October 22, 2025

Roots of Research awards

Nominations are now open for the 2025 Roots of Research Faculty Honor Program.

Anyone at K-State can nominate a current faculty member for a Roots of Research award by filling out the Qualtrics form.

Awardees will be honored at a spring semester ceremony and will receive a plaque, and a tree will be planted on the Manhattan campus in their name. The names of selected faculty members will be announced in December, and trees will be planted during Earth Week in April 2026.

Nominations are due Nov. 1, 2025, by 11:59 p.m.

Research Support Professional Achievement Award

The K-State Research Support Professional Achievement Award recognizes the vital contributions of lab managers, technicians and other support staff to Kansas State University’s research mission. This award honors an individual whose efforts have had a measurable impact on advancing discovery, scholarship and innovation across the university’s research enterprise.

Contributions considered for recognition may include co-authored publications, leadership or direct involvement in externally funded grants and contracts, or other significant roles in research projects and laboratories. One recipient will be selected.

Anyone at K-State can nominate a current staff member for the award by filling out the Qualtrics form.

The awardee will be honored at a spring semester ceremony and will receive a plaque and monetary award to support approved research or professional development activities.

Nominations are due Nov. 1, 2025, by 11:59 p.m.

The Office of the Vice President for Research and K-State Libraries is hosting an additional Posters, Pinot and Partnership event from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, November 13 on the 5th floor of Hale Library. The theme of this session is 'Food as Medicine'.

Register to attend or display your research poster for the event.

Please note the recommended poster size is 36x48 inches. We cannot guarantee optimal poster display on easels outside of these dimensions.

After a several month delay the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Request for Applications is finally available on the National Science Foundation’s GRFP website.   This program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including STEM education. NSF GRFP was established to recruit and support individuals who demonstrate the potential to make significant contributions in STEM, including STEM education. NSF encourages applications from the full spectrum of talent that the U.S. has to offer. Proposals are due November 10 through November 14, 2025, depending on your discipline.

Note a key difference from previous years is that second year graduate students can no longer submit to this program.  You must be 1) an undergraduate in the final (senior) year of a bachelor’s degree program; 2) a bachelor’s degree-holder with NO enrollment in a graduate degree program (non-degree graduate coursework allowed); or 3) a first-year graduate student in their first graduate degree program with less than one academic year completed in the degree program.   There are also restrictions for students enrolled in combined bachelor’s/master’s degree programs.

The Office of Scholar Development and Undergraduate Research will offer a training session at 3:30-5 pm on Thursday, October 23 to help you craft your proposal.  Participation in this session requires submitting a GRFP personal statement by noon on Monday October 20.  Please register here if you are interested in attending.  

On November 19, 2025, from 3:30 to 5 pm via zoom, the Office of Research Development will host an information session on the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program which offers nearly 400 teaching, research or combination teaching/research awards for U.S. faculty in more than 135 countries. The session will open with a brief overview of this program's submission requirements and introduction to the Fulbright Scholars website. This overview will be followed by presentations from two recent K-State Fulbright Scholar awardees. They will talk about their Fulbright experience, including the logistics of setting up an extended stay in another country, finances, and tips for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar submission. Attendees will have plenty of opportunities to ask questions.  If you are interested in the Fulbright U.S. Scholarship program, this is a session you should attend.  Please register here prior to 12 p.m.  on November 19, 2025. If you have any questions, contact Mary Lou Marino (mlmarino@ksu.edu).

Note this session is part of the Office of International Programs’ International Education Week occurring November 7-21.   To find out more about the other activities during this week, please visit:  K-State International Education Week 2025. Students interested in the U.S. Student Fulbright program should contact Beth Powers at bethpowers@ksu.edu.

A primary objective of K-State’s Phase II COBRE Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Approaches to Plasticity (CNAP) is to support the development of junior investigators into independently funded investigators and to develop a critical mass of investigators who can compete for peer-reviewed extramural funding in neuroplasticity research. To this end, CNAP invites Pilot Project or Primary Project proposal applications from junior investigators whose research interests include neural plasticity.

The RFA can be downloaded from the CNAP Website. 

Letter of Intent due October 24th, 2025.
Full proposal due November 21st, 2025.

NSF webinars & office hours:

F.10 Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) solicits development and flight of a science-driven suite of instruments and supporting technology demonstration payloads tailored to complete scientific investigations at a lunar landing destination, that address the science goals of 1) any SMD division, e.g., Planetary Science, Earth Science, Heliophysics, Astrophysics, and Biological and Physical Sciences, 2) objectives of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD), and 3) any technology demonstration goals of the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) that advance capabilities for science, exploration, or commercial development of the Moon.

On or about October 13, 2025, the pre-proposal conference for F.10 PRISM previously scheduled for October 15, 2025, at 2 pm Eastern Time has been changed to TBD as a result of the continuing government shutdown.

Questions concerning F.10 PRISM may be directed to Ryan Watkins at HQ-PRISM@mail.nasa.gov but the civil servant points of contact for this program will not be permitted to reply until the government reopens.

NIH will begin accepting applications for the Extramural Loan Repayment Program (LRP) on September 1, 2025. Awardees can receive up to $100,000 in qualified educational debt repayment with a two-year award.

To learn more about eligibility requirements, application dates, and the benefits of receiving an LRP award, be sure to visit the LRP website, check out our overview video, and attend the upcoming informational session:

November 6, 2025 – LRP Ask Me Anything Session

Please note that the deadline to apply is November 20, 2025.

The postponed May 2025 EPSCoR PI Meeting has been rescheduled for Monday, November 3, 2025, as a virtual PI Meeting. 

This meeting will include presentations from NSF EPSCoR staff and NSF senior leadership, offer important program updates, and provide opportunities for PI and community interactions. There is no cost to attend the PI meeting, but registration is required for this virtual event. The meeting agenda will be posted on the EPSCoR website prior to the meeting and emailed to registrants. We welcome current and former NSF EPSCoR Principal Investigators, along with evaluators, institutional representatives, and other valued members of the EPSCoR community, to join us for this event

Click here to register for the 2025 NSF EPSCoR PI Meeting.

If you would like to serve as a reviewer and panelist for proposals submitted to the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Test Bed: Toward a Network of Programmable Cloud Laboratories (PCL Test Bed), please complete the reviewer interest survey. Responses are due no later than Nov. 10, 2025. Please share this form with interested colleagues.

Reviewer Interest Survey

The PCL Test Bed supports the development and operation of a national network of AI-powered, remotely accessible laboratories to accelerate scientific discovery, enhance reproducibility and improve access to advanced research tools in science and engineering. For more information about NSF TTP, please review the program solicitation. 

The University of Kansas Office of Research seeks nominations for the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards. Late Distinguished Professor Takeru Higuchi and his wife, Aya, partnered with KU Endowment to create four awards that recognize individuals for their accomplishments in research, scholarship and creative activity.

Faculty from any Kansas Regents institution are eligible, and your assistance in identifying outstanding candidates is critical. Winners receive $10,000 in support of research activities.

Awards include:

    • The Balfour Jeffrey Research Award in the field of the Humanities and     Social Sciences
    • The Olin Petefish Research Award in the field of Basic Sciences
    • The Dolph Simons Research Award in the field of Biomedical Sciences
    • The Irvin Youngberg Research Award in the field of Applied Sciences

Deadline: December 1

Nominate a colleague.