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AT&T Industrial Ecology Faculty Fellowship Program
Program Guidelines
Background
Environmental concerns today are the subject of national, regional, and individual attention. There is a general realization in the public sector and in American industry that neither remediation, while important for correcting past problems, nor regulation, while necessary to protect the public, is enough. Attention is focusing on the cost effectiveness of proposed measures and on sustainable development. Environmentally preferable services, the substitution of information for other inputs into the economy (e.g., energy and materials), design for the environment, green products and green manufacturing processes are central to lasting solutions. The question is how to achieve them.
"Industrial Ecology" (IE) is a systems view of economic activity and its interrelationship with the environment such that both economic and environmental efficiency can be enhanced. The industrial ecology approach can be a powerful tool for environmental and economic progress.
As a leader in information movement and management, responsibility exists for AT&T to help universities produce future leaders in fields relevant to industrial ecology and in helping to define and focus research activities.
Founded in 1984, the legacy AT&T Foundation was the principal vehicle of philanthropy for legacy AT&T. The legacy AT&T Foundation invested globally in projects that were at the intersection of community needs and AT&T's business interests. Emphasis continues to be placed on programs that serve the needs of people in communities where AT&T has a significant business presence, initiatives that use technology in innovative ways, programs that encourage and support diversity and inclusion, and projects in which AT&T employees are actively involved as contributors or volunteers.
The AT&T Industrial Ecology Faculty Fellowship Program is intended to stimulate interdisciplinary research and curriculum development that involve social issues, engineering, the sciences, economics, management, business, law, and public policy issues. Up to three (3) new awards of $25,000 each will be made in 2007. Applications will be solicited electronically.
The overarching objectives of the program are (1) to produce university faculty and students who can contribute to solving global and regional environmental problems, (2) to advance the theoretical basis for the field of industrial ecology and its application in service sectors, industrial activity, and regulatory arenas, and (3) provide guidance for the telecommunications industry.
Among the activities that might be considered by faculty who wish to submit proposals are:
- Developing models and systems for understanding and quantifying the impacts of services and service infrastructures, such as the internet, on the environment;
- Understanding how, and developing ways by which, information can be substituted for other inputs into the economy;
- Supporting activities, such as modeling, which bring scientific and engineering realities to the regulatory table;
- Developing guidelines and practical economic and environmental tools for rational decision-making; and
- Activities and research that impact the telecommunications industry such as green house gas emissions, reuse and recycling, and energy efficiencies.
Proposals should focus on IE research and applications of the above principles. Although curriculum development proposals were recognized in the past, proposals that contain curriculum development as their main focus will not be favored.
Proposals to be considered
AT&T will consider proposals from individual faculty, or teams of faculty (in which case each Principal Investigator of an award-winning team would be named an AT&T Industrial Ecology Fellow). Whether support is for one individual's work or for a team, the maximum grant to be considered for a project is $25,000.
Proposals will be considered from the following fields independently or in collaboration: social sciences, physical sciences, engineering, business, public policy, management science, law and economics. Interdisciplinary proposals are especially encouraged.Requirements
- Format: Proposals must include (a) a cover sheet identifying the principal investigator(s), with addresses, phone and fax numbers (including summer reach numbers) and email address; other members of the research team, a list of departments and disciplines represented; and a one paragraph abstract of the proposal; (b) a core proposal of no more than 5 single-spaced pages, describing the specific uses of the grant, and including statements of the impact the work will have on science and engineering, on the educational environment, and on students; (c) attachments should include a statement (of no more than 1 page, or short brochure if available) on special strengths of the university in fields relevant to the specific proposal; (d) curriculum vita of Principal Investigator(s) including selected publication lists; and, (e) sources and amounts of other relevant funding.
- Topics: Grants will be considered for support of basic and applied research, and planning and development of new interdisciplinary centers of research. Reflecting the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) services and products in modern economies, proposals that address industrial ecology issues involving the provision and use of ICT will be favored.
- Duration: Support will be provided for work to be conducted during the 2007-2008 fall, summer and spring academic year.
- Reporting: Each Fellow or team of Fellows will be asked to submit a short written report to AT&T, which summarizes findings, identifies the impact of the work on education at the institution, and identifies the potential impact of the work on industrial practices or public policy.
-
Deadline: The proposal must be submitted electronically to Marie
Robinson at mr3871@att.com by close of
business on October 30, 2007. If possible, please send your proposal in
Portable Document Format (PDF).
- Fellowships will be $25,000 each and will be paid to the university as
fiscal agent, designated for the Fellow or Fellows involved in the project, to
be used as stated in the proposal. The grant may be applied to direct costs
only, e.g., equipment, salary, supplies, etc. No indirect costs will be
covered
- Any published research as the result of the fellowship grant should AT&T as a financial contributor to the research.
- Grant recipients will need to provide a mid-year informal status report of the research progress and an end of the project report to Marie Robinson at mr3871@att.com following the timelines listed below.
- Grant recipients will be asked for a public relations contact from their respective universities in order to develop a media plan for announcing and/or celebrating the research grant.
Timeline
| August 31, 2007 | Electronic notification to universities. Guidelines posted to AT&T EH&S external Web site |
| October 30, 2007 | Proposals due to AT&T Industrial Ecology Program Director |
| January 2008 | Awards announced |
| August 2008 | Fellows submit mid-year informal status reports to Marie Robinson mr3871@att.com |
| January 2008 or Conclusion of Project | Fellows submit detailed formal reports to Marie Robinson mr3871@att.com |
