January 17, 2018
Funding Connection

ORSP opportunities
I'd like to highlight two of the training opportunities that the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs is conducting this spring. Be sure to read the complete list of offerings below.

NSF INFEWS
The first training session is Wednesday, January 24, 3:30-5:00 p.m. in Union 227. It covers the National Science Foundation INFEWS opportunity . Here are a few things to know about the program and the training session:

  • INFEWS stands for Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems and is a cross-cutting program conducted collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that seeks to address the grand challenges associated with the complex interactions in the food, energy, water nexus.

  • INFEWS research focus areas are developing modeling tools, cyber-enabled interfaces, finding solutions to critical FEW systems problems, and growing the scientific workforce to study and manage the FEW system. Because it is a cross-cutting program, INFEWS proposals must include science from three or more of the participating NSF directorates or two NSF directorates plus USDA.

  • The INFEWS training will include an overview of the program, insights from prior year proposers, and opportunities to identify new or add researchers to existing teams.

NSF CAREER
The next training workshop dedicated to a single program is Wednesday, March 28, 3:00-5:00 p.m. in Union 207. This session will cover the NSF Early Career Faculty Development (CAREER) Program, which is a prestigious award for outstanding teacher-scholars.

This workshop will offer details on the opportunity and a panel discussion with previous awardees. We also will introduce our CAREER writing workshop opportunity at this session.

We hope you'll add these and other training sessions to your calendar. Registration links are available below!

— Beth Montelone, senior associate vice president for research
Spring 2018 training events
The Office of Research and Sponsored programs offers training and information sessions each semester. Registration is open for spring 2018! Click the "visit our full calendar" button at the bottom of the list to read expanded descriptions of individual sessions and to find other research-related events.

  • NSF INFEWS Workshop, January 24, 3:30-5:00 p.m., Union 227. Overview, insight from previous proposals, team development. Please register.

  • Grant Writing Workshop for postdocs and graduate students, TWO SESSIONS: February 14,1:00-4:00 p.m. and February 15, 2:00-5:00 p.m., Hale Library Hemisphere Room. Orientation, writing narrative and project summary, budget justifications, developing goals, and more. Please register.

  • Improv for Researchers, March 6, 3:30-5:00 p.m., West Stadium 117 (Drama Therapy Room). Improve your approach to science communication. Please register.

  • NSF CAREER Workshop, March 28, 3:00-5:00 p.m., Union 207. Submission requirements, review criteria, and more. Please register.

  • Swimming with the Sharks: NIH Grant Application Workshop, April 4, 3:30-5:00 p.m., Engineering Hall Ice Conference Room. What it takes to compete for R01 or R03 grants, how to navigate the maze that is NIH, and more. Please register.

  • Young Investigators Program Information Session, April 12, 3:00-5:00, Engineering Hall Ice Conference Room. Learn about Department of Defense programs for young faculty who show exceptional promise for doing creative research. Please register.

  • NSF EAGER Webinar, May 2, 3:30-5:00 p.m., Union 207. Find out how these awards can provide a steppingstone for an early career researcher or an option for mid-career researchers with "high-risk/high-reward" ideas. Please register.

  • Broader Impacts Information Session and Exhibits, May 9, 3:00-5:00 p.m., Union Flint Hills Room. Find programs across campus that can help meet broader impacts and outreach requirements. Please register to exhibit or attend.
Accelerating engagement
According to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, Kansas ranks third in the country in the share of university research supported by industry. At 9.5%, Kansas ranks behind only North Carolina (12.1%) and Georgia (10.6%). The January 8 article says, "Leading states generally have strong research universities and at least a moderately robust advanced-industry economy with firms that benefit from more industrially relevant university research."

Another piece of good January news came from University Business magazine, which highlighted K-State Knowledge Based Economic Development as one of two examples of "tech transfer programs working well." The article, " Evolving tech transfer activity: Colleges find success beyond revenue," discussed a recent Association of Public and Land-grant Universities report that recommended universities "accelerate the transition to a model that reflects broad engagement in economic development" and that "technology transfer offices ... develop deeper relationships with industry and other community partners."

This effort is underway at K-State, where we have worked to develop industry-friendly processes, educate faculty on how to work with industry while protecting intellectual property, raise the profile of technology transfer processes, and provide opportunities for faculty to meet prospective industry partners.

Faculty can explore opportunities by:

We hope to keep hearing and sharing good news about K-State engagement!
Agency news and trending topics
NIH’s All of Us Research Program, an historic effort to gather data from at least a million volunteers nationwide, is seeking ideas for important research questions the program might address. This input will help the program identify new features that might be added to the All of Us platform as it continues to build its database .... The program would love to hear from you, your organizations and other community members so that we can make the platform as beneficial as possible to participants, researchers and the broader population.

In January 1818, a woman barely out of her teens unleashed a terrifying tale on the world: the story of a doctor who builds a creature from scavenged body parts, then recoils in horror, spurns it, and sees his friends and family destroyed by the monster. Two hundred years later, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is still essential reading for anyone working in science. The ill-fated creator she portrays has influenced public perception of the scientific enterprise unlike any other character, forever haunting the borderland between what science can do and what it should do.

Researchers have dreamed of finding subatomic particles that could help them to solve some of the thorniest remaining problems in physics. But six years’ worth of LHC data have  failed to produce  a definitive detection of anything unexpected.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is joining the quest to develop quantum computers, devices that would exploit quantum mechanics to crack problems that overwhelm conventional computers. ... “We are looking for algorithms that can advance the science,” says Stephen Binkley, acting director of DOE’s $5.4 billion Office of Science in Washington, D.C., who in a 29 November 2017 open letter urged researchers to submit proposals for such work.

Members of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense will convene at the University of Miami this week for a public meeting focused on the ability of state, local, territorial and tribal governments to respond to large-scale biological events. The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17.... Read the report or find meeting the agenda and webcast information .
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