Travel: Kokes Awards for the 28th North American Catalysis Society Meeting

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The project provides travel assistance for approximately 54 graduate students from U.S. universities to attend the 28th North American Catalysis Society Meeting (NAM28) in Providence, Rhode Island, June 18-23, 2023. Catalysis has long served as a critical industrial and environmental technology for facilitating the efficient and targeted conversion of raw materials to fuels and chemical products, while also remediating waste products and pollutants. The NAM meetings are the premier U.S. conference in the areas of catalysis, surface science and catalytic reaction engineering. The meetings bring together academic, industrial, and government laboratory researchers to share the latest technical advances through oral and poster presentations, as well as plenary talks, panel discussions, and topical workshops addressing key challenges in the field of catalysis. Graduate student attendance is critical for providing opportunities for the students to present their own research while learning of recent advances in the field and new directions in catalysis research enabling critical technologies related to renewable and sustainable energy for chemical manufacturing, alternative fuels, and environmental remediation. The meeting will also provide networking and collaboration opportunities for the graduate students as they plan their post-graduate careers. Financial assistance to graduate students will be through the Kokes Travel Award program. NSF funding covers the registration fee and hotel costs – together totaling $933 per student for the 5 conference days. A total of 54 students have been identified to receive NSF travel assistance from a total of 145 awardees (based on expected funding from the North American Catalysis Society and other government funding sources in addition to NSF) and a cumulative award budget of $145,000. The awardees are selected based on a rigorous review process from 288 student applications based primarily on merit, but with consideration of need-based criteria that will enable the Kokes Awards committee to ensure appropriate representation from underrepresented groups, including minorities and women, first-time attendees to the NAM meeting, students of junior faculty, and geographical distribution. Merit-based criteria include 1) peer-reviewed evaluation of the student's submitted presentation abstract, 2) a letter of recommendation from the student's adviser, and 3) the student's CV. The awardees are expected to attend the entire conference and provide service to the conference through assisting in the organization of the meeting as appropriate. In addition to scientific learning, NAM28 will provide student attendees opportunities for networking, social interaction and informal discussions. The meeting is particularly beneficial as a career development tool for graduate students from U.S. institutions, who will form the backbone of the future U.S. chemicals, fuels, and environmental sustainability industries.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.