The Environmental Engineering program is part of the Environmental Engineering and Sustainability cluster, which also includes 1) the Nanoscale Interactions program; and 2) the Environmental Sustainability program.
Environmental engineering is an interdisciplinary field that applies chemical, biological, and physical scientific principles to protect human and ecological health.
The goal of the Environmental Engineering program is to support potentially transformative fundamental research that applies scientific and engineering principles to 1) prevent, minimize, or re-use solid, liquid, and gaseous discharges of pollution to soil, water, and air by closing resource loops or through other measures; 2) mitigate the ecological and human-health impacts of such releases by smart/adaptive/reactive amendments or manipulation of the environment, and 3) remediate polluted environments through engineered chemical, biological, and/or geo-physical processes.
Integral to achieving these goals is a fundamental understanding of the transport and biogeochemical reactivity of pollutants in the environment. Therefore, research on environmental micro/biology, environmental chemistry, and environmental geophysics may be relevant providing the research has a clear objective of protecting human and ecological health.
Full Proposal Accepted Anytime
Proposals submitted to other program announcements and solicitations, including the Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), must meet their respective deadlines; please refer to the deadline dates specified in the appropriate announcement or solicitation. Proposals for EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) or Rapid Response Research (RAPID) can be submitted at any time but Principal Investigators must contact the cognizant program director prior to submission. Proposals for supplements or workshops can be submitted at any time, and PIs are encouraged to contact the cognizant PD prior to submission.
Major areas of interest include (but are not limited to):
NOTE: Proposals with a scientific focus on chemical or physical separation processes (for example, materials or processes for reverse osmosis, membrane distillation, and hypo-filtration) should be submitted to the Interfacial Engineering program (CBET 1417). Proposals that seek to advance fundamental and quantitative understanding of the behaviors of nanomaterials and nanosystems should be submitted to the Nanoscale Interactions program (CBET 1179). Proposals focused on in vitro molecular-level environmental chemistry research should be submitted to Environmental Chemical Sciences program (CHE-ECS 6882). Proposals focusing on industrial ecology, green engineering, and ecological/earth systems engineering should be submitted to the Environmental Sustainability program (CBET 7643). Proposals whose main research focus is on materials development, sensors, or environmental monitoring that do not seek to understand biogeochemical reactivity mechanisms or treatment efficiency are not encouraged and may be returned without review.
Innovative proposals outside of these specific interest areas may be considered. However, prior to submission, it is recommended that the PI contact the program director to avoid the possibility of the proposal being returned without review.
The duration of unsolicited awards is generally one to three years. The maximum annual award size is $110,000 per year for single investigator proposals and $140,000 per year for multi-investigator collaborative proposals. Principal Investigators requesting a higher amount without first consulting with the Program Director prior to proposal submission may have the proposal returned without review.
