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UvA Sustainability Platform (USP) USP

UvA Sustainability Research Groups

Faculty of Economics and Business

  • A Sustainable Future (ASF) – a platform for stimulating cross-disciplinary research on sustainability between the Amsterdam Business School and the Amsterdam School of Economics and/or with other faculties. 
  • Amsterdam Centre for Responsible Consumption - a platform for behavioral researchers, businesses and policymakers to exchange ideas with the goal of finding novel means to arrive at a more responsible consumption pattern. 
  • Analytics for a Better World - a non-profit collaboration between University of Amsterdam, MIT and ORTEC. Their mission is to apply analytics to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Amsterdam Centre for Responsible Leadership – In 2023, the Amsterdam Centre for Responsible Leadership (ARLead) has been newly established within the Amsterdam Business School at the University of Amsterdam. 

Amsterdam Law School

  • Sustainable Global Economic Law –focusing on how global economic law and governance can be changed to make the processes of globalization more socially and environmentally sustainable, and more legitimate and effective at the same time. 
  • Law Centre for Health and Life – research platform aiming to generate knowledge at the intersection of law, health, and the human environment. 
  • Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics - a cooperation of the Amsterdam Law School with the Faculty of Economics and Business to promote research at the intersection between law and economics, with a focus on sustainable corporate governance and financial regulation.

Faculty of Humanities

  • Environment & Society Group - a research group focusing on the intellectual history of the environment and the climate, social contestation around environmental issues, and global governance
  • Centre for Latin American Studies (CEDLA)  - a research group that conducts Social Science and Humanities research on developments in Latin America

Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences 

  • Centre for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS) - a research platform that promotes joint research across social sciences on sustainable development issues
  • Centre for Urban Studies - aims to facilitate the interdisciplinary, international, and societal collaborations that are essential to comprehend the societal challenges linked to urbanization
  • EcoLab - a research group that investigates environmental communication, environmental behavior, and their interplay
  • The PsySci (Psychology of Science) Lab investigates attitudes to science and sustainability across topics, individuals, and countries.

Faculty of Sciences 

Sustainability research at the FoS is clustered in its central Research theme GREEN.  While all eight research institutes of FoS participate in GREEN, the research is primarily conducted in three of them:

  • Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) – pursuing an integrated approach to study biodiversity, ecosystems and the environment, using methods typical of the disciplines of ecology, physical geography, and environmental chemistry. 
  • Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) – focusses on understanding the functioning of living organisms, from the most basic aspects up to complex physiological functions. Biological processes are studied at the level of molecules, cells, cellular networks and organisms, and the interactions between and in all those levels.
  • Van ’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS) - chemistry research at HIMS entails the synergistic combination and concerted expertise of analytical- and computational chemistry, molecular photonics, synthesis and catalysis.

On top of topical expert institutes, the FoS runs several Research Priority Area’s on sustainability:

  • AI for Sustainable Molecules and Materials – focused on combining deep learning methodological research with fundamental scientific experimental research on molecules and materials.
  • Systems Biology – integrating scientific disciplines such as biology, mathematics, physics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and computer science, aiming to acquire a (quantitative) understanding of how biological systems change over time and respond to changing conditions. 
  • Global Ecology – focusing on the functioning of ecosystems and on how they change due to natural processes or human impact. 
  • Green Life Sciences – aiming to understand how plants deal with biotic and abiotic constraints, insects (herbivores, pollinators), microbes and other organisms and how they diversified during evolution, all up to the molecular level.
  • Sustainable Chemistry – focusing on understanding and developing sustainable materials and processes. 
  • Energy transition through the lens of Sustainable Development Goals (ENLENS) – UvA RPA coordinated at FoS, focusing on cross-faculty research that maps the energy transition in the Netherlands and Europe against the SDGs beyond Dutch borders.

Several companies focusing on sustainability and circularity spin-offs from the FoS:

  • InCatT (2009): Chemical consultancy on catalyst screening and catalyst development
  • Plantics (2013): produces biobased materials. 
  • SusPhos (2019): Provides a unique, robust phosphate recovery technology
  • SolarFoil (2022): aims to increase greenhouse productivity by optimizing sunlight to increase crop yields
  • Lightcore (2023): solar cell applications for indoor devices
  • NanoHybrids (2025): Nanomaterials for sustainable applications
  • BOR LYTE (2025): Borate electrolytes for batteries

Amsterdam UMC (Faculty of Medicine) 

  • Green Health Community - network of employees that work together in small breakthrough projects aimed at making Amsterdam UMC more sustainable 
  • Green Academy – aimed at incorporating sustainability in the educational programs within Amsterdam UMC 
  • Green Labs – nationwide initiative to make research labs more sustainable (reduce waste, prevent use of toxic chemicals, etc.). 

RPA’s  

Other UvA Sustainability Initiatives

  • The UvA White Paper
  • The Green Office 
  • The Knowledge Hub (Green Office initiative) 
  • Amsterdam Green Campus - A partnership with, among others, the IBED, HIMS and SILS. The aim of the Amsterdam Green Campus is to promote knowledge exchange between the participating parties in the field of sustainable development. The main topics are chemistry, the environment, genetics and food. 
  • IIS (related to teaching initiatives on sustainability) 
  • IAS (Institute for Advanced Sciences), especially the theme 'Future of Energy' 
  • SustainaLab - impact initiative bringing together UvA researchers on sustainability and external partners (companies, governments, NGO’s) facing challenges concerning sustainability
  • Sustaina Student Lab (Community Service Learning lab) 
  • Anna's Tuin & Ruigte: A piece of polder nature next to the Science Park location with the aim of learning more about nature, nature management and permaculture.