Travel: Kokes Awards for the 30th North American Catalysis Society Meeting

This award will provide partial support for approximately 40 students to attend the North American Catalysis Society Meeting (NAM30) to be held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 13-18, 2027. NAM30 will provide a venue for graduate students to meet other graduate students, interact with leaders in catalysis, and integrate into the catalysis community. This will help inspire and promote the professional development of these future research leaders. Catalysis researchers from across North America and the world will gather for this premier conference to present and discuss research on topics related to catalysis, computational catalysis (particularly AI/ML methods), advanced catalyst characterization (including AI/ML models), applied and industrial catalysts, biomass upgrading, polymer synthesis and upcycling, natural gas and hydrogen chemistry, energy conversion and storage, photo- and electrocatalysis, surface science, hierarchical structured materials, atomically precise catalysts, operation of novel catalytic reactors, and more. The NAM30 conference will have over 1000 talks, many presented (both oral and poster) by graduate students. Students attending the NAM30 conference will have opportunities to learn of the latest research in catalysis and also network with their peers, possible mentors, and future employers. Such interactions will help integrate students into the catalysis community and will help ensure a strong pipeline of future leaders in this important area of energy security. 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.