NSF IRES Track I: Filling the gaps in WaSH research through field-based student research experiences in Malawi

This IRES project aims to provide transformational international experiences to U.S. students as they participate in rigorous and critically needed on-the-ground water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) research in Malawi. This is a mutually beneficial project that will provide invaluable experiences for students from NC State University and University of Louisville, who will be exposed to interdisciplinary thinking, problem-solving, and leading-edge, field-based research in WaSH.

These students are future leaders in science, engineering, and policy. Their understanding of the global challenge of water and sanitation and the local contexts of communities is crucial to their envisioning effective and innovative solutions not just in Malawi and the U.S., but all over the world. WaSH issues directly affect public health and the environment; transformative research has the potential to increase the quality of life of billions of people affected by lack of access to water and sanitation.

In Malawi, this research would increase safe water and sanitation services in underserved communities, and help the country meet UN Sustainable Development Goal 6. This project also strengthens research capacity in Malawi by expanding our university partners’ range of field-based research topics.

This program maximizes our long-standing partnership and collaborative research with WaSH researchers at Mzuzu University (MZUNI) and the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST). The program will support the research experience in Malawi of a total of 23 undergraduate and graduate students over three years (6-7 NC State University and 1 University of Louisville student every year).

The intensive research in Malawi is for 8 weeks, but each student will be engaged in the IRES program before and after the international experience, for a total of 16 months. Vibrant interdisciplinary collaborations among the students (coming from engineering, environmental science, natural resources, and economics) and among the Malawi mentors and their students will be ensured through joint research, cultural, and service activities.

The overall research goal of this IRES project is to collaboratively address WaSH research gaps in Malawi, through field-based student research experiences, beyond traditional (mainstream) research topics in water and sanitation. Addressing these gaps will increase WaSH research in Malawi, add dimensions to current research foci, and help bridge the acknowledged countrywide gap in sanitation and water-related human capacity.

This research will also advance the global thinking and agenda on effective WaSH approaches beyond Malawi. The overall training goal is to provide transformational research experiences to NC State University and University of Louisville students, leading to graduates who: (1) will engage in interdisciplinary thinking, problem-solving, and research in WaSH; (2) are globally aware and culturally competent; (3) can leverage their field experience working with diverse communities to develop context-adapted solutions; and (4) will view these solutions through a holistic lens, considering equity, sustainability, and long-term benefits and impacts of their research.

We will achieve these goals through: (1) co-designed research activities (with an emphasis on both field- and lab-based research in Malawi) that maximize the strengths and expertise at the partner universities and research sites; (2) individual- and cohort-based training with emphasis on learning outcomes; (3) cultural activities and a service learning project for the IRES students in partnership with their peers in Malawi; and (4) a continuous monitoring and evaluation program that will provide summative and formative assessment.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.