March 4, 2020
Funding Connection

The Department of Agriculture’s  Agriculture and Food Research Initiative—Education and Workforce Development   focuses on developing the next generation of research, education, and extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences. 


The Department of Energy, ARPA-E’s  Rapid Encapsulation of Pipelines Avoiding Intensive Replacement  seeks to develop the suite of technologies required to rehabilitate cast iron, wrought iron, and bare steel natural gas distribution pipes by developing technologies that will enable the automated construction of a new pipe inside the old pipe. 


This week: The Three-Legged Stool of Sustainability – the intricacies of teaching and producing healthy food  with Jeremy Cowan, assistant professor of sustainable food production systems at K-State

The production of food includes everything from large-scale growing and processing facilities to small backyard gardens. Our guest this episode, Dr. Jeremy Cowan discusses teaching future growers —and eaters— the importance of growing food with people in mind at every point in the production-consumption loop. As a land-grant institution K-State is challenged to teach, learn and research ways to feed the world. Local fresh produce has long been lacking in most diets and questions on the sustainability of current large farming practices is top of mind when considering our long-term ability to produce food. So where does the small farm fit in today’s food production realm?
Events and announcements
The Cayuse SP 3.9 upgrade has been scheduled for Friday, March 6. SP will be unavailable beginning at 3 p.m. Friday, March 6, and will be back online the morning of Monday, March 9.

If this outage affects an outgoing sponsored projects submission due March 6, please contact  cayuse@k-state.edu  to make appropriate arrangements.

If you experience any issues after the downtime, please contact  cayuse@k-state.edu
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. on the following dates:
  • Monday, March 16, 206 K-State Student Union* – Topic: Export controls and international travel
  • Monday, April 13, Konza room, K-State Student Union* – Topic: Data management and CUI – don't get scooped
  • Monday, May 11, 206 K-State Student Union* – Topic: TBA-Suggestions from campus

Registration is not required. Please reach out to comply@k-state.edu with any questions.

*Please note location changes
Seeking faculty participation in forming collaborative convergent research teams  
How can K-State lead convergent research to solve the most pressing societal challenges? The Office of Research Development and the College of Engineering, with support from the Office of Educational Innovation and Evaluation, are interested in forming strategically-oriented convergent research teams for near- and long-term opportunities and relevant funding agency program submissions. Our intent is to leverage university-wide strengths into multidisciplinary teams focused on solving  complex global problems .

University research faculty in all disciplines are invited to participate in four one-hour sessions to ascertain how K-State can lead convergent research. The sessions will utilize an action-based approach to forming interdisciplinary research collaboration. Participants will identify opportunities and define an action plan that results in a white paper.

Interested faculty are invited to register by Tuesday, March17 and will be asked to commit to attending four one-hour sessions on the following Fridays from 3:30-4:30 p.m. :
  • March 20 - Cottonwood room, K-State Student Union
  • March 27 - South Ballroom, K-State Student Union
  • April 3 - Cottonwood room, K-State Student Union
  • April 10 - Cottonwood room, K-State Student Union

For ease in identifying convergent research, the  NSF definition   will be used for these sessions. 

For more information, contact Carole Lovin, engineering research and graduate programs, clovin@ksu.edu
SciTS 2020
The International Science of Team Science Conference
June 1-4, 2020
Durham, North Carolina

As the leading international conference for the Science of Team Science, SciTS 2020 will focus on highlighting and pursuing excellence in studying, doing, and teaching team science. We are proud to present a program that features world-class scholarship, case studies, and evidence-based practices in support of these themes.

Kansas Science Communication Initiative offers Science Communication Awards
The  Kansas Science Communication Initiative , with the support of the Office of the Vice President for Research, invites applications for two Science Communication Awards.
  • Faculty and postdoc Science Communication Award: $1,000 to be used toward research and creative inquiry activities.
  • Student Science Communication Award: $500 with no use restrictions; open to undergraduate and graduate students.

