Call for Papers: Advances for Sustainable Development: Environmental Engineering Innovations from India

As India navigates rapid development alongside pressing environmental challenges with a commitment to sustainable growth, the nation's contributions to environmental science and technology are becoming increasingly vital on a global scale.

This Special Issue in ACS ES&T Engineering aims to highlight novel, significant, and rigorously investigated research that addresses critical environmental challenges faced by India and offers solutions with broader international relevance. Through this Special Issue, we aim to cultivate a vibrant network of Indian researchers whose work aligns with the mission of ACS ES&T Engineering—to advance global sustainable development through engineering research and innovation.

We invite original research articles, comprehensive review articles, and insightful perspectives that present innovative solutions, robust data, and fundamental understanding across the spectrum of environmental engineering. While the research should originate from India, its novelty and significance must resonate with an international readership.

The focus of the proposed special issue will be on innovative engineering solutions to crucial environmental challenges in India that manage, protect, and remediate air, water, and soil quality, treat wastes, and recover resources.

We are particularly interested in submissions that fall within (but are not limited to) the following key areas:

• Sustainable Water Systems: Innovations in water and wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and resilient water resource management, especially those addressing challenges posed by a changing climate.
• Clean Air Technologies: Advanced strategies for air pollution control and monitoring, including studies on emissions reduction, air quality improvement, and atmospheric impact.
• Circular Waste & Resource Management: Engineering solutions for efficient waste valorization, resource recovery, and circular economy principles in the context of India's development.
• Contaminated Site Remediation: Development and application of effective technologies for cleaning up contaminated land and groundwater, focusing on practical implementation and environmental restoration.
• Climate & Environment Interventions: Research on environmental engineering solutions directly contributing to climate change mitigation (e.g., carbon management).

Submissions should:

• Showcase novel and innovative advancements in materials, technologies, processes, data analytics, or engineering systems that offer genuinely new contributions beyond incremental findings.
• Be firmly grounded in engineering principles (e.g., functionality, safety, reliability, efficiency, and problem-solving) and effectively integrate knowledge and methods from other relevant disciplines.
• Focus on critical environmental challenges related to managing, protecting, or remediating air, water, and soil quality, treating wastes, or recovering resources, with clear relevance to practical applications.
• Provide robust mechanistic understanding and offer insights that directly inform or significantly improve decision-making within complex environmental engineering systems.
• Avoid submissions that are solely descriptive case studies or demonstrations lacking significant scientific advancement or technological innovation.

Organizing Editors

Venkata Krishnan, Guest Editor
Indian Institute of Technology Mandi

Ligy Philip, Guest Editor
Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Swatantra Singh, Guest Editor
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Bernaurdshaw Neppolian, Guest Editor
SRM Institute of Science and Technology

Abhijit Mukherjee, Guest Editor
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Tarun Gupta, Guest Editor
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Submission Information

We welcome submissions for this Special Issue through January 15, 2026. For more information on submission requirements, please visit the journal's Author Guidelines page.

Important Note: To be eligible for inclusion in this Special Issue, at least one of the corresponding authors must be affiliated with an institution in India.

Accepted manuscripts for consideration in this Special Issue will include original research articles, reviews, and perspectives. Papers accepted for publication for this Special Issue will be available ASAP (as soon as publishable) online. After all submissions have been published, they will then be compiled online on a dedicated landing page to form the Special Issue. Manuscripts submitted for consideration will undergo the full rigorous peer review process expected from ACS journals.

There are diverse open access options for publications in American Chemical Society journals. Please visit our Open Science Resource Center for more information.

How to Submit

• Log in to the ACS Publishing Center.
• Select the "Journals" tab.
• Choose ACS ES&T Engineering.
• Click "Submit."
• Select your manuscript type, and, under "Special Issue Selection," choose “Advances for Sustainable Development: Environmental Engineering Innovations from India."

If you have any general questions regarding submission to this Special Issue, please contact the managing editor (managing.editor@estengg.acs.org).

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