The Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Cellulose or Renewable Materials Research

WHAT IS IT?

An annual award cosponsored by the Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division of the American Chemical Society and the Eastman Chemical Company.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Any graduate student studying the chemical nature of cellulose, paper, textiles and other renewable materials. This includes, but is not limited to,

• study of the biosynthesis of biomass components and natural fibers,
•  novel chemical  routes for separating biomass into its constituent components, 
• innovative processes for converting biomass, its individual components, or natural fibers into value-added products, and 
• the development of new analytical techniques for characterizing the chemical properties of cellulose, paper and textile fibers.

The competition is open to students at graduate research programs in North America.
The applicant must either be currently enrolled or have graduated with the past year.

HOW DO I APPLY?

Submit an application package to the ACS Division Awards Chair. The Application package consists of the following:

1. A cover letter stating 
• the applicant's personal information i.e. full name, address, daytime telephone number, fax number, e-mail address and social security number.
• title of research activity, 
• graduate school attended, 
• research supervisor's name and 
• research committee members' names.
2. A paper suitable for publication that represents the applicant's most significant graduate research accomplishment. The applicant must be the principal author of this paper.
3. A summary document describing the applicant's research contributions and defining how that work fits into the current state-of-the-art (3-5 pages).
4. A letter signed by the applicant's research supervisor and verifying that the student meets the requirements of the Graduate Student Award.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

1. All applications must be complete by October 1 and the Recipient will be notified by December 1.
2. Selection of an awardee will be based upon the information included in the application package. 
3. All applications will be reviewed by a panel composed of three representatives from academic or federal research institutions and two representatives elected by Eastman Chemical Company.  The academic / federal research institute panel members will be selected by the ACS CELL Division Awards Chair.

THE AWARD

The Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Cellulose or Renewable Materials Research consists of a check for $2,000 and an individual plaque honoring their accomplishment. The recipient will be invited to attend the following Spring ACS meeting and deliver an oral presentation describing their work.

WHERE DO I SUBMIT MY APPLICATION?

Submit the completed application package to:

Dr. Stephen S. Kelley
Awards Committee Chair
National Bioenergy Center
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
1617 Cole Boulevard
Golden, CO  80401
Phone:  (303) 384-6123
FAX:     (303) 384-6363
E-mail:  steve_kelley@nrel.gov

Past Graduate Student Award Winners

 Page last modified September 2, 2003
by W. T. Winter < wtwinter@syr.edu >