SSTI Grand Challenge call for Notices of Intent, (NOI)

In December 2016, the ‘Sustainability Sciences and Technologies Initiative’ (as the MSSI was then called) asked the McGill community to submit short proposals (Notices of Intent) for the major research programs to be funded by the Initiative. Research areas (‘Grand Challenges’) were to be unique and original, capable of being developed into programs, attracting significant long-term funding, and placing McGill at the forefront of sustainability research on the Canadian and international stage. A critical criterion was that, to be successful, the research would require input from a variety of disciplines such as social sciences, law, management, and humanities, as well as the natural sciences and engineering. The MSSI Executive Committee, with advice from the Advisory Committee, would then select a small number of NOIs for further development into research programs.

The response was overwhelming. Instead of the expected 6 – 8 submissions, the MSSI received 40 proposals which included more than 180 named researchers.

With such a high level of interest from across McGill, the plan to select a small number of NOIs for development was revised. Instead of focusing on a small number of NOIs, the lead authors -  along with Lightning Talk presenters - were invited to participate in a facilitated 3 h workshop to further explore potential areas of research. These workshops, and their outcome, would be based on the NOIs and individual research interests.

The list of NOI titles can be found below and further information on the MSSI Workshops can be found here.