How is Kansas State University research helping the modern-day farm? What kind of high-impact physics research happens at the James R. Macdonald Laboratory? What are some of today's health challenges?

Seek out these answers in the spring 2023 issue of K-State's flagship research magazine. The award-winning Seek magazine highlights university research, scholarly and creative activity, and discovery through a print publication as well as the website k-state.edu/seek.  

The spring issue includes four feature stories: 

• "Risk and reward" explores how K-State researchers step up to help farmers in challenging times.
• "Laser focus" highlights the James R. Macdonald Laboratory and the elite physics researchers who are earning international renown.
• "Anatomy of a breakthrough" describes the science behind some of today's health challenges.
• "Where dreams come to life" demonstrates how the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab offers a space of exploration and creativity.

Other stories highlight engagement across Kansas, undergraduate scholars, graduate scholars, faculty researchers and university distinguished professors.

Seek is published twice per year and is a collaboration among the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Division of Communications and Marketing and other university communicators. The magazine received a gold 2021 Circle of Excellence award, which is a prestigious international award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE. The magazine also was recognized with several recent Best of CASE awards and was named a finalist in the prestigious Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards.

K-State events and announcements

K-State faculty, staff and students are invited to design and facilitate a hands-on activity for the workshops. There is no set theme for the summer workshops. The goal is to provide students with hands-on experiences in a broad range of STEM disciplines, and introduce them to career options in STEM. For more information about facilitating at the workshops and for activity proposal templates, visit the website. The KAWSE office is happy to provide letters of support to grant agencies for those who collaborate with us. Activity proposals are due by May 17.

Any questions about the GROW/EXCITE summer workshop may be directed to Stephanie Wacker, KAWSE Program coordinator, at swacker@k-state.edu. 

Undergraduate and graduate students:

This is your last chance to apply for the BioKansas & NBAF PAID Summer Internship Program at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). Undergraduate and graduate students will not want to miss out on this excellent opportunity to gain valuable work experience and explore different career options at the intersection of science and government. 

We are seeking undergraduate and graduate students who are a part of underrepresented communities - Black, Latinx, Indigenous, disabled students, and women - in STEM disciplines.

Act now, as all applications must be turned in by April 2025! 

Innovation Festival aims to elevate students and postdocs while highlighting interconnections between disciplines and sectors. Conference programming this year spans biotechnology, nutrition and the microbiome, human and animal health, engineering, data science, digital tech, pharmacology, deep tech, and more. 

Travel award applications are now open for both those applying to present, as well as those just wanting to attend. 

• Applying to present? The travel award application is included in the Innovation Festival - Conference Presenter Application Form
• Just attending but need some travel support? Complete this form. 

Innovation Festival is taking a novel approach to placing students and postdocs into industry jobs and academic research programs, including full-time jobs; internships; post-baccalaureate, summer, graduate, and postdoctoral training programs; and more! Industry companies and academic institutions will be in attendance to recruit attendees into highly sought-after positions. 

You’ll have the opportunity to:  

• Present your research orally or as a poster to industry and academic leaders, or to just attend! 
• Experience one-on-one conversations with industry and academic leaders interested in helping you reach your goals.  
• Participate in unique experiences to build your network and identify new career or training possibilities.  

Open the door to this unique experience and a wealth of opportunities by submitting an abstract or applying today! Space is extremely limited. 

Join Integrative Organismal Systems Thursday, April 20, noon-1 p.m. for our next IOS Virtual Office Hour. Program Officers will be joined by the Division of Grants and Agreements to discuss tips and tricks for writing a great budget. Representatives from IOS programs will also be available to answer questions.  

To participate, please use the registration link below. Upcoming IOS Virtual Office Hours are announced ahead of time on IOS Blog, so we suggest you also sign up for blog notifications. 

Register to participate. 

Noon-1 p.m.

Thursday, April 20

Join NSF on Thursday, April 20 for the IOS Virtual Office Hour. Both Program Officers and members from the Division of Grants and Agreements will present strategies for writing a great (and compliant!) budget and answer questions audience members have. To participate, please register, using the link below. Upcoming IOS Virtual Office Hours are announced ahead of time on IOS in Focus; sign up to follow the blog, from the same page, so you don’t miss anything.

Register to attend.

Building Bridges to Use-Inspired Research and Science-Informed Practices

You're invited to participate in a workshop aiming to strengthen partnerships among academic, private, and government organizations.

Supported by NSF's Directorate of Biological Sciences, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR, and the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, this workshop will build new connections among key biological sciences communities to successfully conduct use-inspired research.

The workshop will consist of a series of events facilitated by KnowInnovation:

• Free virtual Pre-Workshop MicroLabs (for an unlimited number of participants) 
• 1-3 p.m., Friday, May 12
• In-person workshop held June 12-14, 2023 in Boise, Idaho (for 120 selected participants representing diverse groups and organizations; applications will open April 14, 2023).

Participants of the workshop will co-create the structures and processes that guide how diverse organizations support and value use-inspired science and will guide NSF to create use-inspired tracks within the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Office of Integrative Activities. Participants will build connections to new funding and partnership opportunities within and associated with NSF's new Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. Participants will gain insight from government and private organizations who want their science needs to be more broadly understood and incorporated into research priorities.

Learn More

2-3 p.m.

Wednesdays through April 26

Heard about the new Growing Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity, or GRANTED, and you want to learn more? Thinking about applying to our most recent Dear Colleague Letter? Then NSF invites you to GRANTED office hours, held every Wednesday from 2-3 p.m. to meet with the GRANTED team of Program Directors.

• All meetings during office hours are 1-on-1. Guests are seen in the order they join. You may have to wait if others join before you.
• If you need captions or other accommodations, please contact Dina Stroud in advance.

Learn more.

