PRF Program Administrator's Comments 2016 Annual Report


The ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) continues to support “advanced scientific education and fundamental research in the petroleum field.” Including 2016, the cumulative total of grants awarded exceeded $651.6 million, since the first $164,367 in grants were awarded in 1954. At the end of 2016, the former PRF Advisory Board was renamed the Committee on the Petroleum Research Fund, a Standing Committee reporting directly to the ACS Board of Directors. This change in governance structure does not affect our research grants program.

In response to recent incidents, the PRF Committee has initiated an emphasis on laboratory safety as part of the proposal submission and review process. Beginning with proposals submitted for consideration at the May 2018 meeting of the PRF Committee, Principal Investigators will be required to confirm that potential risks or hazards have been identified, and include a risk assessment and description of suitable mitigation procedures in the proposal. Peer reviewers will also be asked to consider the safety and health aspects of the proposed research in their evaluations. Guidance and resources on PRF safety requirements are available on the PRF website.

As a response to an increase in the number of “revised and resubmitted” proposals, PRF is now requiring Principal Investigators submitting an update of a previously reviewed and denied proposal to briefly describe what has been changed in the revised version. This information is entered in the online application form before attaching the PDF proposal.

In 2016, PRF funded 203 research grants totaling $20.265 million. More than 1200 students, from undergraduates to post-doctoral fellows, received support from PRF grants to work on cutting-edge research projects in fundamental petroleum science. In this annual report, you can read about this innovative research conducted by principal investigators and their students throughout the United States and other countries. Thank you for your interest in the ACS Petroleum Research Fund.

Dean A. Dunn, Ph.D., P.G.
Program Administrator
ACS Petroleum Research Fund