What is Campus as Lab?
The Campus as a Lab (CAL) program facilitates opportunities for students to engage in applied research and course-related projects that utilize Princeton University’s campus as a test bed for sustainability problem-solving. The CAL program encourages students to become involved by developing new ideas and piloting innovative solutions that advance the University’s Sustainability Action Plan.
As a student, you can have a hand in investigating complex human and environmental challenges by becoming involved in Campus as Lab in various ways:
Research & Coursework
You can use the university as a petri dish for your research project, thesis or dissertation. Through the CAL program you can access data, key contacts, funding, and other information you need, to carry out meaningful research that has tangible outcomes and impacts. Browse our list of interdisciplinary research questions.
You can also incorporate sustainability into your degree through coursework. Explore relevant courses.
Research Grants
The CAL program, through the High Meadows Sustainability Fund, offers grants on a rolling basis each academic year to support students seeking to develop solutions that advance the seven overarching goals in Princeton University’s Sustainability Action Plan.
Do you feel like your interests don’t directly intersect with sustainability?
Plenty of research projects under CAL have been in areas that may not seem directly related at first glance.
Students in the MAE program worked on converting a bus into a resource-efficient mini-home, and students in the Psychology department sought to understand the effectiveness of different energy-reduction intervention methods. From behavioral science to public policy and even performing arts, there is certainly a project with your name on it.
View a list of unanswered research questions in a variety of disciplines on campus to find inspiration for your own research.
Senior Theses
View a sample of past Campus as Lab senior theses.