Where to Find ACS Funding

By Stephanie Prosack

Your grad school and postdoc experience is made successful by hard work. Did you know the American Chemical Society offers funding in multiple areas to help you professionally expand? As part of my responsibilities in the ACS Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Office, I research and communicate financial assistance opportunities to save you some extra time and cash. Traveling to an ACS meeting? Apply for a travel award. Searching for a fellowship? ACS has got you covered there, too. 

ACS Funding

Division Travel and Fellowship Awards

Transportation costs to ACS meetings may be supplemented through travel awards through ACS technical divisions. Awards range from a couple of hundred to a thousand dollars per meeting, and fellowship awards are as much as $26,000 a year. Be sure to read the fine print; you may need to be  presenting research at a division-sponsored oral or poster session, and have technical division membership in addition to the Society to qualify.

Society Fellowships, Grants and Scholarships

The Society offers an array of funding opportunities for you as a grad student or postdoc. Whether your interest lies in public policy or international research experience, there are plenty of opportunities to pick. The qualifications for each prospect are different, and some may require recommendations from an advisor or previous intellectual property and research efforts. Nevertheless, these possibilities are an impressive mode to gain experience and expand your C.V. or resume. Some examples are:

•   Irving S. Sigal Postdoctoral Fellowship
•  ACS Science Public Policy Fellowship Program
• ACS Summer School on Green Chemistry and Sustainable Energy
•  ACS Global Research Experiences, Exchanges and Training Program (GREET) Program
• ACS Division of Chemical Information (CINF)Scholarship for Scientific Excellence

An easy way to learn about the latest awards and opportunities is by connecting with us. Awards and other financial possibilities are regularly posted on Facebook pages devoted to chemistry graduate students and postdocs, and on our Twitter feed @ACSGradsPostdoc. The ACS Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Bulletin, a monthly e-newsletter, highlights opportunities of all genres—competitions, fellowships, grants, and travel— in each issue. Past editions can be viewed here, and you can subscribe to the Bulletin by sending an email to GradEd@acs.org with “subscribe” in the subject line.

Stephanie Prosack is an education assistant in the Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Office at the American Chemical Society. A graduate of Hollins University, she has extensive communications and international experience, and has contributed to communications outreach efforts at the American Chemical Society and public television..