UH Manoa faculty invited to apply for $1 million sustainability research grant

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa‘s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education has announced an internal competition open to all UHM faculty for a $1 million research grant in the broad area of sustainability.

Funding would be provided over two years for an interdisciplinary research effort of significant relevance to Hawaiʻi that would build and expand on research strengths presently at UHM. It is anticipated, after two years, that the successful applicant team will transition the project to an externally funded center or program.

"Globally, we are currently facing our inability to meet the demands of unchecked population growth, rapid depletion of natural resources, increasing energy needs, and the worldwide deterioration of complex ecosystems," said Gary Ostrander, UHM Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education. "To this end, it is imperative that we focus our efforts to reach and ultimately move beyond a plateau of sustainability. UHM should play a key role in this endeavor, as the flagship UH campus and a leading research institution."

Deadline to apply is March 1, 2009. The faculty recipient(s) of the $1 million research grant will be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. Project funding would run from June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2011.

Proposals will be reviewed by a committee of internal and external scholars. Criteria for evaluation are merit, feasibility, appropriateness of budget, qualifications of proposed investigators, team organization and interdisciplinary approach, potential for sustained funding and relevance to Hawaiʻi.

Electronically submit applications by March 1, 2009 deadline to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education at VCRGE@hawaii.edu. Every application should include: 1) a research plan of no more than 10 pages, single-spaced, 12 point type, including any necessary figures and tables; 2) a separate budget and detailed budget justification; and 3) two-page Curriculum vitas of all participants.