What happens when you put AI alongside the telescope, the microscope, and the computer as tools that have transformed discovery? We talked about AI, welcomed our new #CottrellScholars, and more at the 2026 Cottrell Scholars Conference. Recap: wp.me/pgj04D-aO5

Leadership doesn't wait for a title. RCSA's new free guide "Lead Better: Disrupt Barriers, and Have an Impact," written by 17 Cottrell Scholars, shows faculty how to lead from anywhere in the institution. Free PDF download: bit.ly/4xcQwEw

Six members of the RCSA community are using their expertise to lead projects selected for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission. Meet the researchers and explore their projects in this thread.

RCSA is building on our cornerstone programming while adapting thoughtfully to emerging challenges and opportunities. Read our 2025 Annual Report. wp.me/Pgj04D-9ne

Philanthropic partnerships like the ones that power our #Scialog initiatives get a shout-out in this article by Cynthia Friend, president of The Kavli Foundation.

Philanthropic funders: team up to jump-start innovative science

Collaborations between privately run foundations provide an opportunity to fund risky science that governments cannot take on.

nature.com

1996 #CottrellScholar & 2021 SEED Awardee Ziqiang Wang has a paper in Nature Communications offering new insights into charge density wave manipulation and a platform for developing a spin-mediated multistate spin-charge coupling memory and programmable quantum devices.

Congratulations to 2021 #CottrellScholar Joel Destino, Creighton University, who was named 2026 recipient of the Council on Undergraduate Research’s Silvia Ronco Innovative Mentor Award! The award was established in 2022 by a gift from RCSA.

CUR Names Creighton’s Destino as Silvia Ronco Innovative Mentor 2026 Awardee | Newswise

Joel F. Destino of Creighton University has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the CUR Silvia Ronco Innovative Mentor Award.

newswise.com

RCSA’s new grants management system is open! Thanks for your patience during this transition. Click for details. wp.me/pgj04D-aBk

RCSA Grants Management System in Transition

RCSA is moving to a new grants management system. These instructions will be updated as work progresses.

wp.me

15 researchers from the United States and Canada have won awards in the second year of Scialog: Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems, cosponsored with @allenphilanthro.bsky.social, the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation, and @kavlifoundation.org.

2026 Scialog NCE Awards

Six cross-disciplinary projects to advance fundamental understanding of how neural systems adapt to today’s rapid environmental changes have won awards in the second year of Scialog: Neurobiology and ...

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RCSA welcomes the newest members of its Board of Directors: Mahooya Dinda, Senior Vice President of Finance at MNTN, and Vicky Kalogera, Daniel I. Linzer Distinguished University Professor and Director of CIERA at Northwestern University. wp.me/Pgj04D-9qZ

Congratulations to #Scialog SM3 Fellow Austin Evans, Scialog AUT Fellow Grant Rotskoff, Scialog MND Fellow Karthik Shekhar, #CottrellScholar 2025 Marissa Weichman, Scialog NES Fellow Anna Wuttig, and Cottrell Scholar 2024 & Scialog QMI Fellow Timothy Su!

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation@dreyfusfoundation.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The Dreyfus Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of 17 new Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholars! The award honors early-career faculty in the chemical sciences who have created an outstanding independent body of scholarship & are deeply committed to education.

Congratulations to two members of RCSA’s community who were elected members of the National Academy of Sciences: #Scialog CMC Fellow Clifford Brangwynne and #CottrellScholar 2005 Chuan He.

National Academy of Sciences@nasonline.org · 3mo ago

We are thrilled to announce the election of 120 members and 25 international members to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continued achievements in original research. Congratulations to our new #NASmembers and welcome to the Academy! 🎊

Potential #CottrellScholar Award applicants! Register by May 6 to attend one of RCSA's virtual Cottrell Scholar Office Hours sessions on May 14 or 15 for tips on preparing your proposal for the upcoming July 1, 2026, deadline.

Cottrell Scholar Office Hours

RCSA will offer two virtual sessions to help potential applicants prepare for the upcoming July 1, 2026, deadline for Cottrell Scholar Award proposals.

rescorp.org

Congratulations, @angelahagen.bsky.social, and thank you for all that you have done for RCSA and its community. We wish you the best as you begin your next chapter!

