or select your discipline:
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The National Science Foundation’s Plant Genome Research Program supports genome-scale research that addresses challenging questions of biological, societal and economic importance. PGRP encourages the development of innovative tools, technologies and resources that empower a broad plant research community to answer scientific questions on a genome-wide scale.
The National Science Foundation’s Cognitive Neuroscience program seeks highly innovative proposals aimed at advancing a rigorous understanding of the neural mechanisms of human cognition. Central research topics for consideration by the program include attention, learning, memory, decision-making, language, social cognition, and emotions.
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Greetings, K-State research family! It is hard to believe that six months have flown by since I started as interim VPR in early January. Much has happened since then, at K-State, across the U.S. and around the world.
We have research to thank for the astonishingly successful SARS-CoV-2 vaccines which, at least in the U.S., have made it possible for life to begin to return to a pre-pandemic normal. Current planning will have K-State returning to a fully in-person status for work and academics in August.
I am pleased to welcome our next VPR, David Rosowsky, whose official first day at K-State is July 4, and who will be joining us in Manhattan sometime in August. I look forward to working with him to launch our efforts to realize our ambitious KBOR Pillar 3 economic prosperity proposal and on our many other initiatives.
Some of the many milestones that our researchers and our OVPR team have accomplished in the first half of calendar 2021 include another very strong year in extramural funding; the licensing of the College of Education’s Program Evaluation and Reporting System, or PEARS, tool for national data collection and reporting for SNAP-Ed; our research magazine, Seek, being honored with an international gold 2021 Circle of Excellence award by CASE; our Research Information Security Enclave, or RISE, being highlighted as an exemplar project by EDUCAUSE; and a SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor developed by K-State researchers Chang and Kim being selected as a lead compound by CoCrystal Pharma.
OVPR team members are working closely with K-State Information Technology Services, the Office of General Counsel, the Office of Risk and Compliance and others on a thorough self-study of all aspects of research security, with a goal to implement all recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Research Environment toward responding to the National Security Presidential Memo-33, issued in January. We have also taken the lead in making compliance with new mandates simpler for our researchers, including a just-released tool for responding to the National Institutes of Health’s Other Support requirement.
It has been a pleasure to serve as interim VPR and a member of the president’s cabinet. I look forward to returning full-time to my role as senior associate VPR and director of the Office of Research Development. I will still serve as the first point of contact for a number of questions around proposals, in particular, requests for matching funds or other financial issues.
-Beth A. Montelone
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New application, submission process for research involving animals |
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Beginning Tuesday, July 13, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
will be updating the application and submission process for research involving the use of animals to IRBManager, an online software solution.
IRBManager allows K-State’s forms and workflow to be incorporated with virtually no change. This means researchers will be familiar with the applications, approval letter, continuing review forms and basic workflow of the approval process. There will be a 30-day grace period for submitting applications using the old PDF file via email to comply@k-state.edu. This grace period will end on August 13.
Open forums and training sessions will be offered in July via zoom:
- 9 a.m., Wednesday, July 14.
- 2 p.m., Thursday, July 15.
- 3 p.m., Monday, July 19.
- 10 a.m., Tuesday, July 20.
Please register to attend. Zoom details will be sent to registrants the day prior to the session.
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BRI-CEEZAD Mini-symposium |
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8:45 a.m.-noon
Thursday, July 1
The Biosecurity Research Institute, or BRI, and the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases, or CEEZAD, are offering a virtual mini-symposium from 8:45 a.m. to noon July 1.
Juergen Richt, CEEZAD director, will serve as host of the event.
Speakers include:
- Steve Higgs, director, BRI, Kansas State University
- Juergen Richt, director, CEEZAD, Kansas State University
- Alfonso Clavijo, director of USDA National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
- Kimberly Dodd, director, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, USDA-APHIS
- Joaquim Segalés, professor, Veterinary School/Department of Animal Health and Anatomy, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
- Heinz Feldmann, Chief, NIH/NIAID Laboratory of Virology and Disease Modeling and Transmission
Meeting ID: 941 3952 1366
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Bridging the Gap Between R&D Innovation and Biomanufacturing |
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2 p.m.
July 1
The stakes have never been higher for biomanufacturing. Its explosive growth over the past decade has created a massive need to constantly innovate to keep up with patient need and overseas competition.
