve people’s lives, particularly among communities who have new challenges from climate change that are compounding already difficult circumstances,” said Priya. “While all local communities are uniquely different and geographically distributed, there are commonalities that we could see being brought to scale and applied to help people at a much larger scale.”

Sustainable GeoCommunities aligns with a broader initiative by the US and Indian governments to expand bilateral research and higher education partnerships to strengthen the US-India relationship. Last year, the Association of American Universities (AAU), of which UMN and UB are members, created a Task Force on Expanding United States-India University Partnerships co-chaired by UB President Satish Tripathi. The task force recently released recommendations that include creating an Indo-US Global Challenges Institute that will focus on five high-impact areas of mutual interest. Those five areas include sustainable agriculture and food security, and sustainable energy and the environment that Sustainable GeoCommunities will be able to address. 

AAU President Barbara Snyder expressed her excitement for this program and stated “We are thrilled to see AAU members actualizing the recommendations from the final report of the AAU Task Force on Expanding US-India University Partnerships. This important work exemplifies the potential impact of enduring partnerships between research universities in our two nations.”

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

• Essay Database >
• Essays Samples >
• Essay Types >
• Research Proposal Example

Sustainability Research Proposals Samples For Students

60 samples of this type

WowEssays.com paper writer service proudly presents to you a free catalog of Sustainability Research Proposals intended to help struggling students deal with their writing challenges. In a practical sense, each Sustainability Research Proposal sample presented here may be a guidebook that walks you through the essential stages of the writing process and showcases how to pen an academic work that hits the mark. Besides, if you require more visionary assistance, these examples could give you a nudge toward an original Sustainability Research Proposal topic or encourage a novice approach to a threadbare theme.

In case this is not enough to satisfy the thirst for efficient writing help, you can request customized assistance in the form of a model Research Proposal on Sustainability crafted by an expert from scratch and tailored to your particular directives. Be it a simple 2-page paper or a sophisticated, lengthy piece, our writers specialized in Sustainability and related topics will deliver it within the pre-agreed period. Buy cheap essays or research papers now!

How To Solve World Hunger Research Proposal

Good processors name research proposal example.

- Research Question: Within the terms of gentrification, artists significantly contribute to the value of the resided neighborhoods and society. How can artists’ contribution to gentrification and rejuvenating neighborhoods be supported and made more sustainable? - A Working Title

Art and Gentrification: Real Estate Developers and Land Lords Are Not to Be the Only Ones Benefiting From This Symbiosis.

Good research proposal about sustainable / organic farming methods.

Don't waste your time searching for a sample.

Get your research proposal done by professional writers!

Just from $10/page

Sustainability In The Event Tomorrowland- Methodologies Research Proposal Examples

The impact of renewable energy and non-renewable energy to create a sustainable research proposal example, the impact of renewable energy and non-renewable energy to create a sustainable environment in the uae, research proposal on role of marketing in achievement of sustainable customer satisfaction in a b2b, free research proposal on environmental sustainability, affiliated institute, good research proposal on what previous researches suggest.

Business Sustainability in the Middle East – How Solar Energy Use can be Effectively Commercialized in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East

Free Research Proposal On Operation Management And Sustainability

Introduction:, good example of a research proposal on the effect of public transport in saudi arabia on society and economy research proposal, introduction, free research proposal about green bim, good example of sustainable hazard management planning & environmental impacts. research proposal, sample research proposal on environmental impact from sea transport from a life cycle perspective, methodology academic research proposal sample, is sustainable agricultural tourism in thailand a viable choice, example of developing a project management approach in organizations through research proposal, international joint ventures (ijvs) to support sustainability,, research aim and objectives research proposal samples.

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CHALLENGES THAT PANALPINA WILL HAVE TO OVERCOME AND THE CAPABILITIES THAT WILL HAVE TO DEVELOP TO MAINTAIN ITS LEADING POSITION AND THE RAPID PACE OF GROWTH

Engineering Technology Research Proposal Sample

Hybrid wind and solar powered outdoor lighting.

Team: MET-421-001 Senior Design Project I Winter 2014

Project Description 2 Photovoltaic Cells 3 Wind Turbine 4 Integrated Controls Unit 6 Battery 7 LED Lighting 8 Patent /Market Review 9 Economic Analysis 9 Conclusion 13

References 14

Research proposal on designing a socioeconomic development program for voltania, research proposal on renewable energy solar panels, research proposal on elementary school-aged obesity: review of home-based and school-based interventions sustainability, elementary school-aged obesity, effective and successful new organizational communication structure: a research proposal research proposal.

