February 18, 2026

K-State faculty, postdocs, graduate students and staff engaged in research, scholarly, and creative activity and discovery are invited to attend and exhibit at this year's Research Connections event as a part of  One K-State Research Week. This event will take place Monday, April 20, 2026 from 3-5 p.m. in the K-State Alumni Center Banquet Room.

Research Connections offers K-State researchers a chance to learn what their colleagues are doing, promote their work and explore possible collaborations. Exhibitors and attendees will also have an opportunity to learn about K-State resources that are available to support research, scholarly, and creative activity and discovery.

Exhibitors can reserve a table where they can display posters, banners, signs, handouts and some limited equipment or other items. Complete the exhibitor registration form below to reserve a table. Please note capacity for exhibitor space may be limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis.

At every Research Connections, winners of the Excellence in Innovation and Economic Engagement Award are announced. The award recognizes exemplary economic engagement across efforts in talent, innovation and place.

Register now to attend or reserve an exhibitor table!

The Office of Research Development will not be accepting applications for the Global Food Systems Seed Grant Program in 2026. The competition has been cancelled for this year.

If you have any questions, please contact Gina Becker (gbecker@k-state.edu) 

Final Round | February 25, 2026 
K-State Student Union Ballroom  
Doors open at 5 p.m. | Light hors d'œuvres and refreshments 
Competition begins at 5:30 p.m. | Cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award 

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition is fast, sharp, and packed with brilliant research from our graduate students. 3MT challenges graduate students to present the impact of their research in under three minutes, using one static slide to support their message. 

This is your chance to hear about cutting-edge research happening right here on our campus—all distilled into powerful and engaging stories. 

RSVP here and join us for an unforgettable 3MT research showcase! 

Fulbright is officially open for the FY 2027/2028 funding round of the US Scholars Program. Overseas opportunities have begun appearing in the Catalog of Awards found on the Fulbright website. Fulbright is presenting a special Launch Webinar on February 28, at 1 p.m. (See more details in the announcement further down in the Research Weekly). If you are interested in this program, this is definitely a session you will want to attend. Click here to register. If you have any questions about this program or want help submitting, please contact your Fulbright Liaison- Mary Lou Marino at mlmarino@ksu.edu.

Fulbright has added a complete listing of its upcoming webinars which look at research and/or teaching opportunities across the globe. These scheduled webinars address these opportunities on a region-by-region basis with the first one on March 10, after the launch webinar, looking at opportunities in the South and Central Asia Region.  A full listing of these webinars may be found here.

Thinking about applying for a grant? There are new compliance requirements for making your research data public. Many grants may now require a “Data Management Plan” (DMP) in your application documents. Creating a well-documented DMP will be essential to submitting a successful grant proposal. Join us for a workshop on best practices for creating DMPs and following funder requirements. Participants will also practice using the DMPtool, a software which walks you through what should be included in your final DMP submission. Register to attend the in-person session on Friday, February 27th, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m.  

Register for the workshop here.

The Kansas State University, Office of Research Development’s Faculty Development Award (FDA) and University Small Grant (USRG) programs provide international meeting travel support and seed grant funding to K-State faculty.  The FDA award can also be used to meet with program officers from potential external funders.  Awards for the FDA program typically range from $1,000 to $3,500.  For USRG awards, the range is $2,000 to $5,000. The proposals for both programs are due by 5 pm on March 1, 2026, and should be submitted via ord@ksu.edu. 

The Kansas State University, Office of Research Development announces the opening of its funding opportunity for faculty researchers working in the fields of design, arts, social sciences, and humanities. The Design, Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DASH) award is an annual opportunity for one-time, one-year $10,000 awards to support research, scholarly work, or creative activities.

Applications follow the same eligibility guidelines and must include all items requested in the call for University Small Research Grants, but unlike that lower-funded internal program, your DASH budget can include up to one summer month of faculty salary. DASH proposals are due by 5 p.m. on March 1, 2026. Proposals must be submitted as a single PDF file to ord@ksu.edu.

Proposals will be peer-reviewed and awardees notified by early May. Award periods will begin on July 1, 2026.

Kansas State University is pleased to announce the opening of three Request for Proposals (RFPs) through the One K-State Fund, with submissions due March 1, 2026.

The funding opportunities include: 
- University Outstanding Scholars Awards 
- Design, Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities 
- Sustainability Opportunity Agenda 

Read the full announcement for more information.

The Office of the Vice President for Research and K-State Libraries is hosting an additional Posters, Pinot and Partnerships event from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, March 12 on the 5th floor of Hale Library. This month's theme is water-related research, and the event is co-sponsored by the Kansas Water Institute.

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.

Registration for the Spring Undergraduate Research Symposium is now open! The Symposium offers undergraduate students a valuable opportunity to showcase their research and to practice communicating their findings to a broad audience.  This year the symposium will be part of One K-State Research Week (April 17-24).

This year’s Symposium will be held on Thursday, April 23rd, 2026 with registration open from now until March 27, 2026.

Registration can be found here. 

NSF webinars & office hours:

NIH updated the How to Apply – Application Guide in December 2025 to reflect recent policy and procedure updates. Find details on all the major changes and revisions since the last major release at Significant Changes.

Read the updated guide here. 

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

The Fulbright Scholar Program's 2027-2028 competition launches in February! We have 385+ awards for U.S. citizens to support teaching, research, and professional projects. In this webinar, we will highlight new and priority awards in all regions and answer your questions. We will also discuss our full slate of programming so you can join us for webinars and office hours throughout the competition.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science is pleased to announce that the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2026 solicitation 1. Applications are due on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

SCGSR application assistance workshops will be held on March 5, 2026 (register on Zoom) and April 9, 2026 (register on Zoom). The first workshop will provide a general overview of the program and application requirements. It will also include time for attendees to discuss their potential research topics and their alignment with the SCGSR priority areas with managers of each participating program office. The second workshop will guide attendees through the application process, answer general questions, provide guidance on proposal writing, and feature discussions with scientists and former awardees. Additionally, the program manager will host virtual office hours every Friday starting on March 6, 2026 via this Zoom link.

The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students for conducting part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE National Laboratory in collaboration with a DOE National Laboratory scientist. The goal of the program is to prepare graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the mission of DOE’s Office of Science, with a special emphasis in supporting the goals of the Genesis Mission. The research opportunity will advance the graduate students’ overall graduate theses while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the host DOE National Laboratories. In addition, SCGSR awardees may have the opportunity for short international research visits to select prestigious centers to broaden their horizons.

Read the full announcement here.