The Mineralogical Society of America’s Grant for Research in Crystallography is funded by the Edward H. Kraus Crystallographic Research Fund with contributions from MSA members and friends. The grant awards up to $5,000 for research in the field of mineralogical crystallography. This grant targets projects within the areas of mineralogy, crystal chemistry, petrology, mineral physics, bio-mineralization, and geochemistry that can employ a variety of crystallographic, spectroscopic, analytical, and computational techniques.
Students, including graduate and undergraduate students, as well as beginning faculty and young researchers are encouraged to apply. However, all proposals are considered together. The award selection will be based on the qualifications of the applicant, the quality, innovativeness, and scientific significance of the research, and the likelihood of success of the project.
The eligibility requirements for the grant are that the applicant:
- Is an MSA member
- Cannot submit proposals for both this and Mineralogy/Petrology grant in the same year, and
- Is not an MSA Councilor.
The grant is for research-related expenses only. Travel to meetings, conferences, short courses, non-research fieldtrips, tuition, non-research living (room and board) expenses, overhead or indirect costs, etc. are not suitable uses of the money. Neither should the money be used for salary or wages for the researcher. Proposals that make such requests will not be considered further.
The successful applicant will also be asked in the year following grant to write a short summary of how the money was spent.
The next award will be made in May, 2024.
Recipients of the MSA Grant from the Edward H. Kraus
Crystallographic Research Fund
2022 – Allison Pease, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA – “Structural Variation in Silicate
Perovskites.”
2021 – Si Athena Chen, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA – “Superhydrous hematite and goethite: A potential water reservoir in the red dust of Mars?”
2020 – Md Abu Raihan Chowdhury, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA – “The role of mineral surface coatings on colloids in controlling metal transport in acid mine drainage-impacted areas.”
2019 – Kathryn Kiku Hobart, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA – “Crystallographic Controls on Abiotic and Microbially-Mediated Pyrrhotite Dissolution”
2018 – Maija Raudsepp, The University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada – “Nanometre-scale characterization of iron minerals produced by biogenic anaerobic methane oxidation coupled to iron reduction”
2017 – Gabriela Aylin Farfan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole MA, USA – “Probing coral aragonite crystallography under changing ocean conditions using synchrotron-based Ca-EXAFS”
2016 – Amy Elizabeth Hofmann, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster PA, USA – “An AFM investigation of the synergistic or antagonistic effects of two disparate impurity species on the kinetics of calcite growth”
2015 – Elias Nakouzi, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA – “Understanding and Controlling the Non-classical Crystallization Pathways of Silica-Carbonate Biomorphs”
2014 – Benjamin N. Schumer, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA – “Electron Density and Bonding in Chalcogenides: An Extension of Pauling’s Rules”
2013 – Arianna Elizabeth Gleason, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA – “Dynamics of structural transitions in amorphous and crystalline SiO2”
2012 – Joshua Paul Townsend, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA – “Extra-solar planetary mineralogy: the role of H2O in crystal structures”
2011 – Lindsay Sochalski-Kolbus, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA – “High-temperature structural study of Li-feldspar”
2010 – Hsiu-Wen Wang, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA – “Investigation of phase transition mechanisms for NAT-type natural zeolites: natrolite, mesolite and scolecite”
2009 – Andrew James Wall, The Pennsylvannia State University, University Park, PA, USA – “Assessing Cu isotopic fractionation in Cu-(Fe)-S minerals using time-resolved synchrotron X-ray diffraction”
2008 – Daniel Robert Hummer, The Pennsylvannia State University, University Park, PA, USA – “Nucleation and growth of titanium oxides nanoparticles in aqueous solution”
2007 – Siobhan Alexandra Wilson, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada – “Quantifying uptake of greenhouse gases in hydrotalcite-group minerals”
2006 – Jason Bryan Burt, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA – “Theoretical and experimental determination of potential sites for protonation in nominally anyhdrous minerals”
2005 – Christina L. Lopano, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA – “Time-Resolved Structural Analysis of Cation Exchange and Hydrothermal Heating Reactions in Synthetic Manganese Oxides: Birnessite and Todorokite”
2004 – Yongjae Lee, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Brookhaven, NY, USA – “Investigation of Pressure-Induced Hydration (PIH) in Natrolite at Elevated Temperatures; Hydrothermal Diamond-Anvil Cell (HDAC) and Monochromatic Synchrotron X-ray Powder Diffraction Experiments”
2003 – Nicholas W. Hayman, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA – “Mesophases and minerals: A comparison of electron, X-ray, and modeled diffraction patterns from low crystallinity clay minerals”
2002 – Jeffrey R. S. Brownson,University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA – “Effect of organopolymers on kaolinite crystal habit modification”
2001 – Steven D. Jacobsen, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA – “Elasticity of single-crystal (Mg,Fe)O and a new method for generating GHz-frequency shear waves”
2000 – Mikala S. Beig, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA – “Silicate crystallography, weathering and the greenhouse effect”
1999 – Christopher L. Cahill, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, USA – “Time resolved, in-situ X-ray diffraction studies of precipitation, transformation, and oxidation reactions in the hydrothermal Fe-S system”
1998 – Subarnarekha De, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA – “Microstructural study of carbondo from Brazil and the Central African Republic”
1996 – A. Vahedi-Faridi, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA – “Crystal structure of pillared clays”
1994 – Peter Carman Burns, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada – “Inelastic neutron scattering of the phase transitions in divalent copper oxysalt minerals”
1992 – Roberta L. Millard, Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada – “Temperature and compositional dependence of cation ordering in spinel”
1990 – Ross John Angel, University College London, London, United Kingdom – “High-P, high-T investigation of two phase transitions in feldspars”
1988 – Laura Pringel Goodell, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA – “Analytical Electron microscopy of oriented oxide inclusions in silicates”
1986 – William J. Dytrych, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA – “The influence of framework ordering on cation location in zeolite A using anomalous dispersion of synchrotron radiation”
1984 – Melinda Darby Dyar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA – “Effect of iron on the quench structure of silicate melts”
1982 – George A. Lager, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA – “Crystal chemistry of the hydrogarnets”
1982 – Richard N. Abbott, Jr., Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA – “High Temperature polymorphs in the system KALSiO4-NaAlSiO4”
1980 – Rodney J. Hill, CSIRO Division of Mineral Chemistry, Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, “Crystal structure, metamictization, and Rare-earth element substitution in zirconolite”
1977 – Louise Levien, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, USA – “High pressure structure determination and elastic constant measurement”
1973 – Shu-Cheng Yu, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
Submitting Proposals for the Crystallography Grant
Proposal submissions for the grant are to be made online. Instructions for application and submission of proposals are at http://grants.minsocam.org/2023grants.html. You can still use this link for your 2024 application. You will need your MSA member USERID and password to access the application:
- Your username is: (the email address we have for you xxx@xxx.xxx)
- Your password is: (MSA ID number = xxxxx).
If you have any problems uploading your proposal in Part C of the application process, send it directly to Ann Benbow and request a cover sheet (Ann’s email is below). Further information can also be obtained from:
Dr. Ann E. Benbow, Executive Director
Mineralogical Society of America
3635 Concorde Pkwy Ste 500
Chantilly VA 20151-1110 USA
Tel: +1 (703) 652-9950
Fax: +1 (703) 652-9951
e-mail:abenbow@minsocam.org