Funder: American Chemical Society
Due Dates: March 13, 2025 (Spring ND/DNI/UR/UNI) | August 11–September 5, 2025 (Fall ND/DNI/UR/UNI)
Funding Amounts: $125,000 over 2 years (typical ND grant); ~75 awards/year; at least 60% of budget must support students
Summary: Seed funding for fundamental research in petroleum, fossil fuels, and related sustainability/green chemistry topics, supporting new research directions at nonprofit institutions.
Key Information: Proposals must represent a new research direction for the PI and focus on fundamental (not applied) research relevant to petroleum or fossil fuels.
Description
The American Chemical Society (ACS) Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) provides seed funding to support fundamental research in areas related to petroleum, natural gas, coal, shale, tar sands, and similar materials. The program is designed to help investigators initiate new research directions that are distinct from their previous or currently funded work. While the fund’s core focus is on petroleum and fossil fuels, it also supports projects in sustainability and green chemistry, such as new catalysts and methane/carbon dioxide utilization. The PRF is not intended for applied research or for the continuation of existing projects.
The New Directions (ND) grant is a flagship program within PRF, aimed at established faculty seeking to launch innovative, petroleum-relevant research with limited or no preliminary results. Other programs include Doctoral New Investigator (DNI), Undergraduate New Investigator (UNI), and Undergraduate Research (UR) grants.
Due Dates
- Spring 2025 Submission: Proposals due by March 13, 2025 (5:00 p.m. ET) for consideration at the October 2025 ACS PRF Committee Meeting.
- Fall 2025 Submission Window: August 11, 2025 – September 5, 2025 (5:00 p.m. ET) for consideration at the May 2026 Committee Meeting.
See current deadlines and details
Funding Amount
- Award Size: $125,000 over 2 years (ND grant; similar for DNI; UNI and UR grants are smaller).
- Number of Awards: Approximately 75 ND grants awarded annually.
- Budget Requirements:
- At least 60% of the total budget must directly support students (graduate, undergraduate, or postdoctoral).
- No indirect or overhead costs allowed.
- PI summer salary (US only): up to $8,000/year (max $16,000 total).
- Travel: up to $2,000/year for PI and students.
- Capital equipment: discouraged, but up to $5,000 may be requested with justification.
- Publication costs: up to $2,000 total.
Detailed budget guidelines
Eligibility
- Who Can Apply:
- Regularly appointed faculty at nonprofit academic institutions in eligible countries (see eligible countries list).
- Must be authorized to serve as PI on externally funded grants and as official advisor to students at the requested level.
- Tenure-track or equivalent appointments generally qualify; non-tenure-track applicants must provide a statement and a department chair’s letter confirming eligibility.
- No requirement for ACS membership or for the PI to be a chemist.
- Restrictions:
- The proposed research must be a new direction for the lead PI (not a logical extension of current/previous work).
- Only one active PRF research grant per PI at a time.
- Only one proposal per PI per cycle; max two resubmissions on the same topic.
- No direct applications from students; funding is awarded to institutions on behalf of faculty.
Full eligibility details
Application Process
- Pre-registration: Required for new applicants (registration help).
- Submission: Proposals are submitted as PDFs via the PRF Internet Grant Application Manager (IGAM).
- Proposal Requirements:
- 4,000-word limit (excluding abstract, captions, references).
- 100-word petroleum-relevance statement.
- Names/emails of six suggested peer reviewers.
- Budget and justification, with at least 60% for student support.
- For resubmissions, indicate changes made since prior submission.
- Review Criteria:
- Newness of research direction for the PI.
- Scientific merit and potential impact.
- Student involvement and educational impact.
- PI qualifications and institutional resources.
Proposal instructions and requirements
Additional Information
- Fundamental Research Only: Projects must address basic scientific questions relevant to petroleum or fossil fuels; applied research, device development, and medical/environmental/social applications are not supported.
- No Overhead: Indirect costs, administrative salaries, and support for technicians/consultants are not allowed.
- Patent Policy: All results must be dedicated to the public, royalty-free.
- Reporting: Annual financial, technical, and personnel reports required.
Frequently Asked Questions
External Links
Contact Information