PRF Science Panels & Areas of Research Support
ACS has been privileged to manage the PRF grant program for over 65 years. The PRF Trust mandates that all PRF-funded research projects must be “fundamental research” in the “petroleum field”. Research projects that aim to develop patentable content, have the sole purpose of commercialization, or conduct applied research are beyond the scope of PRF. To facilitate the generation of “in scope” research proposals, ACS PRF provides definitions and a description of the supported research areas.
ACS PRF supports fundamental hydrocarbon research in ten scientific areas. Proposed projects may include interdisciplinary approaches. To determine the best research panel fit for interdisciplinary research projects, contact a program officer. Strategies that use machine learning methods are welcome in any scientific area.
All results from ACS PRF-funded projects may potentially advance progress toward the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. ACS PRF encourages all projects to embrace best practices for building inclusive research environments and sustainability and green chemistry practices.
| Panel | Discipline and Areas of Research Support (Updated Nov 15, 2024) Note: the content of this list will be updated/confirmed annually in November. |
|---|---|
| 1 | Synthetic Organic Chemistry: Organic synthesis, including organic and organometallic reagents and all types of catalysis. |
| 2 | Geochemistry and Biogeochemical Cycling: Isotope, organic and sedimentary geochemistry, marine geochemistry, diagenesis, chemostratigraphy, research on atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide, CO2 capture and sequestration, sedimentary geochemistry of microplastic particles. |
| 3 | Inorganic Chemistry: Coordination and organometallic chemistry of the main group elements and transition, lanthanide, and actinide metals; homogeneous catalysis (see the Surface Science panel for heterogeneous catalysis); activation and conversion of petrochemically-relevant feedstocks; small soluble clusters; new reactive metal-ligand platforms. |
| 4 | Organic Structures, Dynamics, and Mechanisms: Structure-property relationships in organic molecules and materials; reaction mechanisms, kinetics, thermodynamics, and chemical dynamics of organic systems; supramolecular chemistry; reactive organic intermediates; organic photochemistry and electrochemistry; enzymatic catalysis of petrochemically-derived substrates. |
| 5 | Surface Science: Surface and interface phenomena and reactions, heterogenous catalysis including electro, thermo and photo chemistry, functionalization of surfaces, characterization, and modelling of surface processes directly relevant to petroleum. |
| 6 | Chemical Physics/Physical Chemistry: Theoretical chemistry, including simulation, modeling, quantum, and statistical mechanics; optical, laser, and ultrafast spectroscopies, mass spectrometry; processes in gas and condensed phases, plasma, solvation, combustion. |
| 7 | Polymer Science: Synthesis, characterization, properties, and applications of polymers and macromolecular materials derived from petroleum sources. |
| 8 | Geology and Geophysics: Stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleontology, geomorphology, structural geology, and geophysics. |
| 9 | Chemical and Petroleum Engineering: Engineering studies including fluid and multiphase flow dynamics and interfacial transport phenomena with related experiments and computations, including process operations. |
| 10 | Materials Science: Fundamental studies of advanced materials derived from petroleum or for use in the petroleum industry. |
Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact a program officer prior to preparing an application to determine if their proposed research falls within the current scope of PRF funding as the research must be “fundamental” and directly related to petroleum as determined by ACS PRF.
Please note proposals deemed to be outside of the ACS PRF funding scope are withdrawn from consideration without review.
Definitions:
“Fundamental Research”: Research that focuses on the basic causes and consequences of the phenomena and promises to produce results of broad interest and applicability not only in the immediate field of the investigator, but in other fields of science and engineering as well.
As determined by ACS PRF, the phrase "fundamental research" excludes research that aims to develop new experimental or theoretical techniques, analytical methods, and devices. It also excludes research focused on applications or patentable research and applied research topics. Further the research must be directly related to petroleum. Examples of types of research that ACS PRF does not consider due to insufficient direct relationship to petroleum are the areas of Alternative Energy (such as batteries, fuel cells, biomass, hydrogen technologies, thermal and solar); Biosystems, Biochemistry, Biomedical/pharmaceutical; Environmental Remediation; Pollution; and Non-Petroleum Topics. As these listed areas are examples and not a comprehensive list, please contact a program officer to ascertain compliance of the proposed research with ACS PRF funding scope.
“Petroleum Field”: All fossil fuel hydrocarbons. The PRF Trust states that research funds must be used in research on “exploration for, and the production, transportation and refining of, petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas, and …the production and refining of substitutes for petroleum and petroleum products from natural gas, coal, shale, tar sands and like materials.”
“New Research Direction”: The Petroleum Research Fund is dedicated to advancing fundamental knowledge by providing Principal Investigators "seed money" support to embark on new research directions in petroleum related research. While the focus is on new ideas, this does not require researchers to abandon their expertise or only pursue paradigm-shifting discoveries. Instead, the PRF encourages proposals that introduce novel concepts, offering the necessary support to develop initial data and explore exciting new avenues in their field.
