The University of Michigan's Dow Sustainability Fellows Program—a new, multi-faceted, $10 million program designed to foster future sustainability leaders—officially kicks off this fall with schools and colleges across the university nominating masters and professional-degree students for the program.
“This innovative program will support nearly 300 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in their sustainability-focused studies over the next five years,” says Graham Sustainability Institute Director and Special Counsel to the U-M President on Sustainability Don Scavia, who has been charged with administering the program on behalf of the university. “We’re pleased to be taking the first step of this landmark initiative through the masters and professional fellows program.”
For this first component, U-M schools and colleges are being asked to nominate up to 10 eligible, interested, and competitive graduate students from their respective schools by November 1, 2012, after which nominated students will submit a formal application package by November 18, 2012. A multi-disciplinary faculty review committee representing all participating schools and colleges will evaluate the applications and select a total of 40 fellows to be announced in mid December. The first cohort will begin in January 2013.
When in full swing, the Dow program will encompass fellowship awards at the masters/professional degree, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels. It will also include annual Distinguished Awards for Interdisciplinary Sustainability to facilitate high-impact projects initiated by students and faculty throughout the University. In all, the program will invest $2 million per year to cultivate future sustainability leaders and tackle complex sustainability challenges.
The process for selecting postdoctoral fellows will begin later this fall, and a call for nominations for doctoral fellows will be issued in December.
“We are looking for the best and brightest scholars who share a passion for sustainability,” Dr. Scavia says “and who are eager to actively engage in interdisciplinary efforts to help solve society’s most pressing sustainability challenges.”
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