February 12-16

Kansas State University’s Environmental Health and Safety Office, in partnership with campus and community collaborators, is observing Laboratory Safety Awareness Week.

Whether in a laboratory, the clinic, or the field, researchers are at the heart of making great things possible. Laboratory Safety Week is a week-long event offering ideas, training, and resources to keep researchers safe and healthy.

Faculty, staff, students, future researchers, the university community, and external stakeholders are encouraged to attend, virtually or on campus.

Those in attendance (virtual and in person) will receive course certificates and entry into the grand prize drawing.

Registration is not required.

Presentation Zoom link.

All events will be in the K-State Student Union and streamed on Zoom, except for Dr. Clavijo's NBAF presentation. 

The Office of the Vice President for Research announces new funding available to assist faculty in research planning and large-grant development.

The Travel, Acceleration and Planning, or TAP Grants will provide funding for travel to meet with agency or foundation personnel, travel to meet with collaborators at other institutions for proposal development meetings, support for potential co-investigators at other institutions to travel to K-State for proposal development meetings and faculty and/or staff support for large center-level grant development. 

The process for requesting TAP funds is designed to be simple and fast. The Office of the Vice President for Research will provide quick responses to all properly filed requests.

Full descriptions, funding amounts and procedures for requesting funding are available on the OVPR website.

Deadline: March 4, 2024 by 5:00 p.m.



The Office of Research Development announces the spring 2024 Faculty Development Award, or FDA, and University Small Research Grants, or USRG, call for proposals for K-State tenured or tenure track faculty who are interested in receiving assistance in their scholarly activities and professional development.

Note: faculty must have at least some percentage of their appointment devoted to research.

The Faculty Development Awards program provides support for travel to international meetings — primarily at international locations — or to meet with program officers from potential external sponsors.

The University Small Research Grants program is a seed grant program to support early research, scholarly activity, and other creative efforts.

More information about the program can be found here.

Please contact the Office of Research Development if you have any additional questions: ord@k-state.edu or 785-532-6195. 

John W. Fountain, U.S. Scholar to Ghana, 2022

In February 2024, the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program will launch our 2025-26 competition! Hundreds of awards across all world regions will allow academics, professionals and artists to teach, research, and carry out professional projects abroad.  

Curious to see what awards in 2025-26 have to offer? Join our first webinar of the year to learn more about the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, awards and the application process:



The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program: Opportunities for 2025-26

Thursday, February 15 1:30-2:30 p.m. CT

Register here to join us!

Already know a region, country or award that interests you? Register to join our webinars featuring specific Fulbright U.S. Scholar opportunities.  Visit our Webinar Schedule for events throughout the competition starting with:

• February 28: South and Central Asia
• February 29: East Asia and the Pacific
• March 6: Europe and Eurasia
• March 11: Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship
• March 13: Western Hemisphere
• March 20: Sub-Saharan Africa
• March 27: Middle East and North Africa

Join us February 21, from 12-1 p.m. and hear from sociology program directors who will answer questions concerning the NSF Sociology Program.

All meetings during office hours are 1-on-1. Guests are seen in the order they join. You may have to wait if others join before you.

To join, use the Sociology office hour Zoom link

More information can be found here.

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress to support innovative science addressing today’s food and agriculture challenges and complement the research mission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. FFAR was created in the 2014 Farm Bill as a mechanism to spur innovation in food and agriculture research by forming unique public-private partnerships.

FFAR invites experts across the agricultural sciences to review grant proposals within topic areas according to their expertise. We are currently recruiting peer reviewers for the 2024 New Innovator Award, which provides early career scientists the investment needed to propel them into successful research careers.

The success of the peer review process depends on the willingness of qualified reviewers like you to share your time and expertise. You will be asked to review up to five (5) proposals in April - May 2024. In appreciation for completing the reviews, an honorarium will be provided to eligible, non-government employees.

To participate and receive more information, please complete the 2-minute survey by February 28, 2024 to confirm that we can count on you to make this review process successful. We hope you consider this opportunity to work with FFAR as we strive to support innovative agricultural research.

