The goal: to enable universal access to sustainable sanitation services by supporting the development of radically new sanitation technologies as well as markets for new sanitation products and services.
ECS is partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to host a multi-day workshop at the 2014 International Electrochemical Energy Summit (E2S) which takes place during the ECS and SMEQ Joint International meeting in Cancun, Mexico being held Oct. 5-9, 2014. The workshop will culminate in the distribution of over $200,000 in seed funding from ECS, addressing critical technology gaps in water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges being faced around the world.
40% of the world’s population–2.5 billion people–practice open defecation or lack adequate sanitation facilities, and the consequences can be devastating for human health as well as the environment.
Disseminating information
ECS hopes to improve access to clean water and sanitation in developing countries by leveraging the brainpower of the many scientists in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology attending the 2014 ECS and Sociedad Mexicana de Electroquímica Joint International Meeting.
Priority topic areas will include interfaces, disinfection, energy generation, energy storage, chemical conversion, monitoring and measurement, and dewatering technologies, among others, including a “wild card” topic area to be decided by participants.
“ECS is excited to partner with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help address the urgent water and sanitation challenges the world is facing,” says ECS president Paul Kohl. “This partnership provides a unique opportunity for researchers to generate potential solutions and then almost immediately start testing them.”
How it works
The workshop will kick-off with remarks from current awardees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Participants will be guided through facilitated brainstorming and working group sessions. Attendees will work in full group and breakout sessions to address complex scientific issues, gaps, and needs. They will be encouraged to create partnerships and surface new approaches to existing challenges within the WASH portfolio.
(The submission period has now ended. We are assembling a waiting list in case there are cancellations. To be added to the list, please email Becca.Compton@electrochem.org.)
NOTE: Attendance at the facilitated brainstorming session is not a prerequisite for submitting a funding proposal. The summary of the facilitated brainstorming session will be distributed via email to all meeting attendees.
Grant money available
At least two grants will be distributed on the last day of the meeting from the more than $200,000 available, each in the range of $25,000-$100,000. Participants are expected to develop potential partnerships and collaborative proposals, then make an oral presentation. An independent review committee will review the proposals and make award recommendations by Friday, Oct. 10, 2014.
Grantees will also be invited to present in technical symposia at future ECS meetings. The International Electrochemical Energy Summit was instituted in Oct. 2011 to bring together scientists, policy makers, government officials, and industry leaders to learn about global energy issues and research in electrochemical energy that can address societal energy needs. There are many important technical talks to attend throughout the week, including the Energy-Water Nexus symposia, which begins at 1400 on Monday.
Learn more…
Read about E2S 2014
Join us in Cancun
Register now for the 2014 ECS and SMEQ Joint International Meeting in Cancun
