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MONDIALOGO ENGINEERING AWARD

Largest worldwide contest for student engineers calls for participants

· Contest of Daimler and UNESCO promotes ideas for fight against poverty and climate change
· €300,000 in prize money as seed funding for project proposals
· Registration phase runs until31 October 2008

Stuttgart/Paris – Daimler and UNESCO invite student engineers from universities around the world to apply for the largest international engineering competition - the Mondialogo Engineering Award.Registration is open until 31 October2008 atwww.mondialogo.org. The award carries prize money totalling € 300,000. It is intended that these awards be used as seed funding to help develop and initiate the proposed projects.

In the Mondialogo Engineering Award, student engineers from developing and developed countries are challenged to form International Project Teams to develop ideas and design project proposals for sustainable solutions to problems in developing countries.The focus is on the design of innovative technologies to reduce poverty, promote sustainable development and address other United Nations Millennium Development Goals, in such fields as environmental protection, energy, water supply and sanitation, waste management, use of natural resources, medical care, nutrition, housing, hygiene, disaster protection, mobility, communication andclimate change - a key concern of the Mondialogo Engineering Award.

International Project Teams eligible to apply for the Mondialogo Engineering Award should consist of two student groups from two higher education establishments, with one group from a developing country and the other from a developed country.The Mondialogo Internet Portalwww.mondialogo.orgacts as a contact centre for groups to meet each other, and will later function as a virtual office for inter-group communications.Teams will have time until April 2009 to develop and design their project proposals.An international jury will then assess the entries and decide on the awarding,which willbe part of a festive ceremony in later 2009. Key factors in the assessment are sustainability, technical quality, feasibility of the project proposals and the quality of the intercultural cooperation between the teams. Through the competition Daimler and UNESCO aim to promote international cooperation, intercultural dialogue and the exchange of knowledge among student engineers, universities and higher education establishments.

The Mondialogo Engineering Award is part of the Mondialogo project initiated and launched by Daimler and UNESCO in 2003. The Mondialogo Initiative also consists of the Mondialogo School Contest and the multilingual Mondialogo Internet Portal. The aim of the Mondialogo project is to encourage cooperation and dialogue between people from different countries and cultures, working together across continents on a joint project activity.This cooperation is intended to develop understanding, tolerance and friendship between people with different cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds.

Contact:

Daimler AG UNESCO
Susann Rohr Sue Williams
Phone: + 49 (0)711/17-40622 Phone:+33 (0)1 45 68 17 06
Fax: + 49 (0)711/17-24847 Fax: +33 (0)1 45 68 56 59
susann.rohr@daimler.com s.williams@unesco.org

Mondialogo
André Paris
Phone:+49 (0)69/74 34 88 309
Fax: +49 (0)69/74 34 88 809
presse@mondialogo.org

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a global non-profit environmental organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists. Our staff of over 350 includes lawyers, scientists, economists, and policy analysts who work to safeguard the environment through policy and legal advocacy grounded in rigorous scientific and economic analysis. The NRDC Center for Market Innovation (CMI) engages leading corporations in order to develop market-based environmental solutions. We combine business and policy leadership to accelerate commercialization of environmental solutions (www.marketinnovation.org). Our current work with Wal-Mart, for example, includes using their sourcing and marketing power to directly improve the energy efficiency of consumer electronics while also enlisting their support for smart utility regulations that encourage energy efficiency. We are looking for talented and passionate young leaders to help us harness market forces to scale up global warming solutions through a one-year Environmental Innovation Fellowship at the CMI. Fellows will have the opportunity to work with leading policymakers, business leaders and environmental advocates to develop innovative and lasting initiatives to cost-effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Fellows will be selected through a competitive application process in which we ask you to share a proposal with your innovative idea for market-based strategies to combat global warming. Selected entrants will receive a one-year fellowship with the CMI commencing in early summer 2008, with the expectation that they will devote part of their time to advancing their proposal as well as contributing to broader CMI priorities. This will be a full-time staff position with office space at NRDC and a stipend of $75,000 plus benefits. Fellows will report to the director of the CMI and will ideally be based in our New York office, though geographic flexibility may be possible in exceptional cases Application Guidelines: Applicants should submit a short PowerPoint presentation (no more than 10 slides) describing their idea as well as a resume and three references. We encourage applicants to be creative and entrepreneurial with their concepts, which should focus on new business models and associated market-enabling policies to effectively scale up existing technologies that reduce global warming pollution. A competitive entry might, for example, outline a novel business model to accelerate adoption of energy efficiency and renewables in the residential sector-including attention to key enabling policies such as rules encouraging utilities to procure both efficiency (e.g. decoupling and related incentives) and clean distributed generation (e.g. net metering and interconnection standards). Another competitive proposal might outline a strategy for originating credible carbon offsets through improved forestry or agricultural management practices within U.S. borders-including a brief sketch of essential policies within a cap and trade framework to make this workable. To be clear, we are not soliciting ideas for new technologies but rather ideas for new business models and associated market-based policies to effectively scale up existing solutions for global warming. A winning proposal should ideally include in the PowerPoint submission a concise description of the concept, size and characteristics of the target market, likely financial structures, brief sketch of key enabling policies, summary of feedback from any stakeholder interviews, key remaining questions, and suggested next steps towards eventual implementation. There is no expectation that applicants will prepare well-researched business plans with detailed backup. Rather, applications will be judged on creativity as well as the merit and feasibility of the idea. Final selection will be based on in person interviews in early April. Application Checklist: PowerPoint proposal - 10 slides or less Resume 3 professional references Who: The competition is open to any entrepreneurial graduate student, though marketed primarily to MBA students. Applicants are individuals, not teams, and we are committed to workplace diversity. Send application materials to Yerina Mugica at ymugica@nrdc.org

The National Science Foundation requests proposals for the Energy for Sustainability Program. This program supports fundamental research and education in energy production, conversion, and storage, and is focused on energy sources that are environmentally friendly and renewable, including solar, wind and biomass. For more info, contact Trung Nguyen at tnguyen@nsf.gov or go to: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=501026. Refer to Sol# PD-08-7644.

