SPRU news items

Do you, or people in your network, need to find a University of Sussex collaborator for a new research or writing project? Perhaps you want to find out who across campus is working on a particular Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) or a specific International Development topic or geographical area, or using a certain research method? Or do you want to get an overview of the type of research that is going on across campus on each SDG so you can make more connections with potential collaborators. With over 1,610 members of academic staff it is impossible to be connected with everyone and especially difficult in Covid times to develop collaborations outside of your discipline.

But now, a new searchable database developed by the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP) – “Sustainability Search” – will greatly help sustainability and development researchers at Sussex find potential collaborators for their research.  If you need to quickly find a research partner in an area you are unfamiliar with for a bid with a fast-approaching deadline, the Sustainability Search database will help you do this. It will provide you with publication lists, abstracts, profile information, and contact information of potential collaborators.

The Sustainability Search database has been developed under the auspices of SSRP by Dr. Jonathan Dolley from the University of Sussex Business School in consultation with Professor Fiona Marshall and Fiona Hurd with funding from the International Development Challenge Fund (IDCF) which is an internal funding mechanism financed by the University's Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). 

Professor Fiona Marshall said the following about the database,

“ We think this new database could really help to leverage the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration for sustainable development across the campus and support transdisciplinary research initiatives with a broad range of external stakeholders. It is quick and simple to use and also accessible to potential partners across the globe.”

The database uses two different search approaches:

• First, it provides a topic search function that uses a comprehensive list of keywords and key phrases generated by a text mining algorithm.
• Second, it provides an SDG topic search function which uses keywords and key phrases developed specifically to identify and index SDG-related research.

In both cases the search generates a list of both staff and publications, with links to profiles and the publications themselves. The database is updated weekly. The search results can be refined further by filtering by continent, country and city and also by doing a free text search within one of the results fields such as publication title, research interests or department.

Professor Joseph Alcamo, Director of SSRP commented,

“The new ‘Sustainability Search’ database will be a big boost in building the interdisciplinary partnerships essential for sustainability research.”

The database is available to Sussex academic and professional services staff, students and those outside of the University.  The database is live now and automatically updates on a weekly basis. You are encouraged to go and view it and use it here: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/sussex-sustainability-research-programme/research-and-resources/mapping

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