Catalysis Grant

NSF

About this grant

The Catalysis program is part of the Chemical Process Systems cluster within the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET). The program aims to increase fundamental understanding in catalytic engineering science and to advance the development of catalysts and catalytic reactions that benefit society. Research should focus on critical challenges and opportunities in both new and proven catalysis technologies, with areas of emphasis including novel catalyst compositions, structures, operating environments, data science tools, theory, and modeling. Target application areas include fuels, specialty and bulk chemicals, environmental catalysis, biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals, greenhouse gas mitigation, recycling of waste materials, generation of solar hydrogen, and efficient routes to energy utilization. Heterogeneous catalysis—both gas-solid and liquid-solid—represents the main thrust of the program, though proposals incorporating concepts from homogeneous catalysis are also welcome. Topics of particular interest include energy-related catalysis utilizing renewable or sustainable energy, catalysis aimed at closing the carbon cycle, environmental catalysis, catalytic remediation of feedstocks, commercially scalable catalyst synthesis methods, new catalytic materials and architectures, and advanced tools for catalyst characterization and theoretical/computational catalysis. Proposals dealing with new catalytic materials are encouraged to include plans to assess reproducibility and repeatability of data, stability under realistic operating conditions, performance relative to standard reference materials, and quantitative measures of catalyst activity and efficiency. Note that proposals focused on molecular or homogeneous catalysis, surface science of catalysis, photo redox catalysis, catalytic organic synthesis, or pharmaceutical applications may be more appropriate for the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry. Proposals focused on biocatalytic processes should be submitted to the Cellular and Biochemical Engineering program. Award durations are generally up to three years for unsolicited proposals. Single-investigator award budgets typically include support for one graduate student and up to one month of principal investigator time per year. Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) proposals with five-year durations are strongly encouraged. RAPID, EA…

Eligibility

The program is unrestricted and open to any type of entity, subject to any clarification provided in the additional eligibility information field. There are no explicit geographic, organizational-type, or sector restrictions stated beyond general NSF proposal requirements. Proposals must comply with NSF's Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG); non-compliant proposals will be returned without review. Principal investigators submitting proposals outside the specific interest areas, or submitting RAPID, EAGER, GOALI, or conference/workshop proposals, are strongly encouraged to contact the program director prior to submission.

How it's scored

Proposals are evaluated based on the novelty and/or potentially transformative nature of the proposed work compared to previous work in the field, as well as the importance of the work in terms of engineering science and its potential impact on society and/or industry. The novelty or potentially transformative nature of the research must be included at minimum in the Project Summary of each proposal. Program directors review submissions and may transfer proposals to ensure the best review situation. Compliance with the PAPPG is required; non-compliant proposals are returned without review. No specific scoring weightings or panel composition details are disclosed on this page.

Key requirements

• ✓Focus on heterogeneous catalysis (gas-solid or liquid-solid) with emphasis on renewable/sustainable energy, carbon-cycle closure, or environmental applications
• ✓Proposals on new catalytic materials must include plans to assess reproducibility, stability under realistic conditions, performance vs. reference materials, and quantitative activity/efficiency measures
• ✓Research should address critical challenges in novel catalyst compositions, structures, operating environments, data science tools, theory, and modeling
• ✓Target applications include fuels, specialty/bulk chemicals, biomass conversion, greenhouse gas mitigation, waste recycling, solar hydrogen, and energy utilization

Funder contact

The notice names a programme contact you can speak to before applying.

Frequently asked questions

Who can apply for Catalysis?

Eligibility covers organisations in US; university, research-institution, large-company, sme. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.

Relevant sectors

About this sector

Hydrogen and e-fuels funding supports electrolysers, production plants, storage, transport and end uses in industry, shipping and aviation. Support is often tied to low-carbon production standards and offtake from named users. Calls commonly ask for a site, a supply of renewable power and a consortium that covers production through to demand.