Travel Grants for Pre-Tenure Faculty

Sponsored by the ACS-IREU Program through a grant from the National Science Foundation

To encourage young faculty to engage in broadening participation, achieve excellence in research, succeed at writing research proposals, and effectively mentor the next generation of domestic and international chemistry students, the ACS International Research Experiences for Undergraduates (ACS-IREU) Exchange Program is awarding 10 travel grants to pre-tenure faculty to participate in the 238th ACS National Meeting, August 15-19, 2009.

Members of underrepresented minority groups, including women and persons with disabilities, that fulfill the requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.

Travel Grant Benefits

A maximum benefit of $1,985 will be provided through the following:

1. Hotel accommodations at the Westin City Center Hotel, Washington, DC, located 7 blocks from the Washington Convention Center. Room cost will be directly billed to ACS. The hotel will require a credit card upon check-in to cover incidental expenses, for which awardees will be responsible.
2. Round trip air or train travel up to $500.00. Tickets must be booked through ACS Travel and will be billed directly to ACS. If the cost of air is over $500.00, awardees must cover the difference by providing ACS-Travel with a credit card.
3. Meal expenses, at the Washington, DC per diem rate of $64/day. A gift card will be issued to awardees upon arrival to cover these expenses. Local transportation and transportation to/from airports are the responsibility of awardees.
4. Advanced meeting registration fees – at the member rate of $340. Do not register online. Once notification of award is received, awardees will be asked to fax (or scan and email) a registration form. Registration fees at the advanced rate for members will be paid directly by the grant.

Important Note: No reimbursements will be issued for any expenses, except for those individuals that will be driving instead of flying or taking a train. A mileage reimbursement at a rate of $0.51/mile will be issued upon receipt of appropriate documentation after attendance to the meeting.

Application Deadline: July 7, 2009

Travel award recipients will be notified no later than July 20

Requirements

To be considered for the travel grant, applicants must fulfill ALL of the following criteria - no exceptions:

1. Be pre-tenure at the time of application
2. Have a faculty appointment

• at the assistant or associate professor level
• in a chemistry and/or biochemistry department
• in a research intensive US institution.

3. Be research active in any chemistry/biochemistry sub-area, as demonstrated by

• a brief statement of research focus on the application
• a nomination letter from applicant’s department head

4. Be seriously interested in broadening participation and engaging institutional support as demonstrated by a brief statement on the application
5. Have no external sources of funding at the time of application. Note: individuals that have funding from a start-up package or pending federal or private grants are still encouraged to apply
6. Be available to attend/participate in all the required activities from Saturday, August 15 to and including the morning of Wednesday, August 19. Activities include

• National Science Foundation Symposium
• The Art of Collaborations Symposium
• National Science Foundation Town-Hall meeting
• ACS Committee on Science (COMSCI) open meeting
• ACS International Activities Committee (IAC) open meeting
• ACS Young Chemists Committee (YCC) open meeting
• IAC Reception for International Participants
• Editors reception

Note: The three committees above may run simultaneously. Awardees are encouraged to split their time between any concurrent meetings.

Application Procedure

The following documents must be submitted no later than COB July 7, 2009:

1. A completed online application form
2. A biographical sketch in NSF format, 2-page maximum. Sample biographical sketch.
3. A nomination letter from the applicant’s department head, in official letterhead, containing

• a brief assessment of applicant’s research focus
• an overall assessment of applicant’s qualifications as (domestic and international) undergraduate and graduate student research mentor
• the potential benefits to the applicant’s research program from attending the meeting

Items 2 and 3 must be sent electronically (no hard copies) in PDF format to the attention of Ms. Sherry Bryant at INTLACTS@acs.org