🌱 About the Working Groups

The Rice Sustainability Institute supports interdisciplinary faculty-led working groups to seed innovative research collaborations focused on sustainability challenges. These working groups serve as incubators for bold ideas, supporting teams as they pursue major external funding and build long-term impact.

📅 Rolling Deadline: The call for proposals remains open on a rolling basis, with priority given to proposals submitted by April 4, 2025.

📄 Apply Now: Download the full Call for Proposals PDF (Spring 2025) | Submit all materials to: si@rice.edu

👥 Meet the Research Teams: Meet the Current Working Groups →

📣 Call for Proposals: Spring 2025

🎯 Purpose

  • Address pressing sustainability issues across disciplines
  • Develop center-level proposals or secure external funding (e.g., NSF, DOE, foundations)
  • Foster collaborations across schools and departments

💰 Award Details

  • Max request: $15,000 per group (1-year period)
  • Eligible uses: travel for funding engagement, meeting meals, proposal development, conference attendance, data generation
  • Not eligible: faculty salary, student stipends, subcontracts, equipment, teaching release

✅ Eligibility

  • At least 3 full-time, tenure-track Rice faculty from two or more schools
  • Additional team members (e.g., non-tenure track faculty, staff, external collaborators) are encouraged

📝 Deliverables

  • 1-page research summary (for internal/external partners)
  • Up to 5 promotional slides
  • Poster for internal and external events (template/design support provided)
  • Brief progress updates for RSI-hosted meetings

📤 How to Apply

Download the full Call for Proposals PDF (Spring 2025)
Submit all materials as a single PDF to si@rice.edu

🗂️ Proposal Requirements

  1. Working group title, faculty lead(s), and contact info
  2. List of team members with roles and expertise
  3. 1-page budget
  4. Description including:
    • Research vision (500 words)
    • Thematic alignment with Rice initiatives
    • External funding strategy (500 words)
  5. Support letters from aligned initiatives (if applicable)
  6. CVs for each team member (max 3 pages each)

💬 For questions or assistance, contact us at si@rice.edu.

👥 Meet the Research Teams: Meet the Current Working Groups →