Harvard-China Project Receives Funding for Research on Renewable Energy in Namibia
By Liza Harsch | Read the full story on the Harvard Gazette.
The Office of the Vice Provost for Research and the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs, in collaboration with the Harvard University Center for African Studies, have announced the 2023 awardees for the Motsepe Presidential Research Accelerator Fund for Africa.
After an extremely successful first round of awards during the 2020–21 academic year, the Motsepe Foundation generously doubled its commitment to the fund to include support for projects falling within the STEAM rubric (the application of the arts and humanities to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics research). Now in its third year, the fund has garnered interest from faculty across the University with broad-ranging research interests in Africa, confronting key challenges and opportunities facing the continent with innovative project proposals.
“We were enthused by the high caliber of all proposals we received, and the breadth of disciplines represented within them,” said John Shaw, vice provost for research, Harry C. Dudley Professor of Structural and Economic Geology, and professor of environmental science and engineering. “We are thrilled to see the continued interest in this fund and look forward to the impactful outcomes of this year’s awards.”
Reflecting on the competition for awards, Mark Elliott, vice provost for international affairs and Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History, said, “I am so pleased to see how the Motsepe Fund continues to inspire diverse scholarship and research partnerships between Harvard-based scholars and colleagues at African institutions.”
Across the three years of awards so far, the fund has supported proposals by primary investigators from five of Harvard’s Schools, including the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Harvard Medical School. Another three Schools have been represented by co-investigators or collaborators on funded projects: Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Graduate School of Education.
“This fund has enabled Harvard’s faculty to pursue more work on the African continent and I am glad to see the meaningful collaboration with colleagues in Africa, which will lead to beneficial research outcomes for us all,” shared Emmanuel Akyeampong, Oppenheimer Faculty Director of the Harvard Center for African Studies and Ellen Gurney Professor of History and Professor of African and African American Studies, as he emphasized the importance of this fund for Harvard’s partnerships in Africa.
The Harvard-China Project research award:
“Renewable Namibia: Exploiting Wind and Solar to Expand Domestic Energy Access and Exports of Zero-Carbon Energy” By Michael McElroy, Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; with co-investigators Frank Keutsch (Harvard Paulson School), Chris P. Nielsen (Harvard-China Project on Energy, Economy, and Environment), and Haiyang Lin (Harvard Paulson School) and collaborator Zivaye Chiguvare (University of Namibia)