Learn more about MCSI's external, community partners, as well as funding and experiential opportunities designed to help Pitt faculty and students engage in sustainability research, education and outreach.
External Partners
Our faculty and students want to have a real impact within our community and seek industrial, nonprofit and community partners to address real-world sustainability challenges. Learn more about MCSI's community partners and projects, including the Sustainability Capstone, service initiatives, and K-12 education and outreach.
Funding Programs
The Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation offers a variety of funding programs designed to support faculty pursuing research, teaching and creative work related to sustainability. These programs empower faculty and students to proactively lead groundbreaking research, expand sustainability education, and engage communities in meaningful and transformative ways.
- Post-Doctoral Funding Program in Sustainability, designed to catalyze innovative research, strengthen multidisciplinary collaborations, and enrich the postdoctoral experience through intentional mentoring, cohort-based programming, and professional development.
- Faculty Awards in Sustainability, designed to enhance the university’s mission of interdisciplinary excellence in sustainability research and education. The goal of these awards is to elevate sustainability across Pitt’s academic landscape and catalyze new cross-disciplinary collaborations.
- Research Seed Grants support convergent research teams who are focused on sustainability and associated solutions.
- General/Rapid Funding is small, flexible funding available to enable faculty to take advantage of urgent or unique opportunities that advance sustainability research, teaching or community engagement.
- Student Project Grants are awarded in collaboration with the Pitt Green Fund. These support student groups who are initiating programs, activities or events that cover the broad topics of sustainability and help to advance Pitt’s Sustainability Plan
Education and Curriculum
MCSI is also leading University efforts to infuse sustainability into undergraduate and graduate education through:
- First-Year Presentations, introducing first-year students to the range of sustainability initiatives at Pitt.
- Attribute Codes, to help pair student interest in sustainability with relevant courses and faculty expertise.
- Sustainability Distinction, helping undergraduate students gain recognition and “credit” for outside-the-classroom endeavors .
- Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability, providing undergraduate students the opportunity to enhance their education by including sustainability in their course of study.
- Graduate Certificate in Circular Economy, providing graduate students and professionals with skills and knowledge regarding circular economy.
- Master of Science in Sustainable Engineering, preparing students to identify and solve sustainability issues using systems approaches in the context of environmental, social, and economic problems.
- Circular Economy Program, training graduate students to strategically develop circular economy solutions for the spiraling global waste problem.