One of the major private sources of funding for academic chemists in the United States is a foundation started at the bequest of Robert Alonzo Welch, a man who, ironically, didn't even finish elementary school. Despite his lack of formal education, Welch had an admiration for chemistry because of the discipline's contribution to his success (see story on page 27). Founded in 1954--two years after Welch's death--with $25 million allotted in his will, the Houston-based Welch Foundation now has as

The James S. McDonnell Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts are providing funds for a new program in cognitive neuroscience research. Researchers in this specialized area focus on the way in which human mental events take place by studying how neural tissue carries out the signals it receives. A total of $12 million has been allocated for the initial three years of the program. A primary goal is to support exceptional postdoctoral work that is underfunded or is unlikely to receive funds fr

With the new decade well under way, the United States Environmental Protection Agency is beginning to implement its plan for the 1990s. One goal outlined is the establishment of four new academic environmental centers to carry out fundamental research into burgeoning environmental problems. Eight university centers have already been established since the program's inception in 1979, when the Office of Exploratory Research was also put in force to administer research grants and centers. Applic

The Fulbright Scholars Program offers many year-round opportunities for science faculty and researchers at the postdoctoral level to travel and work at the same time. Approximately 1,000 awards will be available for the 1990-91 academic year for research, lecturing, or combinations of both. Although the program is not limited to the sciences, scientists are well represented among Fulbright scholars. U.S. citizens doing research in biology, chemistry, geology, the medical sciences, and other di