About Project SEED

Project SEED, the American Chemical Society's social action program, places talented, disadvantaged high school students in academic, industrial, and government research laboratories for 8-10 weeks during the summer to experience "hands-on" research. Each student completes a chemical research project under the supervision of a scientist/mentor (called a preceptor) and receives an educational award.

The goal of Project SEED is to help expand the career outlook of economically disadvantaged students. Since 1968, The Project SEED Program has made it possible for more than 4,500 talented high school students to conduct research in local chemistry laboratories. The program will consist of an 8-10-week summer science research project for the students, with the majority of participants working in chemistry and chemistry-related sciences. The students receive individual instruction under the direct supervision of scientists/preceptors in the laboratory. The preceptors serve as role models and encourage the students to learn about careers in chemistry.

Over the past 16 years, the North Carolina Section Project SEED program has served approximately 100 students with 96 percent attending college (100 percent over the last five years), 83 percent majoring in science or mathematics, 67 percent in chemistry, and 75 percent overall receiving full or partial scholarships. The average SAT score among current participants has been around 1200 (Verbal and Math). The Project SEED program has more underrepresented minorities as national winners than any program in the state and very possibly the country. Over the past five years, our students have placed and won in 36 national awards in science competitions including eight Siemens Westinghouse National Semifinalists and two Sigma Xi National First Place Winners. Our student participants have matriculated to in-state institutions such as North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, North Carolina Central University, Winston-Salem State University, East Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and North Carolina A& T State University. Out of state institutions include MIT, Stanford, Dartmouth, Princeton, University of Florida, University of Miami, Hampton University, Howard University, Morehouse, Virginia Tech, and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Among our program alumni we currently have nine students that were admitted to doctoral programs and a Phi Beta Kappa member. We have a demonstrated model that works in moving talented disadvantaged students into the sciences.

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