SOM Foundation Announces Topic for 2024–2025
The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the topic for 2024–2025. This year’s awards will focus on the topic of “Advancing Toward a Water-Secure Future.”
Lake Verret, Louisiana, 2017. © Virginia Hanusik.
As shared during the United Nations 2023 Water Conference, two billion people lack access to safe drinking water; 40 percent of the world’s population is affected by water scarcity; agriculture demands alone account for 70 percent of water usage; more than 90 percent of disasters are water-related; and pressure on freshwater is projected to increase by more than 40 percent by 2050.
From macro multinational ecosystems to microclimates, there is an urgent need for bold and collaborative solutions to a myriad of existing and future water-related challenges. This year, the SOM Foundation will direct its support toward proposals that address the complex relationship between water, people, and the built environment. Creating a sustainable, equitable, and water-secure future will require innovative and multidisciplinary ideas that shape long-term policies, define comprehensive plans, and identify immediate actions.
The call for applications to the Research Prize, European Research Prize, and Robert L. Wesley Award will open in September 2024. The call for applications to the Structural Engineering Fellowship and China Fellowship will open in January 2025. The call for applications to the Researcher-in-Residence will open in February 2025.