A U.S. agency will use $100 million to fund college research on worldwide development issues — a research topic common among LSU faculty members.
The U.S. Agency for International Development announced a program this month that encourages university researchers to study problems like lack of resources and environmental struggles in developing countries worldwide.
USAID is prepared to dole out $100 million to universities willing to participate.
The program is still in the early stages and the specific details have not been released, but LSU faculty are frequently involved in international research, said Matthew Lee, associate vice chancellor for the Office of Research and Economic Development.
Lee said the University has “tremendous strength” in research areas like conventional and renewable energy and community sustainability.
The University’s Center for Energy Studies, College of Engineering and the LSU AgCenter have done extensive research into renewable research in the past.
“As a land, sea and space grant institution that is the Flagship University for the state of Louisiana, LSU has a vast array of expertise that is well suited to tackle the extremely complex problems that USAID is interested in solving,” Lee said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille.
He said research partnerships with corporate or industrial sponsors and non-profit agencies are common among LSU researchers.
University researchers could have strong interest in working with the USAID, he said, but details about the program are still unknown.
“The nature of the program parameters will dictate who may be interested and how they choose to pursue this opportunity,” Lee said.
USAID is expected to release official request proposals later
this month.
The newly announced program is an effort to rebuild a relationship between the USAID and higher education institutions, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education report.
 
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Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]