The Institute launched with strong momentum, drawing an extraordinary response from donors committed to supporting its full range of research and educational programs. The meaningful investments signal tremendous support for the shared vision of President Alivisatos and the faculty directors. Building on this foundation, the Institute plans to hire 20 new faculty members over the next five years. Faculty searches in the fields of law, political science, economics, materials engineering, and AI are underway—underscoring the Institute’s commitment to bringing a wide range of insights to this deeply interdisciplinary challenge.
“We’re thrilled to launch this new Institute and expand the reach of our faculty’s expertise in critical areas,” Provost Katherine Baicker said. “The Institute’s interdisciplinary, collaborative approach is crucial for addressing the complexities of climate change. It will create a dynamic platform that engages the full breadth of insights across our campus community—from the arts and humanities, to the social sciences, to the biological sciences and beyond. This reflects our commitment as a global research leader to bringing our community’s wide range of knowledge to bear in discovering and driving real-world solutions to the planet’s most pressing problems.”
“The University of Chicago is distinctly poised to contribute to the understanding of the challenges of climate and energy, and to offer improved approaches for overcoming these challenges.”
Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, is the Institute’s founding faculty director.
“Families around the world aspire for a better life, and inexpensive energy is key to the growth that unlocks it,” said Greenstone. “The reality is that in many places and settings, the least expensive energy options are the fossil fuels that cause climate change. This can put the goals of managing climate change and growth in conflict, and the Institute’s aim is to find ways to balance these two goals—recognizing that both are critical to our well-being.”
The Institute’s research and programming will be driven by three foundational pillars, each major strengths of the University of Chicago. The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) will move into the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, bringing considerable expertise and experience in energy policy and market design on a global scale, with dedicated research programs in India and China for the past 10 and five years, respectively.
Prof. Shirley Meng, a world-leading battery scientist, will lead the Energy Technologies Initiative pillar of the Institute, which, among its efforts, is driving major advancements in energy storage technologies widely regarded as a holy grail of the energy transition. The Initiative originates at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) as part of its ongoing work in energy and sustainability.
Prof. David Keith, who joined UChicago in April 2023, will lead the Institute’s Climate Systems Engineering initiative (CSEi). The initiative will produce new ways of thinking about the risks from more than a century of accumulated emissions, and in the process, launch a new and urgently needed field of study encompassing open-systems carbon removal, solar geoengineering, and local interventions to prevent glacial melting.
On the education front, the Institute announced the creation of the Chicago Curriculum on Climate and Sustainable Growth, which will serve as the foundation for a series of new degree programs at the undergraduate and master’s levels at the University of Chicago. Through a 360-degree approach, the curriculum will expose students to the foundational ideas, tradeoffs, and complexities of the global climate and sustainable growth challenge in a way that no other university globally has to date.
“A game change is needed in the climate fight,” said Greenstone. “One that alters understanding of the climate and growth challenge—not just at the University of Chicago but around the world. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring the power of the University of Chicago to bear on this challenge. I am deeply honored and excited to lead this new effort.”
“A game change is needed in the climate fight. One that alters understanding of the climate and growth challenge—not just at the University of Chicago but around the world.”
The Institute’s distinctive overall approach introduces a wide range of new research and educational programs, which build on a uniquely powerful foundation.
Markets and policy
Building on UChicago’s renowned history of applying economic thinking to tackle major societal challenges, the Institute will work to characterize the climate and sustainable growth challenge and uncover the policies and markets that will help to find a balance between these goals. This research will include a distinctive focus on the world’s developing and emerging economies, which are expected to account for 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions over the remainder of the century—and where the need for growth is especially acute.
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