About the Grantham Centre

The Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures is a collaboration between the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and The University of Sheffield. 

At the Grantham Centre experts from academia, business and policy come together to create a sustainable future. Key to this is mentoring the next generation of sustainability researchers: the Grantham Scholars.

The Grantham Scholars

Interviews with Grantham Scholars
Our researchers are an amazing lot. Pictured are just some of them that we have interviewed, click on the picture to be taken to our blog, interviews and comment page.

Our researchers, the Grantham Scholars, do sustainability research across disciplines at the University of Sheffield. From plant pathogens to policy, they work on a broad range of topics. Where possible, our Scholars are themselves supervised by experts from different subjects.

If you want to find out more about our researchers the Grantham Scholars then look at our blogs and interviews. Here you’ll find easy-to-understand overviews, and deep dives into sustainability. 

We want the Grantham Scholars to be the sustainability leaders of tomorrow, so we provide a special training programme. In this bespoke programme they learn a variety of skills. For example, how to write for any audience and the best way to engage with policy makers.

Research

Because we work across disciplines, our work reflects the Sustainable Development Goals‘ multidisciplinary outlook. We have Grantham Scholars from every faculty at the University of Sheffield.

And in order to address some of the most pressing environmental problems, we have set up dedicated research projects. For example, we are tackling the plastic pollution crisis with Many Happy Returns. For this project we have gathered a team of diverse experts. From chemistry to linguistics, our plastics team work together to create new knowledge and solve old problems.

We also work at the Zaatari refugee camp, where we co create solutions with those living in the camp.

Grantham Centre reports

If you want to find out about our work over the years, then you can read our annual reports. They’re all hosted online and are free to read. In them you can find updates about the Grantham Scholars, including where our alumni go.

Plus there are updates about all our special projects. And we review all our events and activities for the year.

Grantham Centre annual reports.

The Grantham Centre at COP

Since COP21 when the Paris Agreement was signed, we’ve been sending people to COP both as delegates and observers. If you want read blogs and news stories from our people at COP then look at the Grantham Centre at COP.

Get in touch

You can find contact details for the team on our contact page.

Do you have a PhD student at the University of Sheffield who could be a Grantham Scholar? Find out how to apply, what we offer, and what to expect.

What Do We Do?

Research

To combat the biodiversity and climate crisis we need to work towards global goals with urgency. For this reason, we are committed to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals which provide a blueprint for a sustainable future.

Training

We are building a global community of sustainability leaders: the Grantham Scholars. They carry out diverse interdisciplinary research and learn the technical skills and communication skills needed to create a sustainable world.

Scholars

Our PhD students, the Grantham Scholars, work across disciplines conducting research across a huge range of subjects.

Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals are blueprints for a sustainable future. So UN member states are expected to use these Goals to frame agendas and policies. Find out here how Grantham Centre research connects to each Goal.

SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions

We need to promote peaceful and inclusive societies, providing access to justice for all, to achieve all the other SDGs.

SDG 4 Quality Education

Inclusive and equitable quality education is essential to achieve a healthier, more equitable world.

SDG 2 Zero Hunger

The food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for development, and is central for hunger and poverty eradication.

SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation

Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in.

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity.

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

There needs to be a future in which cities provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more.

SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services, green and decent jobs and a better quality of life for all.

SDG 13 Climate Action

Climate change is a global challenge that affects everyone, everywhere.

SDG 15 Life on Land

Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.

Our Background

We are co-funded by the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, founded by Jeremy and Hanne Grantham. A world-renowned investment manager, Jeremy Grantham was brought up in Doncaster and graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in Economics in 1961. He is a strong advocate for environmental issues.

“It is crucial that scientists take more career risks and sound a more realistic, more desperate, note on the global-warming problem. Younger scientists are obsessed by thoughts of tenure, so it is probably up to older, senior and retired scientists to do the heavy lifting. Be arrested if necessary. This is not only the crisis of your lives – it is also the crisis of our species’ existence. I implore you to be brave.”

Jeremy Grantham, Nature, 2012  Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Nature (491, 303), copyright (2012)

Videos

Research Centres

We work closely with our partner sustainability teams at TUoS. Many of the researchers behind these groups are mentors to Grantham Scholars.

Algal Biotechnology Sheffield Network

Energy Institute

Institute for Sustainable Food

School of Health and Related Research

Sheffield Solar

Urban Institute