Climate Grand Challenges
MIT’s Climate Grand Challenges funds interdisciplinary research projects targeting breakthroughs in climate science, emissions reduction, adaptation, and resilience to deliver transformative climate solutions.
Funder: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Due Dates: No current open call; flagship projects selected in 2022 | Future competitions not announced
Funding Amounts: Multi-year funding for selected flagship projects; specific award sizes not disclosed
Summary: Supports breakthrough, interdisciplinary research to address the most difficult unsolved problems in climate science and solutions.
Key Information: Currently not accepting new proposals; program supports ongoing flagship projects.
Description
The Climate Grand Challenges initiative at MIT is a major institutional effort to mobilize the research community in tackling the toughest problems in climate science and solutions. Launched in 2020, the initiative aims to support bold, interdisciplinary projects that can deliver transformative advances in emissions reduction, climate adaptation and resilience, risk forecasting, carbon removal, and understanding human impacts of climate change. The program emphasizes collaboration across MIT’s departments and with external partners from industry, government, non-profits, and philanthropy.
Following a two-phase competition, nearly 100 proposals were submitted, and 27 teams were invited to develop comprehensive white papers. In 2022, five flagship projects were selected to receive multi-year funding and resources to accelerate impactful climate solutions.