If you are unable to review for FFAR at this time, please consider nominating other experts who may serve as potential reviewers. Thank you in advance for your support, and we look forward to hearing from you! 

Office Hours: Intro to America’s Seed Fund at NSF

February 20, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

March 28, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

Join this question-and-answer session to learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by the National Science Foundation. A Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program director will answer questions about how to get started, the basics of eligibility and what they look for when they review project pitches.

Register for the Intro to America's Seed Fund webinar on Zoom.

February 15, 2024 from 8-9:30 a.m.

February 21, 2024 from 11-12:30 p.m.

February 22, 2024 from 4-5:30 p.m.

Catalyzing Across Sectors to Advance the Bioeconomy (CASA-Bio) is a collaborative, facilitated activity, inspired by the Executive Order (EO) on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy.

Stakeholders from Federal agencies, industry, and non-profits have identified a group of Subtheme Challenges that span the five Bioeconomy EO Themes: climate change, food and agriculture, supply chain resilience, human health, and cross cutting areas to advance all these areas.

In February, we will host four virtual Town Hall meetings to hear from the research community about the ideas they view as having exciting potential to advance the bioeconomy. Share your ideas for research on these or other areas that have the potential to advance the bioeconomy.

If you are able to attend, register for a Town Hall to collaborate with others on developing research ideas, and share your individual ideas ahead of the Town Hall.

If you are unable to attend, we would still love to hear our research ideas, so please share online.

Please join the Decision Risk Management Sciences office hour to discuss questions about the program with the program directors. 

Office hours take place over Zoom monthly, generally on Wednesdays. Please see upcoming dates listed below.

February 14, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

March 13, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

April 17, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

To join, use the Decision Risk Management Sciences office hour Zoom link

• All meetings during office hours are 1-on-1. Guests are seen in the order they join. You may have to wait if others join before you.
• If you need captions or other accommodations, please contact Claudia Gonzalez-Vallejo or Bob O'Connor in advance. 

For more information about the program, visit the Decision Risk Management Sciences program page.

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

This webinar will give an overview of NIJ’s Graduate Research Fellowship, which invites applications for doctoral dissertation research on preventing and controlling crime, advancing knowledge of victimization and effective victim services, or ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal or juvenile justice in the United States. This solicitation will be open to doctoral students in all science and engineering fields.

The presenters will discuss program scope, eligibility, application elements, and frequently asked questions.

Register to attend and to be notified when materials are available online.

Join us Thursday February 15, 2024, 12-1 p.m. for this month’s IOS Virtual Office Hour.

This month’s Virtual Office Hour will outline NSF opportunities that early career investigators, from graduate students to Assistant Professors.

Register here.

February 15, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

February 29, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

Join this open-ended session to ask questions about what’s needed when creating a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) proposal. A SBIR/STTR program director will answer questions and point you to resources.

Register here.

Join us on Thursday, February 15^th, 12 – 1 p.m. for the next IOS Virtual Office Hour where we will provide some key introductory information relevant to all early-career investigators (from graduate students to assistant professors). If you’re new to applying to NSF, come learn about how to find funding opportunities and resources on proposal writing tips. We will also discuss two solicitations that are highly relevant to new assistant professors, the Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology and the Faculty Early Career Development programs. Representatives familiar with both the BRC-BIO and the CAREER programs will be in attendance to answer questions. 

We will end the virtual office hour with a general Q&A session.

IOS Virtual Office Hours are held on the third Thursday of every month from 12 – 1 p.m.

Register here.

February 16, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

The National Science Foundation's Responsible Design, Development and Deployment of Technologies (ReDDDoT) program invites you to attend a virtual office hour session.

A ReDDDoT program director will host a group discussion to answer questions about the funding opportunity and the proposal submission process. Following the Q&A portion, there will be track/topic-specific breakout sessions – for ReDDDoT, the tracks are AI, biotech, and natural and anthropogenic disaster prevention or mitigation.

The session can hold a maximum of 30 participants, so we kindly ask that only one per proposing team register and attend.

Register here.

DMR Open Hour: Supplements

Join Germano Iannacchione, director of NSF's Division of Materials Research (DMR), and DMR Program Directors for our monthly office hour and Q&A session.

