research in energy and the environment

The Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment is a nexus at Princeton University for research that spans the technology-policy spectrum and aims to address today’s global energy and environmental challenges to ensure a sustainable future. Through a variety of programs, including grants and fellowships, the center supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research and sustains a community of scholars focused on developing technologies and solutions that will pave the way for a world less reliant on fossil fuels.

research initiatives

Initiatives are focused, cross-disciplinary research and technology themes hosting complementary research activities, offering multiple potential avenues for fundamental and applied research.

Learn More About Each Initiative

research programs and opportunities

Gerhard R. Andlinger Visiting Fellows Program

Practitioners from industry, government, and not-for-profit sectors will bring different perspectives and urgency to the energy and environmental challenges that are central to the center’s mission.

Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellows Program

Fellows collaborate with Princeton faculty and/or senior researchers within an energy or environment-related field to articulate an interdisciplinary research plan that is aligned with the mission of the Center.

Andlinger Center Grants and Funding Opportunities

The Center administers three funds: The Grant for Innovative Research the Fund for Energy Research with Corporate Partners, and Andlinger Center Grants to Promote Research Collaborations.

Browse through a listing of our core and associated faculty.

Research Directory

Our faculty’s expertise can be categorized into seven research areas:

Research Areas

quick links

Energy Systems Analysis Group

Rapid Switch

Net-Zero America Project

Cover of the 2023 annual report showing two individuals atop a wind turbine and facing the horizon

New Light Summer Seminars

research news

Latest

Featured

A man in a lab coat and safety glasses operates a machine in a laboratory involving bottles of clear liquid and tubing.

New AI enhances the view inside fusion energy systems

Wastewater can replace clean water as a source for hydrogen production, eliminating a major drawback to hydrogen fuel and reducing water treatment costs by up to 47%, according to new research from Princeton Engineering.

A researcher holds up and examines a thin circular membrane using tweezers.

New materials make high-performance membranes the filters of the future

Princeton researchers demonstrate the potential of MXenes, a class of water-loving, single-layer materials with high electrical conductivity, for separating ions and compounds from complex solutions.

Call for Applications

The Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment invites applications for the Gerhard R. Andlinger Visiting Fellows Program, with start dates as early as August 2026. Deadline is January 9, 2026.

Black and white discs extend outward on a curve against a background of green water

From research to real-world, Princeton startup tackles soaring demand for lithium and other critical minerals

Based on research conducted at Princeton, a new startup is upending decades-old approaches for the way the world extracts lithium and other materials.