Petroleum Research Fund - Doctoral New Investigator Grants

The Petroleum Research Fund's Doctoral New Investigator Grants support early-career academic researchers in the petroleum field. Aimed at assistant professors within three years of their appointment, these grants provide essential funding for original research projects. The program emphasizes the importance of fundamental research, aiming to cultivate the next generation of scientists and engineers while ensuring compliance with educational and budgetary guidelines. Successful proposals must demonstrate innovation and distinctiveness from prior work.

The
goals of the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund are:

• To support fundamental
• research in the petroleum field, andTo develop the next

generation of engineers and scientists through support of advanced scientific
education.
Investigator grants program aims to promote the careers of young faculty by
supporting research of high scientific caliber, and to enhance the career
opportunities of their undergraduate/ graduate students, and postdoctoral
associates through the research experience.
New Investigator (DNI) grants provide start-up funding for scientists and
engineers in the United States who are within the first three years of their
first academic appointment at the level of Assistant Professor or the
equivalent. Applicants may have limited or no preliminary results for a
research project they wish to pursue, with the intention of using the preliminary
results obtained to seek continuation funding from other agencies. The DNI
grants are to be used to illustrate proof of principle or concept, to test a
hypothesis, or to demonstrate feasibility of an approach.
The DNI grants
program is seeking investigator-initiated, original research across the
Original research is defined as being different from
that performed previously by the PI as part of their graduate or postdoctoral
studies. Excluded from consideration are proposals in which the ideas being
presented are a mere extension of research from the PI’s graduate or
postdoctoral experience. Research projects must be unique. Although a PI may
send the same proposal to more than one agency, PRF will not support a project
having overlap, or partial overlap, with research funded by another agency.
ACS PRF
Research Grants are made to non-profit institutions for regularly appointed
scientists whose research may be sponsored in accordance with the 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 as opposed to applied research or methods development.
When submitting an application, you will be asked to select a scientific discipline that
PRF supports.
The DNI Grant Program
is designed as a source of funds for young investigators who are developing
their own independent research projects. The new investigator must demonstrate
that the project is an original research direction and is independent of their
graduate or post-graduate studies. Proposals deemed not “original research”
will be denied without external review, or may be rejected by the PRF Advisory
Board.
All proposals will
undergo a compliance check for the following required elements:

• Completeness and
• correctness of the application;Fundamental nature of
• the research topic;Relevance to petroleum
• or fossil fuels; andExtent to which the

proposed research differs from prior graduate and postdoctoral research.

Eligibility

Regularly-appointed faculty members at U.S. academic institutions who are within the first three years of their first academic appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor or the equivalent are eligible to apply.In addition, applicants must meet the following criteria:The non-profit institution submitting the DNI proposal must certify that the 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 ACS 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 graduate students in graduate degree programs. The terms of appointment of the principal investigator must promise reasonable continuity of service. The appointment should continue at least through the period of funding requested in the proposal.The PRF Committee requires at least 60 percent of the total budget be devoted to support the education and training of students (undergraduates, graduate stipends and tuition remission, and/or postdoctoral fellows).

Ineligibility

New investigators may submit only one research proposal for consideration per meeting and may not hold more than one active PRF research grant at a time.New investigators may have only three (3) DNI grant applications considered and/or one (1) DNI grant funded in their career. Thereafter, the new investigator may apply to the New Directions (ND) Grant Program.A principal investigator with an active PRF research grant, including a grant on time extension, may not submit an application for a new grant.