Rising Stars in Green Chemistry Education Award

Purpose

To recognize outstanding early-career scholars who have committed to a significant focus on green chemistry and/or sustainability in curricula for teaching chemistry, chemical engineering, or a closely related field.

Description

There are two annual awards: one designated for a scholar teaching in the U.S. and the other for an international scholar teaching at an institution outside the U.S. Each award will consist of a certificate, $1,000 honorarium, and travel support for the awardee and one student (up to $2,000 each) to attend the annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference (GC&E) to receive the award and present their work.

Eligibility

Early-career scholars (within 10 years of completing their terminal degree or post-doctoral appointment) who have committed to a significant focus on green chemistry and/or sustainability in their curricula for teaching are eligible. Curricula can include material for teaching traditional lecture classes, laboratory classes, and/or other non-traditional modes of instruction if student success has been demonstrated convincingly. Mentoring/apprenticeship in the research laboratory will also be considered, if research outcomes are directly tied to the fundamental tenets of green chemistry and student development and training are valued and measurable. Award winners are required to attend the annual GC&E conference and give oral and/or poster presentations about their work.

Conference participation:

Applicants should be aware that winners are expected to attend and present at the GC&E conference during the designated year the award is bestowed. Applications submitted in 2023 will be considered for the 2024 Rising Star awards, with travel funding provided for the 2024 GC&E conference. In addition to presenting their work, faculty awardees will join a network of previous ACS GCI awardees who may be called upon to read applications and select winners for future awards. Students who travel to the GC&E should also be prepared to give an oral or poster presentation on their research (or relevant area of study/interest) during the conference and submit a brief report to ACS GCI on their experience after the conference.

Deadline

The deadline for the 2024 Rising Star in Green Chemistry Education Awards is 11:59 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) on September 22, 2023. 

Application Requirements

Applications may be filled out by the nominee or a nominator. All applications will be submitted on the  ACS Green Chemistry Institute  application portal. You will need to log in to the portal using your ACS ID. If you do not have an ACS ID, you can create one for free using the prompts. Be prepared to submit the following information:

• Nominee contact information, title, institution, years at the institution, department, research area
• Name of reference (if different from nominator) and their contact information
• CV
• Letter of reference
• Essay written by the nominee (maximum 2 pages) addressing why you deserve the award, courses, experiments, or curricula relevant to green chemistry and/or sustainability you have developed and implemented, and any other relevant green chemistry expertise or work experience. 
• Student assessments or explicit measures of student outcomes, teaching success, etc., resulting from curricular innovations in green chemistry or sustainability.
• Future plans for teaching green chemistry or sustainability beyond current efforts.

Judging Process

A panel of experts selected by the ACS GCI will judge the applications. This panel might include members of the scientific, educational, industrial, governmental, and environmental communities.

Notifications

The ACS Green Chemistry Institute will notify applicants of award acceptance by December 31st. 

Sponsor

ACS Campaign for a Sustainable Future

Contact Information

Email: gci@acs.org