ACS PrepareCTP Seed Grant

Purpose

The American Chemical Society (ACS) PrepareCTP Seed Grant aims to support partnership building at community colleges and similar two-year degree-granting institutions, focusing on preparing skilled technical workers (STW) in the chemical enterprise, termed chemical technical professionals (CTPs). The grant program will support student stipends/scholarships, faculty workload release, instrumentation purchases, and other activities suitable for preparing and recruiting chemical technical professionals and establishing partnerships with chemistry-related employers in the awarded institution’s community.

Description

ACS is dedicated to fostering a diverse and skilled technical workforce in the chemical industry. The PrepareCTP Seed Grant aligns with ACS's Strategic Initiative for Fostering a Skilled Technical Workforce, focusing on recruiting and engaging a diverse group of students and potential employees for the chemical industry. The grant supports community colleges in training chemical technical professionals by providing funds for student support, internships, instrumentation, and faculty workload release. Eligible activities include stipends, internships, equipment purchases, and partnership building with local businesses.

Funding Levels

The program will provide several awards for an initial pilot program in fiscal year 2024. Awards must have a maximum budget not exceeding $20,000 for one year.

Deadline

Proposals will be accepted starting from October 16, 2023. The submission deadline is December 15, 2023, at 11:59 PM EST.

Eligibility

This program seeks to assist community college level students and faculty within programs preparing chemical-sciences related professionals. This can include associate degree programs and certificate programs or skills-training programs at institutions, as long as the students involved have not already obtained a bachelor's-level degree.

We encourage eligible programs to submit proposals with unique strategies to foster the development of STW through their institutional frameworks. A few examples of activities or efforts that would be considered for funding include:

• Stipends/Scholarships
• Internship Support
• Support for Instrumentation
• Faculty workload release

How to Apply

Applications will be submitted using the ACS’s Foundant-enabled web submission platform: www.grantinterface.com

Submitting Your Application

Follow the steps below to submit your application. You can view the detailed process instructions by downloading the Request for Proposals linked below. 

1. Login to ACS’ Foundant portal - www.grantinterface.com.
2. Select ‘Apply’ under [Applicant Menu].
3. Select ‘2023 ACS PrepareCTP Seed Grant’ to begin an application.
4. Enter required materials.
5. Submit your application. 

Application Requirements

Applications should include the required sections below and should not exceed ten pages in length. You can view the detailed requirements by downloading the Request for Proposals linked below. 

1. Project summary/abstract: Provide a leading summary/abstract, suitable to share on the web, giving an overview of the project goals and a summary of methods for implementation.
2. Project description: The description should be a clear and concise statement of the project goals and the methods expected to be used to meet them. Informational questions provided may be helpful to determine project description contents.
3. Detailed budget with justification: The project budget should include a budget highlighting the proposed spending over the one-year award period, while the justification should be a brief narrative describing each line item of the budget.
4. Biographical sketch(es) for project personnel: This section should provide background information on the Project Leader and each secondary supporting faculty/staff person (if any) that will contribute to the success of the project operations and to meeting the goals outlined in the project description.

Contact Information

General Program email: PrepareCTP@acs.org

Program Management:
John-David R. Rocha, Ph.D. - Program Manager: j_rocha@acs.org | (202) 872-6379
Terri Chambers, Ed.D. - Senior Director of ACS Education Division:  t_chambers@acs.org

About PrepareCTP: Fostering Technical Professionals in Chemistry

ACS launched a Strategic Initiative for Fostering a Skilled Technical Workforce, focusing on recruiting and engaging a diverse group of students and potential employees to fulfill workforce needs in the chemical industry. The initiative provides support to students, educators, and advisors with accurate information about chemical technical professionals education and training. It also provides guidance to build and maintain partnerships between industry and educational institutions to connect students to real world opportunities and employers to professionals with the right skill set. Learn more about this initiative and how you can support Chemical Technical Professionals.