Robert A. Welch Foundation

The Welch Foundation, based in Houston, Texas, is one of the United States' oldest and largest private funding sources for chemistry researchers. It is a non-profit organization named for Robert Alonzo Welch, an industrialist who provided the funds to set up the foundation, along with research grants, endowments, and funding for chemical research. Since its founding in 1954, the organization has contributed to the advancement of chemistry through research grants, departmental grant programs, endowed chairs, and other special projects at educational institutions in Texas. The foundation hosts an annual chemical research conference in Houston that attracts chemists from around the globe and also sponsors The Welch Award in Chemistry as well as the Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research.

Grants, scholarships, endowments, and awards

• The Welch Award in Chemistry, currently a $500,000 award, which recognizes the value of chemical research contributions for the benefit of humankind.
• The Norman Hackerman award in chemical research, currently a $100,000 award, which recognizes the work of young researchers in Texas.
• Research Grants support fundamental chemical research at universities, colleges, or other educational institutions within the state of Texas.
• Departmental Grants support chemical research by members of the chemistry department faculty at educational institutions in Texas.
• Endowed Chairs provide a faculty position for an eminent scientist. To be considered for an endowed chair, a Texas education institution must have a Ph.D. program in chemistry.
• Catalyst for Discovery Program Grants is intended to accelerate progress in fundamental chemical research by supporting research teams in Texas aimed at significant problems at the leading edge of chemistry. Annually, two grants of up to five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) each will be awarded to highly meritorious proposals.
• The Postdoctoral Fellows Grant Program provides three-year fellowships to recent PhD graduates from around the world to support the development of their chemical research careers in Texas. The aim is to fund fellows who intend to tackle important problems in chemistry in interesting and novel ways in laboratories that provide world-class training.
• The Welch eXperimental (WelchX) Collaboration Retreats aims to bring together Texas researchers to topically focused chemistry meetings and stimulate them to ideate on challenging issues of our time. Early-to mid-career tenured faculty will be invited to this fully in-person summer meeting to stimulate collaborations that foster lasting connections among the participants, thus increasing the density of research ties across Texas and spurring the growth of basic research in the chemical sciences.