(Final Paper)

COM425 and Description

Geography- tourism in molokai island research proposals examples, research proposal on behavioral intervention, research proposal on finance, renewable energy independent power producers in south africa: the analysis of financial mechanisms for small and medium enterprises, research proposal on research methods, good research proposal about logistics – the impact of container slot excess capacity with regard to ocean freights.

1. Introduction and Rationale 4 1.1. Research Problem 4 1.2. Research Aim 4 1.3. Research Objective 5 1.4. Research Questions 5 1.5. Rationale of the study (Theories) 5 1.6. Methodology 5 1.7. Research Approach 6 1.8. Research design 6 1.9. Timeline 6 2. Bibliography 7

Perfect Model Research Proposal On Renewable Energy Proposal

Executive summary.

Lehigh Valley Campus in Pennsylvania is proposing to incorporate renewable sources of energy (Hybrid Photovoltaic Cells and Thermal Collector) into the campus and a cybercafé/bookstore business venture in honor of the recently deceased alumnus of PSU, Wayne K. Newton. It is our firm belief that this project will fulfill the Late Wayne Newton’s visionary dream and fulfill the family’s wishes to donate the funds. The campus aims to use these funds to procure hybrid solar module and design a cybercafé/bookstore business premise

The total cost of the project will be $87120.

Reciprocity of marketing & culture research proposal, reciprocity of marketing & culture, free swiss-port research on tourism: research proposal example, how nokia can reconnect with the consumers: exemplar research proposal to follow, how nokia can reconnect with the consumers protocol, free research proposal on flint michigan, shifting to alternative fuels in azerbaijan-research proposal research proposals example, problem statement, free research proposal about supply chain of unilever company, b. background research proposal, environmental impact of a restaurant research proposal example, an assignment submitted by, free green strategy: adopting and implementing solar energy research proposal example, new materials and energy transmission research proposal examples, introduction/background information, community health proposal research proposal example, free research proposal about selection processes, can weak selection processes be solved through training and development, the development of new brighton tourism destination research proposal example.

Tourism is one of the most fast developing sectors in the world. Many countries that have good beaches have found the need to develop tourism destinations that will assist in marketing their attraction sites. The research below shows the development of New Brighton tourism destination. It offers an introduction to tourism followed by the background information on New Brighton. A review on different researches conducted on the same topic is analyzed in order to come up with the research gaps. Moreover, the proposal gives the recommended method of data collection. Primary data collection method is preferred for this research.

... Read more Business Development Planning Infrastructure Tourism Time Management Bible Information Destination Data Customers Industry 11 Pages Don't waste your time searching for a sample. Get your research proposal done by professional writers! HIRE A WRITER Just from $10/page Good Research Proposal On Health

Developing a health program in a non-profit family shelter, corporate responsibility, ethics & accountability research proposal sample, research proposal on green buildings, list of figures.

Figure 1: Energy concept for green building 7

Free Research Proposal About Hospitals: Go Green

GREEN HOSPITALS

Executive summary

Good example of managing environmental issues research proposal.

{Author Name [first-name middle-name-initials last-name]} {Institution Affiliation [name of Author’s institute]}

Sample Research Proposal On Tourism System In Molokai (Demand And Supply Characteristics)

Molokai Island is the fifth largest of the Hawaiian Islands. The island was built between two distinct shield volcanoes, with one forming the larger eastern Molokai and the lesser forming the western Molokai (Bardolet and Pauline, 905). The island is located in the Maui County and through its geography and culture it is perfect for tourism. Tourism is one of the economic boosters of the Maui County, and part of the tourism revenues of Maui County is from the Island of Molokai though in a larger proportion.

Free Research Proposal About Corporate Social Responsibility

Good statement of the problem research proposal example, sustaining a strong marketing competitive advantage research proposal, relies on an ethical corporate culture, example of research proposal on sustainable infrastructure - earth systems engineering and management, example of proctor and gamble research proposal, research paper chapter 1: research proposal and introduction, topics for research project in interior design research proposal samples, free research proposal on environmental assessment and strategic planning, feathers fashion, free research proposal about letter of transmittal.

