Through two separate funding mechanisms managed by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, College of Arts and Sciences faculty Ronit Freeman, Igor Andreoni and Carl Rodriguez have received competitive grants to fund new or ongoing projects in their laboratories.

The RCSA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to catalyzing innovative scientific research and supporting the career development of academic scientists. Since 1912, they have awarded more than 18,000 grants to researchers working in fields from biochemistry to astrophysics to sustainability and materials science.

Freeman, an associate professor in the department of applied physical sciences, received an RCSA Bridge Award of $100,000 for her project, “Engineering Living Materials for Long-Term Therapeutic Release.” This wasn’t Freeman’s first RCSA award; in 2023, she received a Cottrell Scholar Award honoring excellence in both teaching and research among early-career faculty.

The Bridge Award was designed to help Cottrell Scholars whose work was affected by federal funding disruptions. Eleven scholars received awards in this inaugural grant cycle.

“These researchers are pursuing exciting and productive research programs that are, importantly, training the next generation of scientists,” said RCSA President Eric Isaacs. “The Bridge Awards provide critical continuity to outstanding early-career scientists doing high-potential research at a time in their careers when creativity and momentum are so important.”

Andreoni and Rodriguez, assistant professors of physics and astronomy, each received a 2025 Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award for projects developed during the 2025 “Scialog: Early Science with the LSST” meeting held in November. This year, RCSA, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Leinweber Foundation and independent philanthropist Kevin Wells awarded $60,000 each to 19 researchers taking part in seven group projects.