American Chemical Society Project SEED program awards fellowship funds to Millikin University
Local high school Chemistry students may qualify for summer program scholarship

[May 14, 2015]  DECATUR - The American Chemical Society (ACS) Project SEED summer research program has awarded Millikin University $7,000 in fellowship funds. The award, along with $500 from the Decatur-Springfield ACS Chapter, will allow three economically disadvantaged local high school chemistry students to participate in research activities alongside Millikin chemistry undergraduates and faculty starting in June 2015.

Established in 1968, the ACS Project SEED summer research program opens new doors for economically disadvantaged students to experience what it's like to be a chemist. The program provides opportunities for students who lack exposure to scientific careers to spend a summer conducting hands-on research with a scientist in academic, industry, and government research laboratories. Students receive a fellowship award for their efforts and a chance to receive a SEED college scholarship.

To be eligible for the Project SEED program, students must meet specific academic and family income requirements, and demonstrate the potential to work in a chemical laboratory. Students entering their junior or senior year in high school and who have completed at least one high school chemistry course are eligible to apply.

"Part of the reason why the ACS national society funds the Project SEED program is to try to get bright students into chemistry and give them opportunities for Performance Learning," said Dr. Anne Rammelsberg, Millikin associate professor of chemistry. "Project SEED has a very good success rate of getting students into science and helping them earn financial aid."

Millikin University will be offering Project SEED Summer Program I. For eight weeks, students will conduct research in chemistry or a related field, supervised by a scientist mentor, and will receive a fellowship award of $2,500.

Student applications are due by June 1. For more information regarding Project SEED at Millikin University, contact the Chemistry Department at Millikin University at 217.424.3949, or by e-mail at [e-mail].

"I think this program can be life-changing for students," said Dr. Rammelsberg. "This is an opportunity for Millikin to build community relations, and showcase Performance Learning and show how it expands beyond the undergraduate level."

With more than 161,000 members, the American Chemical Society is the world's largest scientific society and one of the world's leading sources of authoritative scientific information. A nonprofit organization, chartered by Congress, ACS is at the forefront of the evolving worldwide chemical enterprise and the premier professional home for chemists, chemical engineers and related professions around the globe.

For more information on the ACS Project SEED program, visit acs.org/projectseed. 

[Media Relations, Millikin University]