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The Cottrell Scholar Award is a three-year, $120,000 award for early-career faculty in chemistry, physics and astronomy, run by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA). This guide covers who runs it, who can apply, what the money can and cannot pay for, what a proposal contains, how it is reviewed and the mistakes that cost applicants most. Everything below is as described on the official RCSA pages, checked 2026-10-29; cycle details change, so confirm the current one at rescorp.org/cottrell-scholars before you plan around it.
What it is and who runs it
“Cottrell” on its own is ambiguous, so this page is about the Cottrell Scholar Awards, the RCSA program that honors and helps develop outstanding teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics and astronomy. RCSA describes selection as a stringent peer-review process based on innovative research proposals and educational programs. The name comes from Frederick Cottrell, whose electrostatic precipitation patent proceeds helped found Research Corporation in 1912, according to the RCSA About page.
Cottrell Scholar, Cottrell Scholars and the award
The three phrases people search for point at one thing. The Cottrell Scholar Award is the grant; a “Cottrell Scholar” is a faculty member who holds one; “Cottrell Scholars” is the program and community of awardees. They gather at the Cottrell Scholar Conference, which RCSA schedules for July 2027 on its program page.
Eligibility (summary, with the official source)
Source: RCSA Cottrell Scholar Award page, checked 2026-10-29. Applicants must be early-career tenure-track faculty at a research university or primarily undergraduate institution in the United States or Canada, with a primary or courtesy appointment in a chemistry, physics or astronomy department that offers relevant bachelor’s or graduate degrees.
- Career stage: the program page ties eligibility to the end of the third year of your first faculty appointment, with a stated start-year for each proposal cycle.
- Prior tenure-track positions: any earlier tenure-track position makes you ineligible.
- One attempt: you may apply only once.
- Several applicants per institution: multiple faculty from the same institution may apply.
- Extensions: parental leave, medical leave and an approved tenure-clock delay can extend eligibility through a request form on the RCSA site.
Note that the landing page and the award page can describe different cycles at the same time. Read the cycle label on the page you rely on before you compute your own eligibility year.
What it funds or requires
Each three-year award provides $120,000 in discretionary research funds that may support both research and educational activities.
| Category | Per the RCSA award page |
|---|---|
| Equipment and supplies | Allowed (most direct costs) |
| Student and postdoctoral salaries, graduate tuition | Allowed |
| Travel to the Cottrell Scholar Conference | Allowed |
| Summer salary | Allowed for faculty in non-doctoral departments |
| Indirect costs | Not allowed |
| Academic-year faculty salary | Not allowed |
| Routine administrative costs, books and journals, visas | Not allowed |
| Construction or renovation | Not allowed |
Because indirect costs are excluded, your sponsored programs office will want to see how your institution treats an award with no overhead. See the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) entry for how that office fits in, and the Joint Associations Group on Indirect Costs entry for background on indirect-cost recovery.
One obligation comes with the money: scholars must attend at least two Cottrell Scholar Conferences during the award period. Travel to the conference is charged to the award, and RCSA covers the other conference costs.
Application or compliance steps
The award page lists these proposal components:
- Title, five keywords and an abstract.
- A research plan of up to four pages.
- An educational plan, with its sections (plan, assessment, courses taught) in one document of no more than five pages.
- An academic citizenship statement of one page.
- A letter of support from your department head, dean or provost.
- A combined reference list of no more than two pages.
- At least ten suggested reviewers, of whom at least eight are outside your institution and at least two are inside it.
- Your publications from the last five years.
- Approval by your institution’s authorized organizational representative (AOR) and final submission.
Formatting rules on the page: Arial 11 point or larger, with 0.5 inch margins. Late proposals cannot be accepted, and RCSA states the deadline is firm.
Typical timeline phases
RCSA publishes exact dates for each cycle, so treat the order below as the pattern and take the dates from the official page.
- Portal opens: RCSA opens its submission portal in the months before the deadline.
- Institutional sign-off: your AOR must approve before final submission, so internal routing has to finish ahead of RCSA’s deadline.
- Program Director screen: RCSA Program Directors screen the educational plan first.
- External and committee review: proposals with excellent educational plans go to external research experts and the Cottrell Scholar Selection Committee.
- Board approval: the committee recommends awardees and the RCSA Board of Directors approves them.
- Announcement: RCSA states a decision date for each cohort on the award page.
The practical consequence of the review order is that the educational plan is read first, as a screen, before outside experts see the research plan. A strong research plan paired with a weak educational plan does not reach the reviewers who would judge the research.
Common mistakes
- Budgeting for excluded costs. Indirect costs, academic-year salary, books and journals, visas and renovation are not fundable.
- Treating the educational plan as an appendix. It is the first screen.
- Misjudging eligibility. Any prior tenure-track position disqualifies, and you only get one attempt, so confirm your year with RCSA before spending a cycle.
- Weak reviewer list. The ten-name minimum with at least eight outsiders and two insiders is a stated requirement.
- Leaving institutional approval to the last day. The AOR step sits between you and final submission.
- Forgetting the conference obligation when planning travel budgets.
Related programs
The Cottrell Scholar Award page names the following related RCSA programs. Their terms differ from the Scholar Award, so use RCSA’s own pages for each.
| Program | Relationship |
|---|---|
| Robert Holland Jr. Award | Named as related on the Cottrell Scholar Award page |
| Cottrell SEED Award | Named as related on the Cottrell Scholar Award page |
| Cottrell IMPACT Award | Named as related on the Cottrell Scholar Award page |
| Cottrell STAR Award | Named as related on the Cottrell Scholar Award page |
| Cottrell Scholars Collaborative | Named as related on the Cottrell Scholar Award page |
For other early-career funding, see the major early-career foundation fellowships compared and the NSF CAREER Award entry. More on the funding lifecycle sits in the grants management hub.
FAQ
What is the Cottrell Scholar Award?
It is an RCSA award of $120,000 over three years for early-career faculty in chemistry, physics and astronomy, selected through peer review of research proposals and educational programs.
Who is eligible for a Cottrell Scholar Award?
Early-career tenure-track faculty at US or Canadian research universities or primarily undergraduate institutions, in a chemistry, physics or astronomy department. Anyone with a prior tenure-track position is ineligible, and you may apply only once.
Can the award pay for summer salary or indirect costs?
Summer salary is allowed for faculty in non-doctoral departments. Indirect costs and academic-year faculty salary are not allowed.
Can more than one person from my department apply?
Yes. The award page states that multiple faculty per institution may apply.
Is the Cottrell Scholar the same as the Cottrell Scholars?
A Cottrell Scholar is one awardee; the Cottrell Scholars are the program’s community of awardees.
Sources
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement, Cottrell Scholars, checked 2026-10-29.
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement, Cottrell Scholar Award, checked 2026-10-29.
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement, About, checked 2026-10-29.
