Support for Geoscience Research

Request for Proposals - Petroleum Research Fund

Program Goals

The ACS Petroleum Research Fund was established to support “advanced scientific education and fundamental research in the ‘petroleum field,’ which may include any field of pure science which in the judgment of (ACS) may afford a basis for subsequent research directly connected with the petroleum field.” The term ‘petroleum field’ embraces (1) exploration for, and the production, transportation and refining or, petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas, and (2) the production and refining of substitutes for petroleum and petroleum products from natural gas, coal, shale, tar sands and like materials.

The goals of the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund are (1) the support of fundamental research in the petroleum and energy fields, and (2) development of the next generation of engineers and scientists through support of advanced scientific education. ACS PRF support to geoscientists includes four grant programs:

Research at Doctoral Degree-Granting Departments

New Directions (ND) grants aim to stimulate new research projects for established faculty. These are “seed money” to enable a “new research direction,” and afford a Principal Investigator (PI) two years of support, which may then lead to proposals from agencies which support “continuation research” grants.

Doctoral New Investigator (DNI) grants are “starter grants” to scientists or engineers within the first three years of their first academic appointment. These should enable new PIs at doctoral degree-granting departments to establish an original research direction, which may then be supported by other agencies which offer continuation funding for research. “Original” research is defined as different from that previously performed by the PI as part of their graduate or postdoctoral studies.

These grant programs are discussed in greater detail elsewhere on the ACS PRF website.

Research at Non-Doctoral Departments

Undergraduate New Investigator (UNI) grants are similar to the DNI “starter grants” discussed above, but these are designated for new investigators at departments which do not offer the doctoral degree, and are evaluated separately from DNI proposals.

Undergraduate Research (UR) grants support the development of student-oriented research involving undergraduates, at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions, or in academic departments which do not award the doctoral degree. Master’s degree-seeking students may be supported on UR grants, if the M.S. is the highest degree awarded by the department of the Principal Investigator.

These grant programs are discussed in greater detail elsewhere on the ACS PRF website.

Petroleum-relevance of Research Topics

In response to the question, “is my research petroleum-relevant?” a geoscientist considering submission of a proposal should consider the core question:

How does this research relate to the formation, migration, accumulation, discovery, recovery, and/or geochemistry of a hydrocarbon molecule?

Submission Windows

ACS PRF Type ND and DNI research proposals are considered at three Advisory Board meetings per year (early fall, mid-winter, and late spring). Submission windows are for six weeks ending approximately six months prior to the PRF Advisory Board meeting.

ACS PRF Type UR and UNI research proposals are considered by review panels, which meet in January and June each year. Submission windows are for six weeks ending approximately six months before the panel meeting.

The funding rate for each fiscal year (Sept. 1 – Aug. 31) is set prior to the fall meeting, and determines the success rate for proposals.

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Eligibility Criteria

Regularly-appointed faculty members at academic institutions in countries where ACS PRF can administer grants are eligible. In addition, certain other long-term scientific appointments may be eligible. Current eligibility criteria are:

• The non-profit institution submitting the proposal must certify that each individual listed as a principal investigator on the cover page qualifies as a principal investigator under the institution’s policies.
• In view of the long-standing policy of The Petroleum Research Fund to give priority to support of students (undergraduate, graduate, or postdoctoral), each principal investigator must be eligible to serve as the formal, official supervisor of the students for whom he/she is seeking support.
• The terms of appointment of each principal investigator must promise reasonable continuity of service. The appointment should continue at least through the period of funding requested in the proposal.
• the above criteria are automatically met by tenure-track principal investigators. If you are not tenure-track, you should attach a brief statement to your application describing your appointment and you must include a Department Chair’s letter affirming that you meet all three of the above criteria.

Funding Criteria

Rankings of proposals and recommendations for funding are made on the basis of the following criteria:

• Overall quality, significance, and scientific merit of the proposed research, including the extent to which it will increase basic knowledge and/or stimulate additional research.
• Qualifications or potential of the principal investigator(s) and adequacy of the facilities to conduct the research.
• Extent to which advanced scientific education will be enhanced through the involvement of students in the research.
• Impact of PRF funding the research, including the effect on the principal investigator’s overall research program.
• Newness of the research.

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Budget Guidelines

If the proposal is funded, the budget becomes part of the grant agreement. Revisions to the grant budget require prior approval of PRF.

• Maximum Request: The normal ACS PRF budget year extends from September 1 to August 31. The total budget may be divided among years according to the needs of the project. The maximum funding and length of each PRF grant type is outlined in the description of each grant program.
• Excluded Charges: No overhead costs may be charged, which includes secretarial and/or administrative salaries. Funds may not be used to support laboratory technicians, contractors, consultants, or visiting faculty.
• Principal Investigator Stipend: Principal investigators in the United States only may request a contribution to his or her summer salary, not to exceed $7,500 per grant year, including fringe benefits, up to a maximum of $15,000 for a two-year grant. This limit is determined by the original term of the grant, and does NOT change as a result of time extensions.
• Support of Students: The grantee institution shall determine the magnitude of fellowship or graduate assistantship stipends paid from PRF grants. In addition to stipends, regularly required tuition may be requested in accord with institutional policy. Such tuition requests are itemized separately. Funds budgeted for “student support” (postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and/or undergraduates) may be shifted to student support at a different level without prior approval from PRF, but the total “student support” amount may not be decreased after a grant is awarded by ACS PRF.
• Capital Equipment: Requests for a limited amount of capital equipment funds may be included in the proposed budget, with justification in the narrative section.
• Travel: A maximum of $2,000 per year of the original grant term may be used for conference travel. Support of student travel to scientific meetings is encouraged. There are no restrictions on foreign travel. Note that scientific work performed away from the home institution is considered field work and is budgeted separately.

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Limitations

• A principal investigator may submit only one research proposal for consideration per meeting.
• A principal investigator may not hold more than one active PRF research grant at a time.
• A principal investigator with an active PRF research grant, including a grant on time extension, may not submit an application for a new grant.
• Principal investigators may have only one ND grant application considered in a 12-month period. Therefore, a principal investigator who has a type ND proposal denied may not submit another ND proposal until the Advisory Board meeting one year later.

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Program Managers

• Robert Botto, Surface Science, Materials Science, telephone: 202-872-6186, email: r_botto@acs.org
• Dean Dunn, Geology, Geochemistry and Geophysics, telephone: 202-872-4083, email: d_dunn@acs.org
• Ronald Siatkowski, Chemical Physics, Polymer Science, Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, telephone: 202-872-6091, email: r_siatkowski@acs.org
• Jeffrey Smiley, Inorganic Chemistry, Synthetic and Physical Organic Chemistry, telephone: 202-872-6093, email: j_smiley@acs.org

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