Brief Description:

The Harvard University Climate Change Solutions Fund supports research and policy initiatives intended to reduce the risks of climate change, hasten the transition from fossil fuel-based energy systems to those that rely on renewable energy sources, to develop methods for diminishing the impact of existing fossil fuel-based energy systems on the climate, to understand and prepare for the impacts of climate change, and to propel scientific, technological, legal, behavioral, policy and artistic innovations needed to accelerate progress toward cleaner energy, improved human health, and a greener world.

Description:

Applications should propose research that will advance solutions to climate change and its impact. Solutions may include both preparedness and mitigation and strong consideration will be given to projects that demonstrate a clear pathway to application, as well as riskier proposals with the potential to be transformative over time. Proposals that demonstrate imaginative and promising collaboration among faculty and students across different parts of the University will receive special consideration, as will projects that propose using the university campus as a “living laboratory”.

Application Information:

1. Contact information that includes applicant’s name, affiliation, title, address, phone number, and email.
2. 1000-word proposal that describes the research project. Additional 2 pages permitted for citations and/or images.
3. Description of any cross-school collaboration (not required, but encouraged) and a statement on how these funds will help leverage future funding.
4. Bio sketch or CV for Principal Investigator, Co-Investigators, Collaborators, and other team members limited to two pages each.
5. Project Budget requires both a Budget Form and Budget Justification. Applicants must use the Budget Form and Budget Justification Form provided in the application.
i. Non-allowable Expenses include:
        1. Student tuition
        2. Salary support for faculty principal investigators. [Requests for partial support of principal investigator summer salary will be considered in limited circumstances.]
        3. Renovation costs

ii. If the total cost of the proposed project is larger than the award requested from the Fund, please include an overall financial plan for the project that indicates other sources of funding.

iii. Applicants should note that any benefits-eligible personnel (e.g. faculty, exempt employees, union employees, post-doctoral fellows, teaching assistants, temps) expenses in the budget must include the appropriate fringe rates for each year of funding. If the application proposes to fund a certain amount of an existing employee’s time, then the budget must also include that percentage of applied fringe. Applicants should consult with Human Resources at their home schools for applicable rates.

iv. Capital projects and renovation costs will not be covered.

v. The recipient of any funding involving travel should adhere to Harvard University’s travel policies.

vi. School assessments and/or indirect costs should not be included in your budget (the OVPR will arrange these with home schools separately).

6. Other Support: Applicants must use the form provided in the application to summarize active and pending support for the Principal Investigator. Other Support includes all financial resources, whether Federal, non-Federal, commercial or institutional, available in direct support of an individual’s research endeavors, including but not limited to research grants, cooperative agreements, contracts and/or institutional awards. Please include any Harvard internal grants or major, project-specific support. Please do not include any "start-up" packages and/or tenure-transfer funding.
7. Assurance of Compliance: All recipients of an award from the Climate Change Solutions Fund are expected to comply with all University, (or local institutional, if awarded through an affiliated entity), policies governing the conduct of research including, but not limited to, the use of animals, human subjects, hazardous materials, and export controls. Awardees will be asked to provide the name and signature of a school or department administrator who, in addition to the principal investigator, will certify that the project complies with all relevant policies. Funds will not be made available, and invoices from non-Harvard entities will not be reimbursed, without such certification. All applicants are subject to audit.

Eligibility Criteria:

Applications are invited from individuals who hold a faculty appointment at a Harvard school and who have principal investigator rights at that school. Junior faculty are especially encouraged to apply. Harvard Medical School faculty must hold a faculty appointment with PI rights in one of HMS’s basic or social science departments.

Doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars may apply for an award provided they have an identified faculty mentor who will provide a letter of recommendation and will supervise their research. While staff are not eligible to apply as principal investigators, salary support can be requested for staff in a project’s budget. Undergraduates and students pursuing a terminal master’s degree may not apply as a principal investigator, but may comprise part of a project team.

It is highly unlikely that the Review Committee will fund more than one project per laboratory team or research group. Individuals who have a currently active Climate Change Solutions Fund award will not be funded. Previous CCSF awardees are invited to apply for a new project provided their prior award cycle has concluded.

Review Criteria:

Reviewers will evaluate applications on intellectual merit, interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation, and likely impact on all fields of energy, the environment, and health. The merits of the proposal should be clear to both experts in the applicant’s field as well as a cross-disciplinary audience.

Additional Information, Related Websites, and Proxy Instructions:

Application Timeline:

Full Proposals will be due on October 15, 2018 at 11:59 p.m.

Award Decisions will be made in early January, 2019.

Fund Disbursal will begin in March, 2019.

Contact Information:

For questions about this application, please contact VPR_ Grants at VPR_Grants@harvard.edu

Search Filters:

Institution

Harvard Business School
Harvard Divinity School
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Graduate School of Design
Graduate School of Education
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Harvard Kennedy School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Medical School (Quad)
Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM)

Position

Graduate Student
Postdoc/Fellow
Instructor
Assistant Professor
Associate Professor
Professor
Other Academic/Research Appointment

Type of Competition

Harvard Internal Funding

Discipline

Arts
Basic Science
Clinical Science
Environmental Science
Engineering
Humanities
Life Science
Population Science
Multidisciplinary
Physical Science
Social/Behavioral Science
Translational Science
Other

Type of Award

Research