But what it does function as is a catalyst for a different way of thinking.

WSJ: Kehinde Wiley

He added the schools reorganisation document might have been the "catalyst" for the way the vote went, but added that he thought the situation had been misunderstood.

BBC: Gwynedd party coalition meeting

The search engine, which will be described more fully by GSA Administrator David Barram, was a major catalyst in bringing all government information together in a way that the American people can find, quickly and easily.

WHITEHOUSE: Statement of The Honorable Sally Katzen

Why was a long and semi-scholarly study by a magazine writer the catalyst for a social change that might have got under way years before?

NEWYORKER: Books as Bombs

Ms. LATIFAH: For me, hip-hop has been the catalyst for everything, a form of expression, a way for me to kind of get my feelings out and, you know, release whatever is going on inside.

NPR: Queen Latifah on New HBO Movie 'Life Support'

The second is that the most productive, cost-effective way for the federal government to advance this process is to serve as a catalyst for change by leveraging its distinctive capabilities to influence others in support of these reforms.

FORBES: An Interview with Paul Carttar, Director of the Social Innovation Fund

The odd thing about prion diseases is that the misfolded protein in question somehow acts as a catalyst for other protein molecules of the same type to misfold in the same way.

ECONOMIST: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

The Catalyst study also shows that many MBAs aren't letting the economic crisis get in the way of career advancement.

CNN: Study: Women overlooked for promotion in recession

But a recent study by Catalyst for Payment Reform found that only 11 percent of payments to hospitals or doctors are in any way dependent on good quality or safety.

FORBES: The Most Dangerous Place in the World

But in 1913 one of its scientists, Friedrich Bergius, found a way to turn coal into a high-grade liquid fuel by heating it in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst.

FORBES: Magazine Article