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The Earth System Initiative Ignition Grant Program received
its tenth $50,000 gift from individual donors, bringing the total funding for
the program to $500,000. The Ignition Grant program, started in July 2006, was
implemented to enable MIT scientists and engineers to explore new ideas, perform
preliminary research and generate the data needed to then pursue large amounts
of funding from traditional sources.
The Earth System Initiative Ignition Grant Program received
its tenth $50,000 gift from individual donors, bringing the total funding for
the program to $500,000. The Ignition Grant program, started in July 2006, was
implemented to enable MIT scientists and engineers to explore new ideas, perform
preliminary research and generate the data needed to then pursue large amounts
of funding from traditional sources.
“Each $50,000 grant not only has an immediate impact on
enabling the exploration of a great idea, but we know that the more our program
builds, the more great ideas present themselves so that we can build on MIT’s
renowned culture of innovation and cross-disciplinary collaboration” says Arunas
Chesonis (CEE ’84), chair of ESI’s Directors Council and a key driver of the
success of the Ignition Grant Program.
The projects funded range from simulations of global ocean
ecosystems, potential impacts of artificial ocean fertilization, and environmental
semiconductor design, to harnessing wave energy, designing hybrid generators
for rural Africa, and researching environmentally-conscious development of the
carbon nanotube industry.
One of the first two Ignition Grants awarded played a key
role in the project receiving a much larger subsequent grant from the National
Science Foundation. Professor Ed Boyle,
who received the first $50,000 grant for his lab’s work in measuring the
potential impacts of artificial ocean fertilization, agrees that “If [graduate
student] Seth John hadn’t received the Ignition Grant in August 2006, there is
a high likelihood my lab would not have received NSF funding in Spring
2007.”
The ESI Ignition Grant program is open to receiving new
proposals. Contact
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for more information.
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