February’s Open Hour will focus on award supplements with a special emphasis on the MPS-High Supplement to broaden participation of high school students in groups that have been traditionally underrepresented and under-served in STEM.

Please register for the DMR Open Hour here. 

The S-STEM program will be holding open office hours for the upcoming March 2024 deadline:

February 23, 2024, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

February 29, 2024, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

Registration can be found here.

March 7, 2024, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

April 4, 2024, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

May 2, 2024, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

Please join this I-Corps Teams webinar to ask an I-Corps program director questions and hear updates about the I-Corps program, curriculum, and important dates. Details will be shared at the beginning of each webinar to view real-time captions.

Registration can be found here.

The National Funding Foundation has transformed our award-winning program into a first-rate professional development program. We are pleased to announce a live and virtual professional proposal program identical to our award-winning in-person program. 

The National Funding Foundation is offering the Professional Grant Proposal Writing Workshop on March 11, 2024. Interested development professionals, administrators, researchers, faculty, and graduate students should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly.

All participants will receive the National Funding Foundation's Certificate in Professional Grant Proposal Writing.

Registration forms can be found here.

Join us for the webinar about the revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG).

NSF will present information about these changes in a webinar on March 12th at 1 p.m.

You are encouraged to review the by-chapter Summary of Changes provided in the PAPPG.

More information and registration can be found here.

April 30 2024, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

May 23, 2024, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

July 25, 2024, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

Join this question-and-answer session to learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by the National Science Foundation. A Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program director will answer questions about how to get started, the basics of eligibility and what they look for when they review project pitches.

Register here.

The Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) is a research and action competition driven by community priorities. By addressing priorities at the local scale that are relevant across the U.S., CIVIC is laying the foundation for a broader and more fluid exchange of research and technology capabilities and civic priorities through joint partnerships involving civic partners and the research community.

The foundation for CIVIC projects should be rooted in maturing and transitioning state-of-the-art research in disciplines, including but not limited to computer science, engineering, geosciences, biological sciences, and social sciences.

Full proposals due May 1, 2024.

Read the full solicitation here.

The National Medal of Science is the highest recognition the nation can bestow on scientists and engineers. The presidential award is given to individuals deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, or social and behavioral sciences, in service to the Nation.

For this prestigious honor, please nominate colleagues and peers who have made extraordinary contributions that have advanced the scientific enterprise.

Complete nomination packages, consisting of a completed nomination form and three letters of support, are due by May 3, 2024.

Nominations can be submitted here.

The U.S. National Science Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of four interactive online research security training modules, now available to researchers and institutions across the U.S. These modules are designed to facilitate principled international collaboration in an open, transparent and secure environment that safeguards the nation's research ecosystem.

Fueled by the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022," these training modules signify a major first step in reconciling the needs of the research, law enforcement and intelligence communities to pursue trusted relationships in the global research community while minimizing economic and security risks.

More information can be found here.

Preventing severe allergic reactions with nanoparticles

A research team led by Dr. Evan A. Scott of Northwestern University has been exploring new ways to use nanoparticles to improve the delivery of immunotherapeutics. They hit on the idea of preventing anaphylaxis by using nanoparticles to target mast cells and block their responses. NIH



NSF invests nearly $10M to develop transformative bio-inspired solutions

The U.S. National Science Foundation is investing $9.75 million to advance novel solutions for complex societal and economic challenges inspired by biological systems. NSF's investment awards 15 multidisciplinary teams to Phase 1 of the NSF Convergence Accelerator's Track M: Bio-Inspired Design Innovations. NSF



Sandalwood oil by-product prevents prostate cancer development in mice

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine and collaborators are the first to demonstrate in vivo the chemo-preventive properties of alpha-santalol against prostate cancer development using a transgenic mouse model. EurekAlert!

University of Limerick, Ireland study reveals eco-friendly way to generate power from waste wood

A new study by researchers at University of Limerick in Ireland has revealed a sustainable method of efficiently converting waste heat into electricity using Irish wood products, while minimizing costs and environmental impact. EurekAlert!

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