Connecting ideas, people and partners to accelerate sustainability research and impact.
Research Collaboration Services
Great sustainability research does not happen by accident. It takes the right people, clear strategy, strong partnerships, and coordinated execution. The Sustainability Institute (SI) provides a suite of Research Collaboration Services designed to help faculty build competitive proposals, launch high-functioning teams, and deliver long-term impact. We serve as strategic conveners and embedded partners across the full research life cycle, from early ideation to post-award implementation. Our services are modular and scalable.
SI brings applied facilitation and Science‑of‑Team‑Science principles to help interdisciplinary teams collaborate more effectively, plan strategically and sustain high‑functioning partnerships throughout the entire life of a project. For more information, contact Charlene Brenner.
Early Stage
- Facilitate brainstorming and ideation sessions that support proposal development guided by faculty-driven research interests, interdisciplinary collaboration opportunities and alignment with funder and institutional priorities.
- Landscape scans of funding opportunities aligned with SI’s research priority areas.
- Assistance with team building, leveraging SI’s network of nearly 400 affiliated researchers and multi-sector partners.
Submission Stage
- For large, strategic proposals, support with framing, narrative refinement and coordination of proposal elements.
- Team science and collaboration planning to strengthen team readiness, dynamics and other practices for building highly effective teams.
- Support for developing broader impact, engagement and translation strategies.
- Matchmaking assistance to connect with external stakeholders and demonstrate support and cost share.
Implementation Stage
- Embed staff support for consortium and project management, including engagement of key external partners.
- Develop data and integrated modeling tools.
- Connection to SI’s education and workforce initiatives to embed experiential learning.
- Translate research findings for broader audiences, and visibility and amplification through SI communication channels.