Academic Research Grants
Academic Year 2024-2025 Request for Proposals
This year’s academic research grant focuses on safer alternatives to PFAS. Access the Research Grant RFP here.
Proposals are due no later than June 30, 2024.
To discuss ideas for future projects, email: [email protected]
Grant Achievements
Siemens Collaborates with UMass Lowell Researchers to Find a Safer Surfactant
With funding from a TURI Academic Research Grant, UMass Lowell researchers partnered with Siemens Healthineers to find a safer surfactant used in diagnostics devices.
Plastics Engineering Researchers Publish Research Results in Polymer Magazine
The research results of a TURI Academic Research Grant project identified safer alternatives to methylene chloride used to remove conformal coatings on printed circuit boards. The study, led by Assistant Professor Wan-Ting (Grace) Chen of the Plastics Engineering Department at UMass Lowell in partnership with Raytheon Company, was recently published in Polymers Journal. Read the article, “Removing Acrylic Conformal Coating with Safer Solvents for Re-Manufacturing Electronics.”
Johnson Matthey Collaborates to Find Safer Alternatives to Methylene Chloride use in Pharmaceuticals
Assistant Professor Chen worked on a second grant in partnership with Johnson Matthey, a manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates with facilities located in North Andover and Devens. The goal of the research project was to find safer alternatives to methylene chloride, a toxic chemical used in reaction and purification processes. The researchers identified safer alternative solvents, screened the alternatives for health and safety considerations and tested the performance of selected solvents. The results for this research were published in the Separations Journal in 2021.
