or select your discipline:
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National Science Foundation’s Artic Research Opportunities solicits proposals for research to enhance our understanding of the Arctic, from advancing fundamental disciplinary understanding of important Arctic processes to complex interdisciplinary studies of couplings among social, biological, physical, and geochemical components of the Arctic system to the changing connections between the Arctic and lower latitudes.
The Department of Defense, DARPA’s SenSARS’ goal is to develop a prototype sensor that can detect SARS-CoV-2 in the air with enough sensitivity, specificity, and speed to enable practical concepts of operation to be employed before infection can occur within an indoor environment.
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Looking back at 2020, there may not be a long list of things for which we are thankful. The pandemic has resulted in not only significant health challenges and deaths in our population, but horrendous disruptions to our lives and livelihoods. It has also resulted in significant “investigatio interruptus,” impacting progress for faculty and students, alike. These interruptions may have resulted in a loss of funding, time to complete a degree, or cancelled invitations to speak at meetings and other professional activities. There has been little to nothing to be thankful for about this pandemic.
However, I am thankful for how our researchers at K-State have reacted in spite of the pandemic. As we shut down most operations in March, researchers on campus recognized there were projected to be mass shortages of PPE for health care workers, and many of you responded by looking through your inventories of supplies and donated PPE to Lafene Health Services, local hospitals and care-givers, and the Kansas Department of Health & Environment (KDHE). I’m thankful for your gracious willingness to help.
Some of you had the skill sets to aid KDHE with COVID test analyses, driving to and from Topeka each day or spending time in a hotel room to keep the test results moving. The K-State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab and the Biosecurity Research Institute stepped up to launch their emergency disease response plan to provide complementary test analysis services for campus and the local community as well as KDHE, analyzing nearly 20,000 tests since April. I’m thankful for your willingness to step into the breach.
Others of you pivoted your research and responded to proposal calls to address SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research, garnering more than $4 million in contracts or grants for fundamental and applied projects. From these studies have come an understanding of the zoonosis of SARS-CoV-2, infection pathways, and potential vaccines and treatments, some of which have been licensed to corporate partners. I’m thankful for your creativity and flexibility to respond to and potentially impact this public health crisis.
Most of our researchers have navigated through a safe and complete shutdown of operations and then turned around and developed new safe operating procedures for a multi-phased approach to resuming operations consistent with public health best practices. Your efforts have resulted in very safe operating conditions with few exposures in our research spaces. For your careful and thoughtful approach to managing research, I am thankful.
In spite of all you have done to create safe research spaces on campus, we find that our surrounding communities in Kansas and beyond have not been as thoughtful as you have been about mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Public health indicators in Kansas are not encouraging, and we are now heading into the holidays when family gatherings are important to us.
I cannot predict how the state or county will respond to the growing numbers of cases, but I encourage you to be prepared to respond to a potential change that may impact your research operations and working strategies. Be sure your communications strategies have been updated before folks leave campus. Many of your students and staff (or you) may travel for the Thanksgiving holiday — please encourage them to practice “distance - face coverings - hand washing” public health protocols when they travel. Ask them to consider, if possible, a self-quarantine when they return from travel or from large gatherings for the holiday, to be mindful of the symptoms of COVID-19, and to be aware of the services available at Lafene. I’m thankful for all our faculty, staff, and students engaged in research, and I want you all to stay healthy during and following the Thanksgiving holiday.
- Peter
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Seeking volunteer reviewers in Earth and Space Science |
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NASA's Science Mission Directorate is seeking subject matter experts (SMEs) to engage in discussions at a virtual panel meeting or provide external (email) reviews. New researchers including post doctoral fellows and sometimes upper level graduate students are welcome.
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Assistance collaborating with industry partners |
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In anticipation of the spring Global Food Systems Seed Grant call for proposals, the Office of Research Development and Innovation Partners would like to offer assistance collaborating with Kansas-based companies or companies that have an opportunity for job creation/investment within the state — a key area of focus of the grant.
If you are interested in help identifying and/or establishing a potential relationship with an interested industry partner, please send a short (2-3 sentence) description of your project idea to Spring 2020 Global Food Systems Seed Grant at ord@k-state.edu.
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UCSD Center for Extreme Events Research Summit |
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10 a.m.-5:10 p.m.
Nov. 20, 2020
The UC San Diego Center for Extreme Events Research (CEER) Virtual Summit to be held Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. The theme of this year's Summit is "Data-driven Computational and Experimental Techniques for Extreme Events Applications".
CEER was established to offer solutions to a wide range of challenges associated with extreme events based on the most advanced computational and experimental technologies, material/structural design optimization, sensor technologies, multifunctional materials, and data science and visualization for better protection of critical infrastructures and biosystems from extreme hazardous events.
This Virtual Summit is an opportunity to learn about latest research accomplishments, the research activities in the related fields, and the path forward.
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The Spinout Journey: Barriers and Enablers to Gender Inclusive Innovation |
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Report & Webinar: The Spinout Journey
6 -7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 27, 2020
Too few women researchers are leading spinout companies, and there has not been enough attention focused on the progression of women researchers at all career stages on the entrepreneurial pathway from research to spinout leadership. Oxford Brookes University, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, has undertaken a project to identify barriers and enabling factors that exist for women in STEM in key stages of the spinout process.
The Spinout Journey: Barriers and Enablers to Gender Inclusive Innovation, along with a summary report, are both available for download. Learn more and see the reports.
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Thursday, January 14, 3 p.m.
through
Friday, January 15, 2021
Registration and Abstract Submission Deadline: December 1, 2020
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Coming soon: PI Launchpad 2020 |
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NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, in partnership with the Heising-Simons Foundation, will host a virtual workshop tentatively planned for early Summer 2021 to explore the fundamentals of how to turn a science question into a mission concept.
Updates will be made available here as they are announced. Check back in early 2021 for more information.
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K-State RSCAD in the news |
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Agency news and trending topics |
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COVID-19 treatments for people with early infection are needed urgently, according to a JAMA Viewpoint article by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and colleagues. Treating people early in the course of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, would speed their recovery, reduce the likelihood that they develop severe outcomes and reduce demand on the healthcare system, they write. nih.gov
Inspired by a parasitic worm that digs its sharp teeth into its host's intestines, Johns Hopkins University researchers have designed tiny, star-shaped microdevices that latch onto intestinal mucosa and release drugs into the body. nsf.gov
Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have decoded brain maps of human color perception. The findings, published today in Current Biology, open a window into how color processing is organized in the brain, and how the brain recognizes and groups colors in the environment. The study may have implications for the development of machine-brain interfaces for visual prosthetics. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health. nih.gov
An independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) overseeing the Phase 3 trial of the investigational COVID-19 vaccine known as mRNA-1273 reviewed trial data and shared its interim analysis with the trial oversight group on Nov. 15, 2020. This interim review of the data suggests that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in adults. The interim analysis comprised 95 cases of symptomatic COVID-19 among volunteers. healthline.com
Tristan da Cunha fully protected 90 percent of its waters, safeguarding its vibrant biodiversity. smithsonianmag.com
With just 15 grams of the 4.4-billion-year-old “Black Beauty” meteorite, discovered in 2011 in the western Sahara, this team has revealed a record of asteroid impacts and volcanic eruptions spanning nearly all of martian history. sciencemag.org
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k-state.edu/research
researchweekly@k-state.edu
785.532.5110
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