D.Y.H. Williams, Vice President of Internal Development 31 East River Street, Suite 604

Chicago, IL 60602

Research proposal on persuasive memo, good the impact of km strategies on hospital performance improvement in saudi arabia research proposal example.

The Saudi Arabian government ensures that it focuses in the implementation of KM strategies to enhance improvements in service provision. The paper looks at the impact of introducing the strategies in the hospitals. It can be seen that KM supports knowledge and information sharing which boosts communication hence facilitating great improvement in hospital sector. Knowledge management helps to solve both existing and emerging issues in healthcare with a goal to improve hospital performance in Saudi Arabia.

Overview & Justification of the Research

Free research proposal on research question proposal, research proposal on oil industry performance in uk and australia.

A research based on the business analysis of the Tullow oil as compared to BHP Billiton working in the oil industry.

INTRODUCTION OF THE RESEARCH TOPIC

Research context research proposal examples, research context - research proposal.

To Investigate Knowledge Management as a Source Competitive Advantage in Pharmaceutical Companies

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

Call for Joint Research Proposals: EDF/IIF 2024

2024 Call for Joint Research Proposals Environmental Defense Fund – Cornell Atkinson

• September 26-7, 2023: Information and networking session
• November 20, 2023: LOI submissions due by 5:00 P.M. ET
• December 8, 2023: LOI feedback returned to applicant teams
• January 19, 2024: Full Proposals due by 5:00 P.M. ET
• March 1, 2024: Funding decisions announced
• April 1, 2024: Funds become available
• June 30, 2024: Latest project start date

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability welcome competitive proposals for joint collaborative research or workshops that are relevant to informing environmental policy and have achievable one-year impact goals.

Now in the ninth year of our collaboration, the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and EDF are partnering to accelerate problem-solving research relevant to national and international environmental policy discussions. Research teams should include researchers from both Cornell University and EDF and a clear collaboration plan. Work can be basic or applied but should always have a clear pathway to impact and an emphasis on actionable results.

Priority Themes

During this grant funding cycle, we welcome research focused on overlapping priorities currently being articulated in EDF’s Vision 2030 and the Cornell Atkinson Center’s priority research areas . Both organizations prioritize research that incorporates environmental justice and equity considerations.

• Stabilize the Climate
• Strengthen the Ability of People and Nature to Thrive in a Changing Climate
• Support People’s Health

Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability:

• Increasing Food Security
• Reducing Climate Risk
• Accelerating Energy Transitions
• Advancing One Health

Cornell Atkinson and EDF expect to award up to four project grants ($50,000 to $100,000 each). The funding goes to the Cornell researcher, but EDF scientists or economists work collaboratively to define and guide the topic and implement research results.

Guidelines for Letter of Intent (LOI) Submissions

Letters of intent are recommended from one of the co-principal investigators in advance of submitting a proposal. LOI reviews are intended to result in stronger proposals rather than to exclude any projects from advancing to the proposal stage.

Please use this online LOI form to submit your letter before 5:00 P.M. ET on Monday, November 20, 2023 . LOI sections include:

• Lead collaborator names and bios
• Project title (max 150 characters)
• Describe the central challenge you aim to address through this project (guidance: up to 1,200 characters with spaces)
• Describe the project aims, rationale, activities, and pathway to impact (guidance: up to 1,200 characters with spaces)
• Priority area alignment

LOI reviews are intended to result in stronger proposals rather than to exclude any projects from advancing to the proposal stage.

Proposal Submission Guidelines

Please use this online proposal form to submit your proposal before 5:00 P.M. ET on Friday, January 19, 2024 .

PROPOSAL TWO-PAGE NARRATIVE (required) (Save narrative as “2024-EDF-CU-YourLastName.PDF”)

The Co-Principal Investigators representing Cornell and EDF should submit a very brief, two-page proposal narrative as a PDF via the online form hyperlinked above.

The following aspects should be addressed in your proposal:

• What is the central challenge and the work to be accomplished? Why is this an important issue in sustainability and a healthy environment?
• What is the intended contribution of the proposed research to understanding, managing, and solving specific environmental issues?
• Provide a list of specific project milestones with timeline against which to evaluate progress.
• What deliverables will be produced? Is a clear pathway to impact defined?
• How is this research collaborative and what are each partner’s roles? Proposals showing synergy between the partners and outcomes that wouldn’t be possible individually will be favored.
• Is the research durable , i.e., can the research continue or policy be implemented after funding has expired?

