Celebrating 25 Years of Scientific Discoveries in Physical Chemistry - Supported by the ACS Petroleum Research Fund

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Logic

Celebrating 25 Years of Scientific Discoveries in Physical Chemistry - Supported by the ACS Petroleum Research Fund describes how the ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) supports fundamental petroleum-related research across chemistry, engineering, and geoscience. It traces PRF’s history from its early grants in 1954 through key administrative transfers, and explains how the fund’s charter guides exclusive use for advanced scientific education and fundamental research. The collection highlights 40 highly cited JPC journal articles since 2000 and summarizes PRF’s grant types and scientific panels.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Editorial

Overview of PRF and the collection

Grant history and charter

Scientific panels and interdisciplinary coverage

Grantee categories and doctoral new investigators

UC Davis UC Davis Previously Published Works Title Celebrating 25 Years of Scientific Discoveries in Physical Chemistry Supported by the ACS Petroleum Research Fund Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7sz2m2bz](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7sz2m2bz) Journal The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 129(48) ISSN 1089-5639 Authors Aumiller, William Osborn, David L Publication Date 2025-12-04 DOI 10.1021/acs.jpca.5c07350 Peer reviewed [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California srh00 | ACSJCA | JCA11.2.5208/W Library-x64 | manuscript.3f (R5.2.i3:5013 | 2.1) 2022/08/03 13:05:00 | PROD-WS-396 | rq_4180044 | 11/03/2025 08:00:32 | 3 | JCA-DEFAULT [pubs.acs.org/JPCA](pubs.acs.org/JPCA) Editorial 1 Celebrating 25 Years of Scientific Discoveries in Physical Chemistry 2 Supported by the ACS Petroleum Research Fund 1 Cite This: [https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.5c07350](https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.5c07350) Read Online 1 ACCESS Metrics & More Article Recommendations 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 The ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) is an endowed trust fund managed by the American Chemical Society that supports researchers to conduct fundamental petroleumrelated research in chemistry, engineering, and geoscience fields. Since the first grants were awarded in 1954, PRF funds have provided critical “seed money” to explore new scientific ideas, generating preliminary results that provide proof of concept for longer-term funding from other agencies. While the ACS has always managed the selection of grantees, 25 years ago the PRF trust was transferred to the American Chemical Society. With this Collection, we celebrate ACS’s continued stewardship of the PRF by highlighting 40 research articles published since 2000 in The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, B, C and Letters that were partially or fully funded by ACS PRF. These highly cited articles underscore the enduring impact seed money provides to both new and established researcher to take risks in an area new to them. We hope you’ll enjoy discovering the breadth and depth of PRF-funded research published in the JPC journals while learning some of the history of the ACS Petroleum Research Fund. The PRF currently awards four grant types supporting both new and established researchers at undergraduate and graduate institutions. According to the charter, grant funds are to be used “exclusively for advanced scientific education and fundamental research in the ‘petroleum field.’” The PRF was established by a federal court in 1944 with assets from seven oil companies that were involved in an anti-Trust action with the U.S government. Prior to the year 2000, the assets of the trust were managed by the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company and the interest and dividends ofthe Trust’s investments were used by ACS to award grants. Then, on October 25, 2000, the trust was transferred to ACS, and ACS became both the Trustee and the income recipient. A full history of the ACS PRF is available for further reading. ACS PRF currently has ten scientific panels that cover several disciplines in chemistry, engineering, and geosciences. While a vast majority of the articles featured in this Collection were awarded to researchers funded through the Chemical Physics/Physical Chemistry panel (panel 6), articles from researchers funded by the Surface Science, Materials Science, Organic Structures, Mechanisms, and Dynamics, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and even the Geochemistry and Biogeochemical Cycling panels are also featured, which demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of research funded by ACS PRF and featured in the journals. A description for all ACS PRF scientific panels i

FAQs

What is the ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) and what does it support?

PRF is an endowed trust managed by the American Chemical Society. It supports researchers to conduct fundamental petroleum-related research in chemistry, engineering, and geoscience fields.

How did PRF become managed by ACS?

The first grants were awarded in 1954, and later the trust was transferred to the American Chemical Society. On October 25, 2000, the trust transferred to ACS, making ACS both the Trustee and the income recipient.

How are the articles in this collection organized?

The collection groups articles into three grantee categories: doctoral new investigators, established investigators starting a new direction, and investigators at primarily undergraduate institutions/departments.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Logic