Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) is an organization in the United States devoted to the advancement of science, funding research projects in the physical sciences. Since 1912, Research Corporation for Science Advancement has identified trends in science and education, financing many scientific research projects.

The Research Corporation was founded in 1912 by Frederick Gardner Cottrell, scientist, inventor, environmentalist and philanthropist,^[1] with initial funding derived from the profits from his patents on the electrostatic precipitator. Research Corporation was the second foundation established in the United States (Andrew Carnegie established the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1906) and America's first foundation devoted solely to the advancement of science. For over 100 years, RCSA has catalyzed transformative research by funding top early-career teacher-scholars at America's colleges and universities.

RCSA seeks to identify and support ideas that could revolutionize and advance entire fields of study. At the same time, RCSA works to improve U.S. science education by advocating that faculty members enhance their teaching and contribution to society by remaining active in research and by involving undergraduates in their work. For many years the foundation has maintained that involving undergraduates in research develops critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, and intellectual independence, and promotes an innovation-oriented culture.

RCSA supports direct grants to academic scientists; conferences that leverage important scientific work that is already under way; advocacy with an emphasis on the research of early-career faculty; promulgating innovative ideas for scientific transformation; the integration of research and science teaching; interdisciplinary research; and building academic cultures that look toward tomorrow's scientific needs.

During the 1920s and 1930s, many scientists took out patents of their developments and assigned them to the Research Corporation in order to guarantee that any profits made from their work would be used for further scientific research (one notable example is Ernest O. Lawrence, who assigned his cyclotron patent to the company). The Research Corporation played a major role in the minds of many scientists of the period in formulating ideal policies about the role of intellectual property in science. It was one of the first foundations in the United States. In 1987, their invention-handing facilities became Research Corporation Technologies, a wholly independent company which handles technology transfer. It was also a major supporter of the research that led to the presentation of Interlingua in 1951.

The Cottrell Scholar Awards program (CSA) reinforces the growing awareness that teaching and research are complementary rather than wholly or partially exclusive. RCSA believes this convergence is essential for increasing the number of students who are attracted and retained in science.

Cottrell Scholar Awards are intended to:

• Create a culture shift in Ph.D.-granting institutions toward valuing the university scholar;
• Increase the attraction and retention of undergraduates in science;
• Increase the number of undergraduates from Ph.D.-granting institutions pursuing graduate degrees.

The program provides $120,000 over three years to early-career faculty in chemistry, physics, astronomy, biochemistry and biophysics at major research universities. Cottrell Scholars are chosen not only for their high-quality research, but also for their dedication to the task of teaching undergraduates. There are currently nearly 500 Scholars in the United States and Canada.

Each award recipient is required to attend at least two annual conferences during the three-year term of the award. These conferences are focused on providing opportunities to share teaching knowledge as well as mentoring from previous award recipients and nationally recognized experts on such topics as navigating career paths, and balancing research and education in the research university environment. Numerous Cottrell Scholars have found the knowledge and recognition the program provides to be major motivating factors in their efforts to push through reforms in undergraduate science curricula at their universities.

In 2011 RCSA did not make any regular Cottrell Scholar Awards; instead, foundation personnel and various Cottrell Scholars focused on revamping and reorienting the program to increase its effectiveness in the coming decade. At the 2011 conference, a new synergistic organization, the Cottrell Scholar Collaborative, was launched. The Collaborative's central goal is to act collectively to change the way undergraduate science education is taught at major American universities.

These programs have been discontinued.

The Scialog program was created in 2010 to promote cross-disciplinary research on important global scientific themes. Its name is a portmanteau of "science" and "dialogue." Each Scialog invites 50+ early-career researchers from varying disciplines, institutions and approaches to participate in three annual conferences led by facilitators who are experts in their fields. Participants are challenged to identify ways in which they might collaborate on novel research, and to pitch their proposals at the end of the conference. RCSA and its co-sponsors award seed funding to the most promising proposals. (https://joshbrake.substack.com/p/scialog-gets-the-prototyping-mindset)

Scialog's unique way of promoting collaboration at conferences is being studied by a team of researchers at Northwestern University. ( https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.L042001 and https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/1/pgae522/7906554?login=false )

Research Corporation for Science Advancement works with corporations, fellow foundations, and government offices and agencies, as well as educational institutions, across the country.

In order to increase the breadth of its influence, in 2010 Research Corporation established a Strategic Partnerships program charged with increasing its endowment and establishing collaborations with corporations, fellow foundations, government offices and agencies.

Research Corporation for Science Advancement has funded the early work of at least 40 scientists who have received Nobel Prizes.

• Research Corporation website
• Inside Philanthropy article: https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2022-6-28-we-spoke-with-dan-linzer-president-of-research-corporation-for-science-advancement-here-are-5-takeaways

• Research Corporation maser and laser patents collection, 1956-1962, Niels Bohr Library & Archives