American Chemical Society Prepare CTP Seed Grant

The ACS PrepareCTP Seed Grant for Fiscal Year 2026 is administered by the American Chemical Society (ACS) as part of its Strategic Initiative, Fostering a Skilled Technical Workforce. The initiative supports the preparation and recruitment of skilled technical workers within the chemical enterprise, defined as individuals who use science and engineering skills in their jobs but do not hold a bachelor’s degree. The program aims to engage key stakeholders in meeting workforce needs for chemical technical professionals by providing funding for activities such as student stipends, faculty workload release, instrumentation purchases, and partnership development with chemistry-related employers in the applicant’s community. Eligible applicants are community colleges in the United States that offer associate degree programs, certificate programs, and/or skills training leading to chemistry-related careers not requiring a bachelor’s degree. Institutions must be accredited and located in the U.S. The project leader must be an actively engaged faculty member involved in the teaching or administration of chemical science courses at the award site, though a formal chemistry degree is not required. Prior seed grant awardees from FY2024 or FY2025 may apply, and multi-campus systems may submit separate proposals for each campus, each evaluated independently. The funding scope for FY2026 includes several awards of up to $20,000 for single 12-month projects per institution. Fundable activities include student stipends or scholarships for certificate or associate programs, support for internships or co-op placements with partner employers, purchase or upgrade of laboratory instrumentation, and faculty workload release to build industry partnerships. Projects should be designed to prepare students for immediate workforce entry rather than transfer to four-year programs. Applications open July 15, 2025, and close September 16, 2025, at 11:59 PM EST. Submissions are managed via the ACS Foundant web portal, requiring the creation of a user account. A complete application includes a project summary or abstract, a detailed project description, a budget with justification, and biographical sketches for project personnel. Documents must meet specified formatting criteria, and applicants may upload files in PDF format subject to file size limits. Technical support and cloud storage submission instructions are available through PrepareCTP@acs.org. Proposals are evaluated by a panel of internal ACS Education Division staff and external reviewers. The scoring rubric allocates points for sections including the project summary, overview, goals, institutional profile, current STEM programming, community partnerships, and key elements such as partnership development, employment opportunities, student impacts, and evaluation metrics. Successful proposals demonstrate institutional support, potential for long-term impact, and alignment with local workforce needs. Awardees are required to participate in four virtual leadership group meetings over the project year: an initiation meeting, a spring kick-off, a mid-year check-in, and a project year closing in November 2026. Annual reporting is mandatory, with reports posted on the PrepareCTP SG website to share progress and outcomes with the broader community.

Align project with workforce needs, emphasize partnerships, measurable outcomes, and institutional support