In 1954 William Myron Keck, founder of the Superior Oil Company, established the charitable foundation bearing his name. Mr. Keck's willingness to take calculated risks and strong interest in emerging technologies enabled the Superior Oil Company to become a global leader in the exploration and production of oil and gas.

The vision of the Keck Foundation honors this tradition by offering grant programs to support pioneering projects in Science and Engineering, Medical Research, and Undergraduate Education. The Foundation is interested in funding projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach. Projects that are high-risk with the potential for transformative impact are ideal. High-risk/high-impact projects push the edge of the field, present unconventional approaches to intractable problems, challenge the prevailing paradigm, or seek to build upon new ideas that could potentially lead to breakthroughs in the field.

It is prudent for applicants to review funded abstracts for each of the three specific programs in order to determine the types of projects typically funded by the Keck Foundation.

An institution may submit 1 application per program cycle. Baylor submissions to the Keck Foundation are evaluated by the OVPR via the limited submission process. The submission packet must include the Baylor application for limited submissions and the single-page concept paper required by the Keck Foundation. Applicants may not contact the Keck Foundation directly as the foundation requires that all contact be initiated through the corporate development office.

A single application to each of the three Keck Foundation program will be selected by a competitive review process. The Baylor Foundation and Corporate Development Office will coordinate the pre-application counseling visit to the Keck Foundation.

If a full proposal is invited by the Keck Foundation, site visits are conducted at the discretion of the Foundation and are generally scheduled in September and October for the December cycle and March and April for the June cycle.

The Keck Foundation awards grants twice per year in December and June as shown below.