REFERENCES (optional)

A single page of references may be added after the two-page narrative. Any other items provided may be viewed or omitted at the discretion of the evaluation panel.

PROPOSAL BUDGET and JUSTIFICATION (required) (Use template 2024-EDF-CU-Template.XLSX | Save budget as “2024-EDF-CU-YourLastName.XLSX”)

• Proposers may request funding up to $100K (direct costs at Cornell) for one year. We are expecting most research proposals to request from $50–80K (Cornell budget), and most workshops from $5K–10K (total budget).
• The Excel budget template will be available for download and should be submitted as a separate file when you submit your proposal. Please also include a budget justification at the end of your proposal for any expenditure for which the purpose of the expenditure is not clear. The budget justification does not count against your proposal page count.
• Funds may be used to cover: personnel (excluding faculty salary), travel, supplies, and equipment.
• For Cornell researchers: Cornell Atkinson will transfer allocated funds to an account in the Cornell proposer’s department. These funds have no indirect cost recovery associated with them.

PROPOSAL FORMAT and SUBMISSION

Upload a single PDF file containing the two-page narrative, the budget narrative, and optional references along with the separate Excel budget spreadsheet to the proposal submission form .

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Proposals will be evaluated by Cornell Atkinson and EDF leadership. Selections will be finalized and awards announced on March 1, 2024.
• Given the 12-month timeframe for the funding, we envision Cornell applicants will most likely want to use funds to support postdocs or senior graduate students rather than identify and hire new personnel.
• SCHEDULE NOTE: Funds will be available on April 1, 2024; all activities must commence by June 30, 2024. Project duration may not exceed 12 months.

Project Selection Criteria

A review committee composed of EDF staff, Cornell Atkinson staff, and Cornell Atkinson fellows will evaluate the proposals based on the following criteria:

• Intellectual merit and significance
• Fit with EDF and Cornell Atkinson priorities
• Team strength
• Plan for regular communication and strong collaboration among co-PIs
• Deliverables, metrics, and timeline
• Pathway to impact and level of real-world impact
• Likelihood of sustained collaborative work and/or potential for external funding

Awardee Responsibilities

Successful project co-PIs who receive funding are strongly encouraged to participate in opportunities that arise to showcase their projects:

• Participate in future LOI and proposal reviews
• Submit a final report
• Alert Cornell Atkinson and EDF contacts of all publications, presentations, testimony, etc. associated with the funded research
• Provide timely periodic updates to Cornell Atkinson and EDF as requested
• Acknowledge EDF and Cornell Atkinson in all project outputs
• Work with Cornell Atkinson and EDF communications staff to develop public press releases on research results as warranted

More Information

If you have follow-up questions, contact:

• Cornell: Patrick Beary [email protected]
• EDF: Doria Gordon [email protected]

Sign up for our newsletter:

Seed Grants Fund Research Centers for Critical Minerals, Spatial Computation and Navigation

Apr 23, 2024 — atlanta, ga.

The College of Sciences is funding two research centers through a new seed grant program. 

Selected from a finalist pool of nine proposals, Associate Professors Yuanzhi Tang and Thackery Brown ’s ideas were chosen for their high potential for novel interdisciplinary research and impact. 

Tang’s center will focus on sustainable mineral research, and Brown’s on spatial computation and navigation. Applications for the research will span the development of more sustainable batteries, as well as seeking to improve human health and well-being.

“Improving the human condition, fostering community, and pursuing research excellence are at the forefront of Georgia Tech’s mission, and these new centers will play a critical role in furthering that goal,” says Laura Cadonati , associate dean for Research in the College of Sciences and a professor in the School of Physics . “The College of Sciences is thrilled to support these new initiatives, and is excited to continue to develop the seed grant program.” 

A second call for research center proposals is planned for January 2025, with funding to start in July 2025.

The new Center for Sustainable and Decarbonized Critical Energy Mineral Solutions (CEMS), to be led by Yuanzhi Tang , an associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences , will serve as a hub for sustainable procurement solutions for critical energy mineral resources, including rare earth elements and metals used for battery production.

Thackery Brown , an associate professor in the School of Psychology , will lead the second center, the Center for Research and Education in Navigation (CRaNE) . CRaNE will investigate problems related to spatial computation, cognition, and navigation — which has implications for human health, animal conservation, smart architecture and urban design.

