Center for Urban Transformations - Urban Studies Institute

Students crossing street with capitol building in background

OUR AIM

The Center for Urban Transformations aims to foster the interdisciplinary capacities needed to co-produce innovative research agendas that advance sustainability transformations.

Students will engage in co-producing research ideas and questions across disciplines and the academic-practice divide in close collaboration with community partners to make tangible, real-world impacts in our communities.

Why Join the Center for Urban Transformations?

Each of the program’s activities is informed by experience with metro-Atlanta-based urban sustainability projects to:

foster inclusive relationships with community partners;
develop capacities for collaborative research;
develop knowledge on the theory and practice of urban sustainability; and
encourage graduate students to generate transformative interdisciplinary research.

GRADUATE SUPPORT

Open to students from allied fields, including geosciences, law, public health, public policy, and urban studies.

Urban Transformations Fellows and Associates

Urban Transformations Fellows will be selected to lead their student team. They will be compensated through Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs) for their time and commitment. Additional Urban Transformations Associates from GSU and other RCE Greater Atlanta schools will also be selected each year. Detailed application information for fellows and associate opportunities is also available at the Center for Urban Transformations hub page.

Knowledge Mobilization Grants

Each year, the Center will award Knowledge Mobilization Grants to teams of graduate students who propose qualified transdisciplinary research projects in consultation with one or more of the Center’s community partners. The grants give graduate students the chance to work in interdisciplinary teams and co-produce solutions to urban sustainability problems affecting the Center’s partners and members of the metro-Atlanta community.

UNIQUE TRANSDISCIPLINARY EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Urban Transformations Courses

The weekly studio class for the Center for Urban Transformations will:

forge community partnerships and expand your local networks;
facilitate opportunities to craft sustainability solutions;
craft research proposals and pitch their projects for funding;
deeply explore critical questions on place-based urban challenges; and
acquire additional knowledge and skills on science communication, systems thinking, participatory research, and other inter- and transdisciplinary skills.

As part of the Center for Urban Transformations, students will focus on mobilizing their science by creating podcasts, policy briefs, websites, videos, and public events that the cohort will host during the academic year.

Multi-Modal Mentorship

Each student will be partnered with mentors who will help the student frame and pursue research questions.
Ongoing conversations and interactions with mentors will afford opportunities for students to learn from their mentor’s insights about how the social, civic, or regulatory environment has facilitated or impeded efforts to serve their communities.
These relationships will also provide a foundation for developing students’ professional identities and networks.

OUR PARTNERS

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 2203718. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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