January 29, 2020
Funding Connection

The Department of Energy,   through the  FY20 Bioenergy Technologies Multi-Topic FOA , s eeks to develop technologies that convert domestic biomass and other waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production.

The  United States Agency for International Development’s   BAA for Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa   seeks opportunities to co-create, co-design, co-invest, and collaborate in the research, development, piloting, testing, and scaling of innovative, practical and cost-effective interventions that address development challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. 


ORD Opportunities: New NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide and changes to NSF, NIH Biosketches
Researchers and research administrators, please note that changes are coming to all NSF and NIH proposals. NSF has announced that a new Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide , or PAPPG, has been issued which is effective June 1, 2020.

Among the significant items to note, the one that will impact the most researchers is a change in the required format for biographical sketch submission. Both NSF and NIH will be using the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae , or SciENcv, to prepare the biosketches.

The Current and Pending Support document will also be prepared using SciENcv as described.

A webinar covering the upcoming changes will be provided by NSF at 1 p.m. CST on February 6, 2020 . Registration is required.

The Office of Research Development and PreAward Services will continue to provide updated information and serve as resources as these changes are implemented. Contact our offices at ord@k-state.edu and research@k-state.edu with questions.

Beth A. Montelone
Senior associate vice president for research
Office of Research Development
Events and announcements
Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
Stay up to date on information and recommendations regarding the 2019 outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Those who have recently completed travel or have plans to travel in the near future should pay special attention.

Find university resources and information as well as guidance from other organizations at k-state.edu/media/update/coronavirus.

K-State international travel guidance may be found at: k-state.edu/oip/faculty/health.
Global Food Systems Brownbag
The Global Food Systems initiative will host a brownbag lunch with Megan Horst, assistant professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University.

Noon-1 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020
The Ekdahl, Regnier Hall.

Horst will discuss, Feeding the City: The role of Municipal Planning and Local Food Systems in Feeding our World Population.

This will be an informal discussion about her work specific to food systems planning, and how it fits into the challenge of feeding the world.
Research Brownbag Discussions
Bring your lunch and join Vice President for Research Peter Dorhout and staff to learn how the university is addressing the changing compliance landscape around international travel, research data management, attending conferences in embargoed nations and new regulations. Discuss your concerns or questions that you have around these topics. What is K-State doing to protect our researchers? What are best practices and protocols at this time?

All brownbags will be held from noon-1:30 p.m. in 205 K-State Student Union on the following dates:

  • Monday, Feb 17 – Topic: Export controls and international travel
  • Monday, March 16 – Topic: Data management and CUI – don't get scooped
  • Monday, April 13 – Topic: TBA-Suggestions from campus
  • Monday, May 11 – Topic: TBA-Suggestions from campus

Registration is not required. Please reach out to comply@k-state.edu with any questions.
Proposals for the spring 2020 Global Food Systems Seed Grant Program are being accepted by the Office of Research Development through 5 p.m. CST on Wednesday, February 26, 2020.

1-5 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020
Wildcat Chamber, K-State Student Union

Learn about:
  • Grant terminology and important processes at universities
  • Rules of grant writing
  • Successful writing strategies for grant proposals
  • Budget and budget justification
  • Review criteria and agency proposal review

Register to attend by February 14, 2020


8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020
Bluemont Room, K-State Student Union

Learn about the impacts that small farming and plant diversification have on disease and insect control as well as water and nutrient use, and how they affect the economy both in Kansas and nationally.

This workshop will provide a venue to interact with local and regional leaders in the field as well as provide an opportunity to identify fields of research at K-State that intersect with this focus. Faculty in all disciplines should consider attending as many areas of study are integrated into this topic.  

Register to attend by February 12, 2020.
Demonstrate Broader Impacts at Girls Researching Our World (GROW) on February 22
K-State faculty, staff and students are invited to design and facilitate a hands-on science, technology, engineering, and/or math activity for middle school students at the Girls Researching Our World (GROW) workshop on Saturday, February 22, 2020 on the K-State campus in Manhattan.

Agency news and trending topics
In the nearly 200 years since his mummy’s arrival at the Leeds City Museum in northern England, an ancient Egyptian priest named Nesyamun has slowly but surely revealed his secrets.. smithsonianmag.com

The secret to consistently tasty, cost-effective espresso is a coarser grind, according to mathematical models . smithsonianmag.com

A Phase 1 clinical trial testing the safety and effectiveness of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against malaria has begun enrolling healthy adult volunteers at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.  nih.gov

The essential roles microbes play in deep-sea ecosystems are at risk from the potential environmental im pacts of mining, a  new paper  in Limnology and Oceanography reports. The  NSF-funded  study reviews what is known about microbes in these environments and assesses how mining could impact their import ant roles.. nsf.gov

Effortless learning during sleep is everybody’s dream. Several studies found that presenting odor cues during learning and selectively during slow wave sleep increases learning success. nature.com
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