For this award, science communication is defined as the exchange of information and viewpoints about science through diverse formats to:
  • Study the public's perceptions of science — e.g., surveys, focus groups, deliberative workshops.
  • Foster the public's understanding and use of science and scientific methods — e.g., policy initiatives, science festivals and experiential events, articles and interviews, websites and social media.
  • Create public conversations and partnerships that advance scientific discovery and address critical social problems.

Please apply by completing  this Qualtrics survey with required materials . Applications are due by March 23, 2020.

Awards will be selected by the Kansas Science Communication Initiative based on the quantity and impact of applicants' work in science communication. Awards will be presented at a reception on April 16, 2020.
Learn About Fulbright Scholar Opportunities Across the World
The Fulbright Scholars program has been open since early February. Since then, the Fulbright Program has begun placing opportunities from all over the world on its website for the new submission round which closes September 15, 2020.   

If you are interested in learning about research and/or teaching opportunities in different parts of the world, Fulbright is conducting a series of webinars this month that highlight opportunities in key geographic areas:

 
Specific opportunities in specific countries or areas of the world may also be found in the Catalog of Awards as will be explained in the webinars.    

Contact Mary Lou Marino with questions.
K-State Alumni Lee Rivers to present Fulbright Information Session
Lee Rivers, from the Institute of International Education, will share information about the Fulbright Scholar Program during a brown-bag lunch session.

Noon
March 23, 2020
204 K-State Student Union

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers about 470 teaching and/or research opportunities that are available to faculty, staff and administrators. These opportunities are available to more than 125 different countries.

Rivers is a K-State graduate and currently the assistant manager for outreach and special projects for the Institute of International Education. He will offer insight regarding the application and screening process, and hopes to converse about Fulbright proposal ideas that you might be developing.

Those interested in attending should complete the RSVP Form .

Those unable to attend who are interested in The Fulbright Scholars Program are encouraged to contact Mary Lou Marino, Fulbright Scholars Program institutional representative, at mlmarino@k-state.edu .

Find out more about the Fulbright Scholar Program .
NEH Writing Workshop and Consultations
Ohio University will host a National Endowment for the Humanities, or NEH Application Writing Workshop.

9 a.m.-12:30 p.m .
Friday, March 27, 2020
 
NEH conducts these grant writing workshops to raise awareness of funding opportunities available in the humanities and to increase the number of quality applications. The workshop is free and open to Ohio University faculty and graduate students, as well as to scholars from any other institution or community in Ohio or surrounding states who want to learn more about NEH and how to compete for NEH grants.

Qualtrics   pre-registration is required but the workshop is free and open faculty, staff, students, and others interested in learning more about the NEH programs. Registration closes Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. 

NSF CAREER Session
3-5 p.m.
Wednesday, April 3
206 K-State Student Union

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is NSF’s most prestigious award in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars.

This session will start with presentations on the requirements for submission, review criteria, submission protocol and evaluation resources. These will be followed by a panel of recent K-State CAREER awardees who will provide tips on submitting to and receiving an award under this program. Session attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a CAREER Writing Clinic that will start after the session and end in July when the proposals are due.

1.5 hour session plus brief meeting afterward for the CAREER Writing Clinic.


Contact Mary Lou Marino with questions.
K-State RSCAD in the news
Agency news and trending topics
When scientists try to predict the spread of something across populations -- anything from a coronavirus to misinformation -- they use complex mathematical models to do so.   sciencedaily .com

In the face of a warming climate, increased deforestation and fiercer fires, scientists are more worried than ever about the Amazon. nature.com

Culture connoisseurs, rejoice: The  Smithsonian Institution  is inviting the world to engage with its vast repository of resources like never before. smithsonianmag.com

Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the Columbus Zoo have successfully transferred cheetah embryos produced by in vitro fertilization to a surrogate cheetah mom for the first time. si.edu

Take this doozy: Every known organism on Earth uses a suite of proteins—and the DNA that helps build it—to construct the building blocks of our cells. But those very building blocks are also needed to make DNA and proteins. sciencemag.org
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