Looking for an opportunity to catalyze sustainable, people-centered urban mobility? The Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship wants to help you transform ideas into reality.

The Schipper family and EMBARQ, the sustainable urban mobility initiative of World Resources Institute’s WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2017 Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship for Sustainable Transport and Energy Efficiency. Provided jointly by the Schipper Family and WRI Ross Center, the Scholarship will award two extraordinary candidates up to US$ 10,000 each to advance transformative research in efficient and sustainable transport.

Dr. Leon J. Schipper (“Lee” or “Mr. Meter”) was a co-founder of EMBARQ who dedicated his professional life to the efficient use of energy in mobility. An international physicist, researcher, and studied musician, Lee was a giant in the energy efficiency field. This scholarship celebrates his vision and the bold challenges to conventional wisdom he gave to the field.

2015 recipient Gwen Kash’s research focused on issues related to quality of service—like crowding and crime—that affect many formal and informal transit systems. 2016 recipients Akshima Ghate and Fiamma Perez studied changes in women’s transport patterns and the impact of green navigation systems, respectively.

About the Scholarship

The Scholarship is aimed at expanding the contributions to research and policy dialogue in the field of sustainable transport and energy efficiency, with a special emphasis on “iconoclastic” contributions that have clear, transformative outputs and contribute to measurable changes. Proposals are welcome from across the different stages that nurture policy dialogue, including: data collection and data quality, diagnosis through data analysis (qualitative and quantitative), policy analysis and evaluation, and interdisciplinary and international comparative analysis.

Who’s eligible?

There are no geographic restrictions on applications for the Scholarship, so young researchers and students of all national origins and fields are eligible to apply. However, applications should be submitted in English – work may be done in other languages as needed to enhance impact. The scholarship defines a young researcher as someone who has five or fewer years of experience since his or her last academic degree (Masters or PhD), and is not older than 35 years at the time of submission of the expression of interest (born on or after November 23, 1981). Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Consistency with Lee Schipper’s contributions
• Alignment with the idea of sustainable transport and energy efficiency
• Creation of innovative, transformational outcomes (“real impact”)
• Feasibility (timely, realistic)
• Applicant (affiliation, background, previous contributions, references)

How to apply (today!)

The first selection phase requires an expression of interest, to be completed by November 23, 2016. Interested applicants can learn more about this process in the Scholarship guidelines and start their applications here. From this first phase, up to ten candidates will advance to the next selection round and will be notified by December 8, 2016 when a more detailed research proposal will be required.

Comments? Questions? Contact cities@wri.org.