John Taylor, Professor of Economics at Stanford University and developer of the "Taylor Rule" for setting interest rates | Stanford University
John Taylor, Professor of Economics at Stanford University and developer of the "Taylor Rule" for setting interest rates | Stanford University
The Sustainability Accelerator at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability has identified five new targets to help people, economies, and ecosystems thrive by translating Stanford research into applied policy and technology solutions. These targets span food and agriculture, electricity and grid systems, climate adaptation, freshwater, and industry.
These new Flagship Destinations join the Accelerator’s initial project aimed at enabling the removal of billions of tons of greenhouse gases from Earth’s atmosphere by mid-century. The Accelerator will provide multi-year seed grants of up to $1 million per project for each Flagship Destination. This selection followed extensive consultations with faculty, staff, students, and external experts.
“These projects will support the school’s broader efforts,” announced on August 6th, “to focus research on a set of Solution Areas that includes climate, water, energy, food, nature, and cities,” said Dean Arun Majumdar. He emphasized the importance of addressing these challenges: “This dramatic expansion of the Accelerator’s efforts recognizes both the magnitude of the challenges we face and the tremendous potential for realizing real and measurable impact.”
The new Flagship Destinations will also focus on improving sensing, measurement, data analytics, and leveraging biological systems to solve challenges within any one of these areas. For instance, bioengineering could aid in producing alternative protein sources.
“The fundamental goal of the Accelerator is sustainability impact at global scale,” stated Yi Cui, faculty director of the Sustainability Accelerator. “These Flagship Destinations represent targets where we see significant opportunities to protect or restore resources worldwide.” He noted that these targets are interconnected: “They weave a sustainability safety net for the world.”
Input from university faculty, staff, students, as well as external experts from non-governmental organizations and industry professionals informed the selection process. Each destination was chosen for its potential to apply Stanford research rapidly to address issues like climate change and biodiversity loss.
“Today’s sustainability challenges are daunting,” said Charlotte Pera, executive director of the Accelerator. “Our Flagship Destinations are ambitious...Stanford can make substantial contributions to each one.”
The Sustainability Accelerator is issuing requests for proposals (RFPs) for multi-year seed grants across the five new Flagship Destinations and two cross-cutting platforms. RFPs for Climate Adaptation and Planetary Intelligence are currently open; others will be announced in October 2024.
Proposals are welcome from Stanford University or SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory faculty. Involvement from graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, non-PI-eligible staff, and external partners is strongly encouraged.
Alerts Sign-up