Path to Resilience Hubs

Organization

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Reference Code

NREL-FACES-2025-Stevens

Application Deadline

3/15/2025 11:59:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

Description

The goal of the FACES program is to empower science technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faculty from emerging research institutions (including associates, baccalaureate, masters, and R2 doctoral granting institutions) by equipping them with enhanced research skills and expertise in clean energy science.

FACES is a 10-week summer program that provides faculty with the opportunity to collaborate with NREL researchers and develop scalable education modules on topics like community engagement, human behavior, energy and environmental science, and artificial intelligence. The first eight weeks will be spent at NREL in an immersive environment with an NREL staff researcher/mentor. The final two weeks will be conducted virtually to prepare a final deliverable. A Customized Learning Solution (CLS) will be the culminating milestone of the research experience with the intent for your hosting NREL mentor to travel to your MSI and deliver the CLS to your class.

The participant will collaborate with two nonprofit retrofit project teams at NREL to develop a definition of a resilience hub appropriate for Alaska along with a ranking scale for buildings based on existing definitions, public health needs, and knowledge of Alaska’s climate and resources. The nonprofit projects have more than 40 buildings enrolled with a variety of building types. Together, the participant and project team will use the resilience hub definition and scale to analyze each building for a pre-retrofit ranking as part of the project’s consideration of non-energy benefits. Then they will select some of the buildings for in-depth case studies to use in a teaching module. The teaching module can be aimed at building owners, local governments, and/or students, and will explain what a resilience hub is, and what to consider when retrofitting a building to become one. The case studies can provide specific examples of costs and steps to take.

Participation requires a commitment to the full ten-week program (June 2 through August 8, 2025).

Selected faculty participants will receive a weekly stipend of $1,800 for the ten-week program (paid biweekly). Selected faculty may also be eligible to receive a $500 inbound/outbound travel reimbursement.

Deadline: March 15, 2025

A Complete Application Includes

• All required fields in both the Zintellect profile and Zintellect application form, including Current Curriculum Vitae (include list of any papers, presentations, or publications)
• Two References submitted through Zintellect
• Customized learning solution abstract (150 words) showing how the proposed project will align with and be integrated into your current course load. References to one of the four FACES pillars preferred: Human Behavior (1), Community Engagement (2), Environmental Science (3), Energy Transition and Artificial Intelligence (4). (Learning solution only requires alignment with a single course)
• Personal statement
• Provide a personal statement indicating your interest in renewable energy research, desire to bring current research into the classroom, and any other relevant information you feel would help inform our decision.
• Submitted documents must have all personal identification numbers, and/or dates of birth removed (blanked out, blackened out, made illegible, etc.) prior to uploading into the application system.
  

The selected applicants will be responsible for providing the following deliverables as part of their appointment

• Pre-Survey
• Project Summary Abstract and Presentation to the research group
• Customized Learning Solution (CLS)
• Post-Survey
  
  

The deliverables that selected applicants provide will need to include information on the eight weeks at NREL and the final two virtual weeks spent preparing for the final deliverable focusing on the Customized Learning Solution (CLS).

Qualifications

You must meet the following to be eligible to apply:

• Must be a United States Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident at the time of applying.
• Be a current (2024-25 academic year) faculty member from an eligible non-R1 institution including eligible Community Colleges, as categorized by the Carnegie Classification.
• Be recognized as full-time faculty by your institution, not holding "adjunct" or "visiting" designations.
  
  

Additional Eligibility Factors

• Have coverage under a health insurance plan before arriving at the appointment site and maintain coverage during the appointment.
• Interest in a specific NREL area of research
  
  

Candidates should have interest or experience in one of the following areas:

• Background in public health metrics and climate resilience.
  
  

Point of Contact

Abby

Eligibility Requirements">1 )

• Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, or Doctoral Degree.
• Discipline(s):
• Life Health and Medical Sciences ( Show more