February 25, 2026

The US Department of State has announced a Call for Statements of Interest for new Feed the Future Innovation Labs. We will be putting out a special Research Weekly announcement later this week of how K-State plans to gather interested participants to approach this very short timeline opportunity.

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.

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 27, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m.  

Register for the workshop here.

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 can reserve a table where they can display posters, banners, signs, and handouts. Registration and additional information can be found on the K-State Research website. The deadline to register as an exhibitor is April 6.

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 Research Development (ORD) is now hosting in-person office hours to assist and connect with K-State researchers. 

During ORD office hours, researchers can meet with members of the ORD team to discover funding opportunities, discuss specific funders and programs, review white papers or engage in casual conversation about research activity. 

The first session will take place March 5 from 2-4 p.m. at the Cornerstone Café inside Hale Library.

If you are interested in discussing your white paper, please send a copy of the paper to ord@ksu.edu at least three days in advance.

Additional office hours will be hosted at the Cornerstone Cafe from 2-4 p.m. on March 26, April 8, April 23 and May 7.

Please contact ord@ksu.edu with any questions.

The Patterson Family Foundation (PFF) released its call for Round Two of their 2026 Grant Opportunities with LOIs due by May 13, 2026, and invited full proposals due by June 29, 2026.  This foundation limits the number of LOIs that can be submitted by an organization.  As such, there will be a limited submission competition that will be used by the Office of Research Development to determine which LOI’s will go forward from K-State and the K-State Foundation.

If you are interested in submitting an LOI to Round Two, please complete the form here by 5 p.m. on March 23, 2026. Groups whose LOIs will move forward to PFF will be notified by early to mid-April.  Please note that graduate students and postdocs are ineligible to apply as well as are faculty who currently have an active award with this Foundation.

Join us for an energizing GROW Saturday workshop where we’ll explore creativity, innovation, and bold thinking under this year’s theme: “Invent the Future.”  Whether you're dreaming up new ideas or looking for inspiration to spark your next big invention, this workshop will offer tools, activities, and connection to help you imagine what’s possible. Come grow with us!

Have an idea for an activity? Want to demonstrate the broader impacts of your research? Excited to get youth involved in your field? Consider hosting an activity at the April 11 workshop.

Fill out our activity proposal form!

For more information about our workshops and how you can get involved, visit our GROW/EXCITE facilitation page. 

The GROW Saturday Workshop bolsters 6-8th grade students' interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through a day-long series of hands-on, educational activities. The workshop is open to all middle school students in grades 6-8. It is hosted by the K-State KAWSE office and facilitated by experts (like YOU!) across campus, including K-State faculty, postdoctoral researchers, staff, and students.

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:

Program staff at the National Endowment for the Humanities will provide a virtual funding opportunity update on Thursday, March 5, at 12 p.m.

Julia Nguyen, Senior Program Officer in the Division of Lifelong Learning, and Daniel Sack, Deputy Director of the Division of Research, will share information about current grant opportunities, deadlines, and application requirements and offer suggestions for writing an application.

To register and receive the Zoom link for the one-hour online event, click here.

The update will focus on individual grant programs with April 8, 2026, application deadlines:

Fellowships
Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan
Public Scholars

It also will feature information about the education and media grant programs with June 25, 2026, application deadlines:

Institutes for Higher Education Faculty
Institutes for K-12 Educators
Landmarks of American History and Culture for Higher Education
Landmarks of American History and Culture for K-12 Educators
Media Projects

The virtual update is presented by NEH in partnership with Fostering Opportunities through Collaborative University Synergies (FOCUS). FOCUS is a collaboration among research development professionals at Montana State University; University of Idaho; University of Nebraska-Lincoln; University of Nevada, Reno; and Utah State University.

Please send any questions about the March 5 update to unlrd@unl.edu.

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.