“This generous support from the College of Sciences will enable us to host a conference on spatial cognition, computation, design, and navigation; to provide collaborative multi-lab seed grants; and to establish the first of a series of explicitly co-mentored, interdisciplinary graduate student Fellowships,” Brown says. “Collectively, these are the seeds of a high-impact and self-sustaining center.”

About the Center for Sustainable Decarbonized Critical Energy Mineral Solutions (CEMS)

Yuanzhi Tang, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences 

Co-sponsored by the College of Sciences , Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS), Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) , and Institute for Materials (iMat) , CEMS began as a joint BBISS-SEI initiative lead project that has since grown into a joint center focused on critical elements and materials for sustainable energy.

Sustainably sourcing these materials provides a critical foundation for both high-tech industry and green economy. “Rare earth elements and battery metals like lithium, copper, and nickel are in high demand, but low domestic resources and production have resulted in a heavy reliance on imports,” Tang explains. “How can we domestically produce these resources, and how can we do this sustainably? Georgia Tech and the College of Sciences are in a unique position for developing a large regional research umbrella to connect these dots.”

CEMS will leverage on three key pillars: science and technology development, strengthening collaboration among the University System of Georgia (USG) universities, and developing regional resources and economy, Tang says. “By leveraging collaboration among Georgia universities, and fostering engagement with regional industries, the Center will develop new science and technology, leading the way in research on how to procure these ‘essential vitamins’ for clean energy transition in a sustainable and decarbonized manner.”

About the Center for Research and Education in Navigation (CRaNE)

Thackery Brown, School of Psychology 

CRaNE will focus on solving problems related to spatial computation, cognition, and navigation. “How do we treat catastrophic loss of one’s ability to get from A to B in Alzheimer's disease? How do we build smarter cities that are easier and more carbon efficient to navigate? How can we develop robots,” Brown says, “which navigate with the flexibility and efficiency of our own minds? CRaNE will bring together experts from many different fields to help address these problems with truly creative and integrative scientific and technological solutions.”

CRaNE will support interdisciplinary collaborative research, including developing a graduate student fellowship program, and conducting K-12 outreach.

“Our goal for CRaNE is to position the College of Sciences, Georgia Tech, and our extended network of collaborator institutions as a center of gravity for cutting-edge work on how the mind, brain, and artificial systems process space — how they can be made better at it, and how we can engineer our world around us in ways that support the humans and animals that need to navigate it to survive,” Brown says.

Emphasizing the collaborative nature of CRaNE, Brown adds that “by targeting collaborative grants, research, and education, and by promoting outreach and education earlier in the STEM pipeline, we hope to accelerate progress at the frontiers of these fields — and to invest in future science that cannot be easily addressed by a single lab or discipline.”

Thackery Brown

Written by Selena Langner

Contact: Jess Hunt-Ralston Director of Communications College of Sciences Georgia Tech

Maintenance work is planned for Wednesday 1st May 2024 from 9:00am to 11:00am (BST).

During this time, the performance of our website may be affected - searches may run slowly and some pages may be temporarily unavailable. If this happens, please try refreshing your web browser or try waiting two to three minutes before trying again.

We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause and thank you for your patience.

Sustainable Energy & Fuels

Design and development of nanostructured photocatalysts for large-scale solar green hydrogen generation.

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Chemistry, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India E-mail: [email protected] , [email protected]

The production of clean hydrogen through artificial photosynthesis is the most intriguing research topic that offers hope for meeting the world's energy demands. The evolution of green hydrogen via visible light-driven photocatalysis is challenging but feasible. Photocatalytic solar power systems primarily rely on utilizing the complete range of solar spectrum. The synthesis of an optimal photocatalyst should address all the influencing parameters with an efficient scaling method, which remains yet to be elucidated despite several advancements in photocatalytic water-splitting applications. Real-time solutions are necessary to overcome the lack of photocatalytic efficacy of semiconducting nanomaterials in solar-powered systems. In addition to the proposal of designing solar-powered systems for hydrogen generation, this review paves the way for highlighting the difficulties associated with water reduction methods. It also offers some strategies to improve charge separation and migration in a semiconducting photocatalyst by enhancing light absorption and altering their band positions. Moreover, a cost-effective, eco-friendly, and photostable heterogeneous nanocatalyst must be designed for visible light-harvesting water-splitting processes. This article reports various nanomaterial-based photocatalysts, which act as the base surface for photocatalytic solar water splitting. These include oxides, chalcogenides, and nitrides of metals, noble metals, plasmonic metals, ultrathin 2D covalent–organic frameworks (COFs), metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), and metal-free polymeric graphitic carbon nitrides. The integration of multi-component nano-materials can be more appropriate than single-component photocatalysts to maximize their catalytic activity. Thin-film photocatalysis is considered the most effective method for increasing hydrogen production rates compared to powder suspension-based photocatalysis. This article presents the latest advancements in thin film-based photocatalytic technology, outlining all the critical factors, prerequisites, and techniques for thin film preparation. Future research on advanced photocatalysis focuses on harvesting green hydrogen for in situ carbon dioxide reduction, fine chemical synthesis, nitrogen fixation, and hydrogen peroxide synthesis. Experimentally, photocatalytic solar-powered systems utilize natural sun light. However, the synthesis of ideal photocatalysts via effective scaling approaches remains a challenge. This paper paves the way for finding solutions and designing a practical solar-powered system for green hydrogen production.

