Research led by graduate student Emily Sur could turn insect vibration into an audio-based warning system for crop pests.

Faculty-initiated competitive proposals compared with the same period in FY26.

YTD actual difference: $17.5M

Faculty-initiated competitive awards compared with the same period in FY26.

YTD actual difference: $50.3M

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

Awardees will be honored at a spring semester ceremony, receive a plaque and have a tree 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 One K-State Research Week, April 26-30, 2027.

Nominations are due Nov. 1, 2026, by 11:59 p.m.

FY 2027 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program
The Department of Energy, Office of Science (SC) FY 2027 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program announces its continuing interest in receiving applications for support of work in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy and Nuclear Physics, and Isotope R&D and Production. This NOFO is their annual open solicitation that covers all research areas in SC and is open throughout the fiscal year.

Amazon Research Awards
As Amazon’s Amazon Research Awards (ARA) program continues to expand in scope, so does their call for proposals list. To that end, starting Oct. 1, they will open the Fall 2026 call for proposals in nine research areas: Agentic AI; AI for Information Security; Amazon Security; Automated Reasoning; AWS Cryptography; Build on Trainium: Agentic, Recursive Improvement of Kernels and Frameworks; Multilingual and Contextual AI Evaluation; On-Device Multimodal Perception; and Synthetic Data Generation for Multimodal Perception. 

Join us for the GROW Saturday workshop on Nov. 14, where middle school students will explore creativity, innovation and bold thinking through this year’s theme, “Think Green, Build Smart: STEM for Sustainability.”

Want to share your research or get youth excited about your field? Consider hosting a hands-on activity at the workshop. Submit an activity proposal by Oct. 26.

Learn more about the workshop and how to get involved on the

GROW/EXCITE facilitation page.

The GROW Saturday Workshop, hosted by the K-State KAWSE Office, engages students in grades 6-8 through hands-on STEM activities led by K-State faculty, researchers, staff and students.

The Office of Research Integrity, Compliance and Security is launching a Research Security Partner Program to build awareness, shared understanding and communication around research security across the university. Research Security Partners will serve as knowledgeable points of connection within their colleges and departments, helping colleagues navigate emerging requirements and connect with university resources.

Research administrators and staff who regularly support faculty research are encouraged to participate. Deans, associate deans for research and department heads may submit nominations to Murry Streetman, director of research security, at mtstreetman@k-state.edu.

K-State Libraries will end its subscriptions to Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports on Jan. 1, 2027, and will support Scopus as K-State’s preferred citation index for research discovery, citation analysis and systematic reviews. The decision follows an analysis of usage, coverage, cost and peer institutions. Scopus is already available through the Libraries and is used more frequently by K-State researchers.

Researchers who rely on Web of Science are encouraged to export their saved searches and alerts, and those with systematic reviews in progress should consult a subject librarian to adapt their search strategies. The Libraries will provide support during the transition and encourages researchers to reach out with questions or specific needs.

Read the full memo.

NSF webinars & office hours:

The U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (NSF MPS) is holding four office hour events in October to share information with the U.S. astronomical sciences community. The events will cover the three programs contained in the MPS Astronomical Sciences Research Programs (MPS Astro) funding opportunity: Astronomical Sciences Core Research, Astronomical Sciences Technology and Instrumentation, and Astronomical Sciences Innovations.

Dates, topics, and registration links for each event are as follows:

*The Oct. 7 and Oct. 15 events will cover the same material, so there is no need to attend both.

Additional event details are available on the NSF website.