A Thank-You to Angela Hagen

Angela Hagen, RCSA’s Director of Communications, will retire in June.

rescorp.org

The Cottrell Comic Challenge Project, an RCSA-funded 2012 #CottrellScholars Collaborative led by CS 2009 Snezana Stanimirovic, has produced a 3rd comic book & activity book. This one is inspired by the work of CS 2010 Sarbajit Banerjee on regolith modification for lunar landings. bit.ly/4sOZrcI

Comics

For each comic book we are developing an Activity Book. Though the activities do not require comic book information, they could be even more meaningful and fun after reading the comic book. Enjoy the ...

bit.ly

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News & Awards: April 2026

Email from Research Corporation for Science Advancement     2026 Holland Awardees Selected Three senior scientists with exemplary records in research, leadership, and mentoring -Jorge Colón, Amy Mainz

conta.cc

As the final meeting of #Scialog: Automating Chemical Laboratories comes to a close, many thanks to our participants & cosponsors for a fun and fruitful initiative! – with the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation, Walder Foundation

#Scialog: Automating Chemical Laboratories continues! Thanks to Christopher Welch, Indiana Consortium for Science and Engineering, for kicking off discussions with a great talk, “Advancing the Automation of Chemical Laboratories through Industry-Academia Research Collaborations.”

The 3rd meeting of #Scialog: Automating Chemical Laboratories -- cosponsored by RCSA, the Beckman Foundation, and the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation, with additional support from Walder Foundation – has begun in Tucson. Special welcome to our new Fellows!

We're hiring! RCSA seeks a strategic and creative Communications Director to lead the development of a modern communications program that elevates the Foundation’s position as a leader in science philanthropy.

Communications Director Position Open

RCSA seeks a strategic and creative Communications Director to lead the development of a modern communications program that elevates the Foundation’s position as a leader in science philanthropy.

rescorp.org

RCSA has named 3 members of the #CottrellScholar community as recipients of its 2026 STAR and IMPACT Awards. Congratulations to STAR Awardee Sara Skrabalak and IMPACT Awardees Jennifer Prescher and Tehshik Yoon!

2026 STAR & IMPACT Awards

Research Corporation for Science Advancement has named three Cottrell Scholars as recipients of its 2026 STAR and IMPACT Awards.

rescorp.org

RCSA has selected a new class of outstanding postdoctoral scholars in the third year of the #RCSAFellows initiative, which aims to increase faculty excellence in the physical sciences through a multiyear program of job search preparation, professional development, and community building.

2026 RCSA Fellows

Research Corporation for Science Advancement has selected a new cohort of 12 outstanding postdoctoral scholars in the third year of the RCSA Fellows initiative.

rescorp.org

Congrats to 13 members of RCSA’s community: Duncan Brown, Erin Carlson, David DeMille, Stephen Hill, Michael Laub, M. Lisa Manning, James McCusker, Michael Meyer, Jill Millstone, Kelly Sheppard, Alexander Spokoyny, Amy Cheng Vollmer, & Yadong Yin! #CottrellScholar #Scialog #CottrellCollege

American Association for the Advancement of Science@aaas.org · 4mo ago

Join us in congratulating the new 2025 AAAS Fellows class! This distinction is among the highest in the scientific community and honors scientists, engineers, and innovators whose efforts on behalf of science and its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished. https://bit.ly/4svrgaB

Congratulations to #CottrellScholar 2004 Seth Cohen, who has been appointed Dean of the School of Physical Sciences at the University of California, Irvine! Cohen is a Cottrell STAR and IMPACT awardee who has excelled in his own research, science policy, and science administration.

Seth Cohen to become new dean of UC Irvine's School of Physical Sciences

Renowned leader in advanced chemistry research will assume new role Aug. 1

news.uci.edu

Chemists! If you're attending #ACSSpring2026 in Atlanta, bring colleagues & students and join us at the RCSA/PRF Reception 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday, March 23, in International Ballroom F, Omni at Centennial Park. Meet RCSA program directors, learn more about #Scialog, #CottrellScholar & #RCSAFellows.

Congratulations to #CottrellScholar 2017 Michelle Kovarik, who will receive the 2026 J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education from the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry!

Chemistry Professor Receives Award for Excellence in Education

Trinity College Professor of Chemistry Michelle Kovarik has been named the recipient of the 2026 J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of...

trincoll.edu

Attending #APSSummit26 in Denver? Come meet our program directors and learn about #Scialog, #CottrellScholar & #RCSAFellows programs at RCSA’s reception -- 5-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, Hyatt Agate Room.

The 2nd meeting of #Scialog: Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems ends today with pitches for team research projects to explore how neural systems adapt to today’s rapid environmental changes. - with @allenphilanthro.bsky.social, the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation, @kavlifoundation.org.

Many thanks to Joellen Russell, University of Arizona Geosciences, for an inspirational & engaging keynote talk, “Climate and the Deep Blue Sea,” to kick off discussions at #Scialog: Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems.

The 2nd meeting of #Scialog: Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems has begun in Tucson! Special welcome to all our new Fellows. Cosponsored with @allenphilanthro.bsky.social, the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation, and @kavlifoundation.org.