Article information

Download citation, permissions.

P. K. Sahu, A. Champati, A. Pradhan and B. Naik, Sustainable Energy Fuels , 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D4SE00056K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page .

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page .

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content .

Social activity

Search articles by author.

This article has not yet been cited.

Transport Research Arena 2024: advancing sustainable and inclusive mobility

Europe’s biggest transport research event brought together around 4,000 delegates to explore a smarter and greener mobility future.

The Transport Research Arena (TRA) took place 15 – 18 April in Dublin. TRA is one of the key European transport events, focusing on research and technology. The event covers all modes – road, rail, waterborne and air – and all aspects of mobility. Hosted by the Irish Department of Transport and co-organised by the European Commission, this year’s event welcomed around 4,000 visitors from Europe and beyond.

Under the theme “Transport Transitions: Advancing Sustainable and Inclusive Mobility” , discussions focused on innovations for more sustainable, as well as safer and more accessible, transport systems, prioritising the needs of all users.

Transformative times

The packed programme featured contributions from policymakers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, researchers, and academics. Over four days, delegates had the opportunity to hear about the cutting-edge technology and ideas that will be central to how people and goods are moved in the years to come.

Addressing the opening session by video message, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture Education and Youth, Illiana Ivanova , spoke of the importance of innovation and research for shaping our future mobility.

“Our transport systems are on the brink of a transformative era…The EU, through programmes such as Horizon Europe, is leading the way towards a more connected, efficient, safe and environmentally friendly world.”

Several sessions were organised by the European Commission and the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), covering a broad range of topics from sustainable urban mobility and transport resilience to waterborne decarbonisation and green ports and airports .

As keynote speaker in a session on “ Synergies to Deploy EU R&I”, CINEA Director, Paloma Aba Garrote  underlined the critical role of EU funding programmes for transport, not only for research but also deployment:

"Green innovation and investment is in our DNA. We are uniquely positioned to help leverage the complementarities between EU transport funding from research to deployment, and also, to advise beneficiaries on how to take their solutions from inception to market implementation."

Projects and results on show

#TRA2004 also hosted an important exhibition area with both static and live demonstrations on the latest transport technologies and innovations. The joint European Commission stand, bringing together CINEA and several Commission departments – DG Research and Innovation (DG RTD), DG Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) – drew great interest.

Hundreds of people, including a VIP tour from Irish Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan and Director General of DG MOVE, Magda Kopczyńska, visited the projects on display ranging from an urban e-cargo trike to a self-charging drone. CINEA hosted two lunchtime sessions at the stand with project presentations on zero-emission vehicles and digital twins .

The research presented at TRA 2024 will serve as a catalyst, influencing policy decisions, supporting economic growth, shaping social development and technological advancements for carbon-free, accessible, and sustainable transport across all modes.

“Small keys can open big doors”

This ambition recalled the powerful speech at the opening session by Jack Kavanagh, a director of the Irish National Disability Authority , who was paralysed following a spinal cord injury while swimming on holiday in Portugal in 2012.

“I realised very quickly that the world was not flat, and it was full of barriers to entry,” he said. “The only important thing about design is how it relates to people...The environments around us make us and shape us; they enable or disable us.”

Addressing delegates, he said they had small keys that could be used to open big doors for those with disabilities by deploying a universal design approach, where “the normals are all of us”.

Event website

Share this page