Houston, TX – June 24, 2025 -- The Welch Foundation, one of the nation’s largest sources of private funding for basic chemical research, has announced a notable sum of more than $27 million in research grants and other program funding for 2025. This includes the foundation’s long-standing research grant funding to Texas institutions, along with Equipment Grants and Postdoctoral Fellowships, which launched in 2023.
“Through funding basic chemical research, we are actively investing in the future of humankind,” said Adam Kuspa, President of The Welch Foundation. “We are proud to support so many talented researchers across Texas and continue to be inspired by the important work they complete every day.”
RESEARCH GRANTS
The Welch Foundation’s $25.5 million in research grant funding will be allocated over the next three years and encompasses 85 grants across 16 institutions. The program provides $100,000 per year in funding for three years to support research in chemistry by a full-time regular tenure or tenure-track faculty member at a university, college or educational institution located within Texas. Grant highlights include:
- Michael I. Jacobs, Assistant Professor in the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at Texas State University, is leading a project that uses native mass spectrometry to investigate the structure and thermodynamics of intrinsically disordered proteins and aims to explores how microdroplets can accelerate biochemical reactions, which could assist in lab testing and reveal clues about how life began. This newly funded grant has exciting implications for biochemistry.
- Kendra K. Frederick, Assistant Professor in the Biophysics Department at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, leads research with a project using advanced NMR spectroscopy to study how a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease changes inside cells during the onset of toxicity. Her return to Welch funding could reveal what makes certain forms of the protein harmful and help guide the development of targeted treatments.
- Jennifer S. Brodbelt, Professor in Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, has been investigating how glass-like materials form and change by testing a theory called full replica symmetry breaking (fullRSB) using soft, gel-like nanoparticles that better represent real-world materials. By observing how these materials respond to compression and temperature changes, the research aims to answer fundamental questions about glass formation and could improve our understanding of complex systems in physics, chemistry and biology.
EQUIPMENT GRANTS
The Welch Foundation’s Equipment Grant Program provides supplemental funding to Departmental Grants, allowing these programs to acquire equipment to improve a department’s capabilities in chemical research and to give faculty and students a richer laboratory experience. The foundation awarded 13 institutions with equipment grants for a total of $975,000, with universities matching funds of $352,346.
As a result of this grant program, Howard Payne University (HPU) is working to strengthen its STEM programs by providing students, especially those of Hispanic descent or first-generation college students, with hands-on multidisciplinary research opportunities that are often limited at smaller institutions. With this grant, HPU will purchase two essential instruments: a high-performance liquid chromatograph and a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. These tools will enhance student learning, support future collaborations and better prepare graduates for careers in science or advanced study.
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
The Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation 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 foundation has awarded two Postdoctoral Fellows to two institutions – Baylor University and Rice University. Each Fellow will receive $100,000 annually, for a three-year total of $300,000.
Since 1954, the Houston-based Welch Foundation has contributed more than $1.1 billion to the advancement of chemistry through individual research grants, departmental research and equipment grants, endowed chairs, Catalyst program grants, WelchX collaborative pilot grants, Postdoctoral Fellows grants and support for other chemistry-related programs in Texas. The Foundation also bestows the annual Welch Award in Chemistry, which has celebrated achievements in basic research internationally since 1972, and the Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research to early-career Texas scientists. For more information, visit www.welch1.org.
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