UC Systemwide Funding Opportunities UC systemwide research funding opportunities available to UC faculty, researchers and graduate students. They are arranged by these categories: Arts and Humanities Social Sciences Life Sciences Physical Sciences and Engineering Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Office of Health Affairs (UCOP) Additional funding opportunities in support of research are available through state agencies, federal agencies, and through campus-specific sources.

Masters Fellowships:
Masters students should apply when they have selected a research site and will be ready to begin research the summer or fall immediately following the February application deadline.
Provides stipends of up to $7,000 for Masters research.
Eligible expenditures include living expenses in the field and transportation, communication, and other research-related expenses.
Masters Fellows must live in the study community for 3-6 months.
All Masters fellows must submit mid-term and final reports and participate in the CFERP Workshop during their fellowship year.

Predissertation Fellowships:
Predissertation students should apply the year before they anticipate writing their dissertation proposal.
Provides stipends of up to of $2,000 for Predissertation research.
Eligible expenditures include summer travel and related expenses to visit potential field sites and communities for subsequent research.
Predissertation fellows must submit a final project report and participate in the CFERP Workshop during their fellowship year.

Dissertation Fellowships:
Dissertation fellows should apply for a fellowship after they have been advanced to candidacy and are ready to spend nine months to a year in the field doing research.
Dissertation Fellows will be awarded up to $15,000 each.
Eligible expenditures include living expenses while the researcher is in the field and transportation, communication, and other research-related expenses.
Dissertation Fellows must live in the study community for 9-12 months.
All dissertation fellows must submit mid-term and final reports and participate in the CFERP Workshop twice during their fellowship year, once at the beginning and once at the end.

Key Aspects of the CFERP Program Include:

Funding for expenditures related to field research
Attendance at an annual workshop with other fellows, community members, academic advisors, CFERP program staff, and others to share research, keep abreast of theoretical and substantive issues in sustainable natural resource management in the United States, and deepen understanding of participatory research methods
Participation in a network of former CFERP fellows, community partners and resource people
Opportunities for contributing to program publications

The Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2) is pleased to announce its inaugural Post-Doctoral Fellows Program. This program aims to attract the best early-career researchers from around the world, to focus on fundamental scientific challenges across the broad range of disciplines relevant to the renewable energy industry. Research disciplines include plant biotechnology, biochemical and thermochemical conversion technologies, as well as process, product, and systems engineering. "Fellows will be funded at $65,000/year in direct costs, which includes stipend, supplies, and travel costs. C2B2 invites applicants throughout all relevant disciplines to apply. Candidates must be sponsored by a C2B2 PI in order to submit the online application. Although, applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis, final announcements will be provided in May, 2008.

The Venture Lab CLEAN TECH Innovation Prize seeks to recognize and bring together UC Berkeley engineers and scientists working on applied research and technology with commercial potential in the field of clean technology. Prizes will be awarded to teams that best demonstrate an innovative solution to one of today's pressing clean technology problems. The competition's winners will receive recognition for the work; more than $20,000 in cash awards and prizes; and strategic networking opportunities with venture capitalists and industry leaders. The competition is open to all UC Berkeley faculty, students, and staff as well as the staff of the Lawrence Berkeley Labs. Cal alumni and others may also participate if at least one team member is currently affiliated with UC Berkeley. Semifinalists will be announced on April 1. On the evening of April 8, semifinalist teams will make short presentations to a panel of judges from the clean tech community followed by an in-depth Q&A and the announcement of the winners.

Is your work application oriented? Do you know students in other departments or research groups that you would like to meet with to discuss your work? Would you benefit from having a student-only discussion about your research area? Consider applying for funds to start an Idea Lab, a multidisciplinary collaboration between graduate students on campus working on developing a common application, product, or service. We are interested in supporting like minded groups in a wide range of areas, including groups that might bring together students in science, engineering, social sciences, humanities, etc.

IGERT programs provide generous stipend ($30,000 per year) and tuition support for students through the National Science Foundation

For over twenty years, the Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation has sponsored fellowships for environmental graduate students in New England and California. Each Fellowship award is $15,000 and represents an extraordinary opportunity for a few, select students. This year we will be selecting the twenty-second class of Switzer Fellows since the program was founded in 1986. The goal of the Switzer Foundation is to identify and nurture those individuals who have the ability and determination to make a significant and early impact on environmental quality. In addition to receiving financial assistance, Switzer Fellows become part of an alumni network (the Switzer Fellowship Network) of over 450 environmental professionals and past Fellows dedicated to environmental protection and improvement. The Switzer Fellowship Network is a highly respected resource locally, nationally and internationally for non-profit organizations, government agencies, and other entities. Bolstered by the Foundation’s long-term support, Switzer Fellows are using their expertise in natural and social sciences, business, law, and policy fields to sustain, restore, and steward our life support systems and create sustainable communities. In addition to the Fellowship award, Switzer Fellows gain access to other Switzer Foundation grant programs designed to advance their career development.