This webinar will discuss the Dear Colleague Letter (NSF 23-087) that encourages submissions to the NSF AGEP and ADVANCE programs that support the goals articulated in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (Public Law. 117-167). Section 10329, Support for Increasing Diversity Among Stem Faculty at Institutions of Higher Education, authorizes NSF to make awards to institutions of higher education for the development and assessment of innovative reform efforts designed to increase the recruitment, retention, and advancement of individuals from underrepresented minority groups in academic STEM careers.

Register for the webinar.

The three types of submissions are:

• Catalyst proposals: (AGEP Catalyst Alliances and ADVANCE Catalysts) Catalyst proposals support the collection and analysis of institutional data that 1) identify systemic inequities and 2) potential systemic change solutions to the inequities. Both ADVANCE and AGEP include STEM faculty, while AGEP also includes graduate students and postdoctoral trainees in the scope of the program.
• Supplements: IHEs with current AGEP or ADVANCE grants may apply for supplements to better focus on the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity as allowed in both program solicitations. The AGEP program welcomes supplemental requests to add graduate students, postdoctoral research scholars, staff, and/or early career faculty who will contribute to advancing institutional and systemic changes in policies and practices. 
• Conferences: ADVANCE and AGEP also encourage conference and workshop proposals that are designed to meet goals of the ADVANCE and AGEP programs and the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 Section 10329.

NSF Program Directors will be available at virtual office hours to answer your questions about NSF's Revolutionizing Engineering Departments program solicitation 23-553. The RED program supports radical changes to the training of undergraduate engineering students to help them establish identities as professional engineers with the technical and professional skills needed to solve the complex problems facing society.

RED solicitation 23-553 is limited to the RED Two-Year track. RED two-year projects will develop radically new approaches among multiple two-year institutions to expand the path to engineering and engineering technology four-year programs from two-year institutions with programs such as pre-engineering, engineering and engineering technology.

At RED office hours, come prepared with your questions or simply join in to listen. Responses will be provided to questions typed into the Zoom chat window or you may use your microphone to ask a question. Office hours will not be recorded. Feel free to join/leave at any point during the meeting. To join, simply follow the event registration link below. 

• Tuesday, April 25 at 2 p.m.

Noon-2 p.m.

Thursday, May 11

The workshop will be presented by recognized Team Science expert Dr. Jeni Cross. Building Genuine Relationships is a core domain of Team Science, comprised of the following competencies: 1) Acknowledging and including; 2) Self-awareness and social sensitivity; 3) Relationship building routines/practices (fun and team identity); and 4) Building trust and psychological safety.

Please register to attend.

1-2 p.m.

May 16 and June 20

Zoom

ExpandAI Office hours are provided for your convenience. NSF Program Directors representing different categories of of MSIs will be available on the days and times listed to answer your questions about the program. Feel free to join/leave at any point during the meeting. To join, simply follow the event link below. You do not need to turn on your microphone or share your camera to join. Responses will be provided to questions typed into the Zoom chat window. Office hours will not be recorded but will be held regularly as advertised. Come prepared with your questions or simply join in to listen.

Join the Zoom meeting using this link.

1-2 p.m.

Friday, April 28

Sociology program directors will answer questions concerning the NSF Sociology Program.

To join, use the Sociology office hour Zoom link. 

• All meetings during office hours are 1-on-1. Guests are seen in the order they join. You may have to wait if others join before you.
• If you need captions or other accommodations, please contact Joe Whitmeyer or Melanie Hughes in advance. 

For more information about the program, visit the Sociology Program page.

Is It Safe To Eat Raw Egg Yolks While Pregnant? Microsoft Start

HydroGraph Announces Closing of $2.31 Million Private Placement Yahoo! Fianace

Tech and AI on the farm: Amid worries, ag eyes still on big potential The Times and Democrat

K-State assistant professor to receive $1.2 million in funding for research WIBW

A pool at Yellowstone is a thumping thermometer

While the crowds swarm around Old Faithful to wait for its next eruption, a little pool just north of Yellowstone National Park's most famous geyser is quietly showing off its own unique activity, also at more-or-less regular showtimes. Instead of erupting in a towering geyser, though, Doublet Pool cranks up the bass every 20 to 30 minutes by thumping. The water vibrates and the ground shakes. NSF

Researchers create world's first energy-saving paint — inspired by butterflies

Debashis Chanda and colleagues at the University of Central Florida have drawn inspiration from butterflies to create the first environmentally friendly, large-scale and multicolor alternative to pigment-based colorants, which the researchers say can contribute to energy-saving efforts and help reduce global warming. NSF

Private companies are flocking to the Moon — what does that mean for science?

As early as 25 April, the Tokyo-based firm ispace will attempt to become the first private company to land successfully on the lunar surface. If the spacecraft touches down safely, it will deliver rovers from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and from the United Arab Emirates to the Moon. Smithsonian Magazine

Probiotics May Help Corals Fight a Dangerous Disease Off Florida’s Coast

It begins as a pale spot on an otherwise colorful mass of coral that the average snorkeler might not give a second glance. But to the trained scientific eye, that spot is a lesion that can be a disturbing harbinger of swift and complete destruction, even of healthy corals. Unfortunately biologists working in Florida and Caribbean waters have seen far too much of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), a persistent and widespread pathogen that is leaving an ever-growing trail of dead, white coral in its wake. Smithsonian Magazine

Genetically Modified Houseplants Are Coming to Clean Your Air

AT AN OLD shoe factory on the outskirts of Paris, new life is taking shape. Behind a heavy door, a bank of PCR machines multiplies plant DNA molecules by hundreds of billions every few hours. Inside a gleaming white chamber, tiny emerald shoots are coaxed from single cells, unfurling in millimeters over a period of months. Wired

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