ACS PRF Undergraduate Faculty Sabbatical (Type UFS) Grants

The Undergraduate Faculty Sabbatical grant program is designed to provide year-long, full-time, research sabbaticals for qualified faculty performing “fundamental research in the petroleum field” during a sabbatical. This is a matching grants program that can provide up to $45,000 in faculty salary and qualified benefits, and up to $5,000 in relocation and research expenses for a faculty member's sabbatical year.

An eligible sabbatical must be at least one academic year (i.e., 9 months or more) and must be carried out in its entirety at a location other than the applicant’s home institution. Sabbaticals may be taken anywhere in the world. Academic, national lab, and industrial sabbaticals are eligible, as are sabbaticals that involve more than one institution. The maximum individual award is $50,000.

Applications for Undergraduate Faculty Sabbaticals are considered each year at the September PRF Advisory Board meeting. Information on proposal submission dates for sabbaticals to begin in 2009 will be available in spring 2008.

Nature and Scope

ACS PRF UFS grants must involve fundamental research that could be funded by an ACS PRF research grant in accord with the ACS PRF Transfer Agreement:

“The recipient (ACS) shall use all funds exclusively for 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.”

Note that fundamental research is required. ACS PRF cannot support applied research or methods development. Note also that the proposed research need not be directly connected to petroleum, but rather may provide a basis for subsequent research directly connected with the petroleum field. More information about research areas supported may be found here. If you have questions whether your proposed research is “petroleum-relevant,” please contact a Program Officer before submitting your application.

Funding Criteria

The ACS PRF Advisory Board makes relative rankings of proposals and recommendations for funding on criteria that include the following:

The 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.
The impact of the sabbatical on the professional development of the principal investigator and on the education and involvement of students in research at the principal investigator’s home institution.
The extent to which the sabbatical will establish a new collaboration that has the potential to result in a long-standing collaboration between the principal investigator, the host, and their two laboratories.
The extent to which the proposed research represents a new area of investigation for the principal investigator.
The qualifications of the principal investigator and the host, and the adequacy of the facilities to conduct the research.

Eligibility Criteria

Faculty with tenured appointments in departments that do not offer a doctoral degree.
Faculty at two- and four-year institutions are eligible.
Current ACS PRF grant recipients, as well as those with pending PRF proposals are eligible to apply.

Eligibility, Terms and Conditions for Undergraduate Faculty Sabbatical Grants

Budget Guidelines

The UFS program is designed to augment funds provided by an applicant’s home institution so the principal investigator can take a full-year sabbatical leave at full pay with full benefits. Individual awards are not to exceed $50,000 (i.e., up to $45,000 in salary/benefits and $5,000 for relocation/research expenses). Specifics of the award are given below:

The total ACS PRF contribution to faculty salary/benefits must be $45,000 with the requested amount for the academic year being no more than a 1:1 match of the amount normally provided by the principal investigator’s home institution to support a full year sabbatical leave.
A maximum of $7,500 in salary, including benefits, can be requested for summer support to extend a 9-month sabbatical to 12 months or longer. This amount is not subject to the match required for academic year compensation.
The total provided by the home institution and ACS PRF is not to exceed one year’s salary and benefits.
An allocation from ACS PRF of up to $5,000 can be requested to cover relocation, professional travel, and/or research expenses for the principal investigator.
No overhead or indirect costs may be charged to any ACS PRF grant.
The total amount requested from ACS PRF can be no greater than $50,000.

Limitations

An eligible sabbatical must be at least one academic year (i.e., 9 months or more) and must be carried out in its entirety at a location other than the applicant’s home institution.