Cottrell Scholar Award

Eligibility

The Cottrell Scholar Award (CSA) is available to early career faculty at U.S. and Canadian research universities and primarily undergraduate institutions. Eligible applicants are tenure-track faculty who hold primary or courtesy appointments in chemistry, physics, or astronomy departments that offer bachelor's and/or graduate degrees in the applicant's discipline.

For the 2024 proposal cycle, eligibility is limited to faculty members who started their first tenure-track appointment anytime in calendar year 2021. Accommodations are made for faculty who have taken maternity or paternity leave, or who have experienced medical conditions or research delays that prompted a tenure clock extension. Please click here to submit a request for eligibility extension.

Summary

CSA proposals contain a research plan, an educational plan, and a clear statement on how the applicant will become an outstanding teacher-scholar with strong academic citizenship skills. Proposal plans must be for a period of three years. The ability of applicants to mount a strong and innovative research program, achieve excellence in education, and develop effective academic citizenship skills are key criteria in the selection process.

In applying for, and in accepting funds from Research Corporation for Science Advancement, each scientific investigator pledges to maintain a safe and harassment-free working environment, which includes appropriate training of all members of the research group and compliance with the requirements and guidelines established by that investigator’s institutional research safety office.

Cottrell Scholar Awards are for three-year projects in the amount of $120,000 for the entire project. CSA funds may be used to support both the educational and research projects of the Cottrell Scholar. Budgets are not required, and no budget page is included in the proposal. CSA funds are used at the discretion of the Scholar for most direct costs, including equipment and supplies, undergraduate and graduate salary/wages/stipends, graduate student tuition and fees, postdoctoral salaries, and travel to attend the annual Cottrell Scholar conference and other conferences/workshops. Salaries/wages/stipends and student tuition are only allowed if prorated to percent effort. Faculty summer salary is an allowable expense, but only for faculty in non-doctoral departments. Full benefits are only allowed for postdoctoral salaries. Fringe benefits for undergraduate students and graduate students (and for faculty in non-doctoral departments) should not exceed 15%. No funds are to be used for indirect costs or overhead, academic-year faculty salaries, routine administrative institutional services or salaries, books and journals, or building construction or renovation.

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

The application process for 2025 Cottrell Scholar Awards is now open. To start, create a New User account in RCSA’s Proposal Review and Information System Manager (PRISM).

• The system will prompt you to complete the required registration form, then review and accept the terms and conditions of our system. You will receive an email from prism@rescorp.org with a link to set your password.
• Once logged in, complete Basic Information and Diversity & Inclusion Questionnaire.  Click on Manage My Details to update your Degree/Qualification, Employment, and Grant and/or Fellowships. Information from these fields will be pulled automatically into your application.
• To import your publications by linking to your ORCID record, go to Basic Information and click “Add ORCiD or register with ORCiD,” which will take you to the ORCID website. Log into ORCID, then click Authorize Access to link ORCID and PRISM. Back in your PRISM account, click on My Publications, then Import. Select ORCiD as the source, then click Select Records. We recommend only importing 10-20 records at a time to prevent a time-out error.  Please note that only publications from the last five years should be added to your application, so we would recommend that you only import those records from ORCID. Click the check boxes next to the publications that you want to import. Click on Complete Import, then Import.
• To start your Cottrell Scholar Application, go to My Applications and click “New Application.” From the list of Open Calls, click apply on the Cottrell Scholar Application row. Complete the eligibility quiz and proceed to start your application.

Contact us at prism@rescorp.org if you have any questions.