Climate
Schmidt Sciences grants $26 million to researchers translating climate models to climate action
Aug 9, 2026
Five international teams will bridge abstract global climate models to the realities of grids, cities, farms, factories and communities
Media Contact: Carlie Wiener, [email protected]
NEW YORK—Five international research teams will receive $26 million over five years from Schmidt Sciences for their work to translate global energy transition models to actionable approaches and technology advances, the organization announced today. Their projects to create models and methods for eliminating carbon emissions at broad scales are the first to be funded through Schmidt Sciences’s new Decarbonization and Energy Virtual Institute (DEVI).
Current energy transition models struggle to capture how decisions at one timescale or in one economic sector ripple across others. DEVI’s models will make those interconnections clearer so that net-zero plans can turn into action more predictably and measurably. The grants are part of the broader work of Schmidt Sciences’s Climate Center.
“Decarbonization unfolds in cities, on farms, in factories and communities, each with constraints and consequences that existing models often miss,” said Poushali Maji, DEVI lead and program scientist at Schmidt Sciences. “DEVI is our investment in the next generation of climate science: tools and frameworks that translate ambition into decisions that are honest about trade-offs and everyday realities.”
The five funded projects tackle energy transition from complementary angles, linking the scales, energy sectors and on-the-ground complexities that no single model can fully capture. Research will span multiple regions including the U.S., E.U, China, India, Brazil, Ethiopia and Southern Africa, reflecting DEVI’s commitment to energy solutions grounded in the diverse realities across places that will define the transition.
“Schmidt Sciences focuses on expanding scientific knowledge and its impact . It is important to make sure that results connect to transnational decision-making,” said Stuart Feldman, president and chief scientist, Schmidt Sciences. “DEVI will do just that, to make sure our response to the climate crisis is judicious and based in sound science.”
Building on these five projects, Schmidt Sciences is now opening a second round of funding requests as part of DEVI, inviting researchers worldwide to submit proposals focused on urban decarbonization, specifically how transportation, buildings and the infrastructure connecting them interact and what that means for real-world climate decisions. Researchers may submit expressions of intent now through October 2, 2026 11:59 p.m. ET at bit.ly/DEVI-Urban.
Decarbonization and Energy Virtual Institute (DEVI) Projects
NEST
Led by Martín Wainstein (Open Earth Foundation), Diana Urge-Vorsatz (Central European University), Joeri Rogelj (Imperial College London), Keywan Riahi (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis), Bas van Ruijven (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis)
Most emissions are produced in cities, but climate policy is written at the national level. NEST will test whether national assumptions about energy costs, building upgrades, grid capacity and policy rollout hold up when applied to specific cities. The project will use AI to link models operating at different time and space scales, flagging where national plans may be unrealistic on the ground and helping planners identify what would need to change.
MATRIX
Lead PI: Jennifer Morris (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Co-PI: Angelo Gurgel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Decarbonization doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Shifting energy systems affects water supply, land use, food production, air quality, infrastructure, jobs and inequality. MATRIX will build a flexible framework that tracks these ripple effects across the whole economy, down to the household level, so decision-makers can see the full picture of trade-offs before committing to a pathway. Initial focus areas are India and the Zambezi region of southern Africa.
KINETICS
Led by Gunnar Luderer (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research), Fabian Neumann (Technical University of Berlin)
Global energy models project out decades ahead; power grids operate hour by hour. KINETICS connects these two timescales, linking long-range climate and economic models to detailed, hourly grid models for major economies including the U.S., EU, China, India and other world regions. The project aims to produce more accurate estimates of what renewable energy actually costs to integrate, including the storage, transmission and grid upgrades that are often left out of headline figures.
Frontier Research in Energy & Industrial Decarbonization
Lead PI: Jesse Jenkins (Princeton University)
Co PIs: Dharik Mallapragada (New York University), Joule Bergerson (Notre Dame University), Ruaridh Macdonald (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Filippo Pecci (Centro-Euro Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici [Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change])
Energy and Industrial sectors are hard to fully electrify and practical pathways to deep decarbonization remain unclear. Macro-energy systems modeling can provide critical insights but current tools fall short. This project will develop faster computational methods that make it possible to model industrial decarbonization in detail without losing sight of the broader energy system. Initial work focuses on the U.S. chemicals and fuels sector, with planned extensions to India and China.
ADAPT-AFOLU
Led by Wuletawu Abera (International Center for Tropical Agriculture)
Forests, farmland and soil hold enormous potential for capturing carbon, but also enormous uncertainty. ADAPT-AFOLU will bring probabilistic modeling into land-use planning, helping policymakers understand not just what the best-case scenario looks like, but which strategies hold up across a wide range of possible futures. Pilots are underway in Ethiopia, India and Brazil, with scope to expand across 26 countries.
About Schmidt Sciences
Schmidt Sciences is a nonprofit organization founded in 2024 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt that works to accelerate scientific knowledge and breakthroughs with the most promising, advanced tools to support a thriving planet. The organization prioritizes research in areas poised for impact including AI and advanced computing, astrophysics, biosciences, climate, and space—as well as supporting researchers in a variety of disciplines through its science systems program.