UW News

November 28, 2012

News Digest: Honor: International Green Award bronze, research-collaboration website launches

UW receives International Green Award bronze
The University of Washington’s sustainability efforts received a bronze in the 2012 International Green Awards in the category for most sustainable educational institutions.

Gold, silver and bronze awards in 20 categories – ranging from most sustainable corporation to most sustainable non-government organization – were announced Nov. 20 in London.

The International Green Awards, accredited by the United Kingdom’s Royal Society of Arts, recognize innovative approaches to sustainability, according to the award website. The awards program was started in 2006 by Iain Patton, who operated a communications consulting business and later the Green Consultancy.

Gold in the most sustainable educational institutions category went to Bentleigh Secondary College, a public high school in Melbourne, Australia, and the silver to York University in England.

 UW launches website to help foster research collaboration
The Fostering Research Collaboration website, a doorway to interdisciplinary tools and resources, is now live.

On the website, researchers can access a faculty expertise and funding database, profiles of research centers and institutes, profiles of energy researchers, and collaborative resources such as the “Handbook for Leaders of Organized Research Units.” There’s also a link to the Complex Proposals Management Group, which offers consultation on the development and submission of collaborative proposals.

The site is meant to support faculty in obtaining and managing large collaborative projects, help faculty respond to emerging issues and decrease administrative burden on faculty and staff.

“As part of the Fostering Collaboration Initiative, one of our goals is it to continue to strengthen the university’s competitiveness in research, and provide solutions to society’s most pressing issues,” said Mary Lidstrom, vice provost for research.

The work is part of the larger UW Two Years to Two Decades Initiative, also known as 2y2d.