Innovative Project Grants Leads to ChemLuminary Awards

What do a Science in the Cinema program in Southern California and a Careers in Chemistry event in Central Texas have in common? Both projects were funded by Innovative Project Grants (IPGs) from the Local Section Activities Committee (LSAC) in 2004 and both won ChemLuminary Awards in 2005!

Science in the Cinema was recognized by the LSAC for the Most Innovative New Activity or Program in a Local Section, and Careers in Chemistry was recognized by the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs (CEPA) as the Outstanding Local Section Career Program Award (small to medium large category). The Southern California Section proposed six sessions where each included a feature film followed by a presentation by a guest speaker and a question-and-answer period. The Third Man was shown, and Herbert Kaesz, a UCLA chemistry professor, discussed drug dilution and illicit “black market” prescription drugs. Also shown was A Beautiful Mind, and Stephen Marder, vice-chair of UCLA’s Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, led a post-film discussion about the neurochemistry of schizophrenia. These Science in the Cinema programs targeted college students on local campuses.

The Central Texas Section proposed a very ambitious careers event at the University of Texas. Almost 100 career chemists, students, advisers, and faculty from the colleges and universities in the five-county region attended the event, which ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The program included four career panels; three career development workshops; a keynote talk delivered by Bill Carroll, then president-elect of ACS; and resume reviews by Warren Bush, an ACS Career Services career consultant. Three career panelists also volunteered to do resume reviews because of the many requests. Both projects were well conceived and executed, attracted large audiences, and were highly successful. Congratulations to the Southern California and Central Texas local sections!

In addition to these two ChemLuminary Award winners, five local sections were selected as finalists for 2005 ChemLuminary Awards for activities supported by IPGs: the Colorado Section, finalist for the ACS Student Affiliates Chapter Interaction Award given by the Society Committee on Education; the East Central Illinois Section, finalist for the Most Innovative New Activity or Program in a Local Section, given by the Local Section Activities Committee; the Nashville Section, finalist for the Outstanding Overall Local Section Women Chemists Committee, given by the Women Chemists Committee; the Puerto Rico Local Section, finalist for the Outstanding Single Event in a Local Section Promoting Women in the Chemical Sciences, given by the Women Chemists Committee; and the Savannah River Local Section, finalist for the Outstanding On-Going National Chemistry Week Event, given by the Committee on Community Activities. All of these local sections developed excellent program ideas, sought and received IPGs, and conducted highly successful events. At the recent ChemLuminary Awards ceremony during the ACS national meeting in San Francisco, several of the award winners and finalists for this year also were local sections whose projects were funded by IPGs.

IPGs are awarded by the Grants and Awards Subcommittee of the LSAC on the basis of proposals submitted by local sections for innovative new activities in the section (note that in this context, innovative encourages the specific local section to borrow good ideas from other local sections). Sections are also welcome and encourages to work collaboratively on projects with nearby local sections or with technical divisions of ACS. Proposals are awarded in amounts up to $3,000, with just a few restrictions on the use of the funds. Since funds are earmarked for local sections to experiment with new activities, the likelihood of having a solid proposal funded is excellent.

Do you have an idea for an Innovative Grant Proposal? If so, send an email or visit the IPG website for more information. Although proposals may be submitted at any time, the subcommittee works with two deadlines per year, March 1 and August 1. Funding decisions are made at the national meetings, and local sections are notified of the results shortly thereafter.

IPGs are an excellent way to enable sections to carry out new, creative projects, and the Grants and Awards Subcommittee looks forward to receiving many strong proposals for the March 1, 2007, round of funding.

O. Bertrand Ramsay
Subcommittee on Grants and Awards
ACS Committee on Local Section Activities

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