Imperial and MIT launch seed fund for ideas that reduce the impact of pollution

Imperial and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have launched a research seed fund for ideas that will help reduce the impact of pollution.

Imperial and MIT share a commitment to address key global challenges and for 2020, the MIT-Imperial College London Seed Fund will call for research into climate solutions and the transition to zero pollution.

The funding, worth $100,000 in total, will bring together researchers from two of the world's best universities to build early-stage collaboration.

The seed fund is calling for innovations to help prevent the worst consequences of climate change and will help build a future that is free from human-made pollution.

Imperial’s Vice-President (International) Professor Maggie Dallman, said: "This seed fund marks an exciting new chapter in our collaboration with MIT and will enable our scientists to work more closely together to reduce the impact of pollution on the climate and people's health. Global issues can only be solved with international collaboration and innovative ideas and this seed fund provides a platform for scientists to do that." 

Professor Richard Lester, Associate Provost at MIT said: “The new focus of the MIT-Imperial seed fund on climate change and environmental sustainability reflects research priorities at both institutions. The world’s leading research universities have a special responsibility to develop science-based solutions to these great challenges, and by working together on these problems MIT and Imperial can reasonably hope to strengthen their combined impact.”

The initiative builds on decades of strong connections between Imperial and MIT, including thousands of top-tier journal papers, hundreds of student exchanges and scores of academic partnerships. 

These include an Africa-focused seed fund, a Global Fellows Programme that brings together some of the most promising PhD students from both universities, an undergraduate summer exchange scheme and many research collaborations. 

Transition to zero pollution

Earlier this year Imperial announced a set of major initiatives in the fight against climate change.

Transition to Zero Pollution is a pioneering programme in research, education and innovation to help society ‘transition to zero pollution’.

Professor Mary Ryan, Vice-Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Engineering, and leads Imperial's Transition to Zero Pollution programme, said: "If we are to find meaningful solutions to climate change and build a sustainable future, we need think about how to address pollution at source and understanding the impact of it in the whole life cycle. This seed fund will accelerate research in areas such as the way materials are used in manufacturing, how we produce food and energy, and ways to mitigate the impact of air pollution on people's health."

Seed Fund applications

The MIT-Imperial Seed Fund is now accepting applications. The deadline is 14 December 2020.

Find out more and apply.