Often, the industry is faced with a “gap” between innovation that occurs on university research campuses and the large-scale, private biomanufacturing sector. This gap can include several factors such as lack of funding, talent pipeline shortages, and infrastructure limits—all of which slow down innovation and speed-to-market. Join this panel discussion to hear from the foremost experts in this field and how they are addressing these challenges in their own organizations.
Panelists and Expertise
- Alicia Pandimos Maurer, AIA, LEED AP, Vice President and Laboratory Designer, CannonDesign
- Rick Fultz, Sr. Vice President and Chief Business Officer, Biocom and Interim Executive Director, Biocom San Diego
- Bruce Levine, Ph.D., Barbara and Edward Netter Professor in Cancer Gene Therapy, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
- Derek Rae, ASHE, Senior Vice President/Principal, Leader of OAC’s Healthcare, Biomedical, and Life Science Market Sectors
- Gregory Theyel, Ph.D., Director, Biomedical Manufacturing Network
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Issuance of NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide |
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The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted or due on or after October 4, 2021. Significant changes include:
- A new section covering requests for reasonable and accessibility accommodations regarding the proposal process or requests for accessibility accommodations to access NSF’s electronic systems, websites and other digital content.
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A table titled, NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support. This table identifies where pre- and post-award current and pending support disclosure information must be provided. Proposers and awardees may begin using this table immediately.
- Increasing the page limit for the biographical sketch from two to three pages.
- Updates to the current and pending support section of NSF proposals to require that information on objectives and overlap with other projects is provided to help NSF and reviewers assess overlap/duplication.
- Adding planning proposals and Career-Life Balance supplemental funding requests as new proposal types.
- Updates to travel proposals will require that AORs certify that prior to the proposer’s participation in the meeting for which NSF travel support is being requested, the proposer will assure that the meeting organizer has a written policy or code-of-conduct addressing harassment.
You are encouraged to review the by-chapter summary of changes provided in the introduction section of the PAPPG.
NSF plans to conduct a webinar covering these changes. Visit the NSF policy outreach website to sign up for notifications about this and other outreach events.
While this version of the PAPPG becomes effective on October 4, 2021, in the interim, the guidelines contained in the current PAPPG — NSF 20-1 — continue to apply.
If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the DIAS/Policy Office at policy@nsf.gov.
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Two new UIDP project publications |
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Hosting Virtual Internships
Insights and Recommendations Based upon UIDP Member Experiences during 2020
Explore the value proposition and best practices for virtual internships. In the spring of 2020, many UIDP member companies had to reconsider their undergraduate internship programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On short notice, companies made critical decisions about their internship programs by: creating fully virtual experiences, inventing hybrid models, or canceling programs. This publication focuses on member experiences and provides clarity on the ways to plan future virtual internships. Although this Quick Guide is targeted primarily at industry-hosted virtual internships, many of the insights and recommendations are also applicable to university-hosted virtual internships and similar university-based learning experiences. Download the UIDP publication.
Networking with a Purpose
The Basics of Facilitated Serendipity
By striking a balance between structured, content-driven sessions and open ended, small group discussion, serendipity is more likely to occur. Likewise, the participants in an event play an important role. This publication highlights the different people who could be in the room, the responsibilities they have, and the key attributes that contribute to serendipitous outcomes. Download the UIDP publication.
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USDA-AMS Call for Grant Program Peer Reviewers |
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The USDA Agriculture Marketing Service is seeking subject matter experts to evaluate applications for the Regional Food System Partnerships Program, or RFSP. Reviewers receive training on the respective programs. Reviewing applications takes approximately 4-5 weeks. Reviewers evaluate applications assigned to them independently, then come together with other panel members virtually to discuss their findings and finalize reviews and scoring. Non-federal reviewers will be compensated for their time.
AMS’ Grants Division works to support improving domestic and international opportunities for U.S. growers and producers and with a variety of organizations to support rural America and the Nation’s agricultural sector. For additional information visit the AMS Grants & Opportunities web page.
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K-State RSCAD in the news |
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Agency news and trending topics |
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In a new study, National Institutes of Health researchers report that the prevalence of COVID-19 in the United States during spring and summer of 2020 far exceeded the known number of cases and that infection affected the country unevenly. For every diagnosed COVID-19 case in this time frame, the researchers estimate that there were 4.8 undiagnosed cases, representing an additional 16.8 million cases by July alone. The team’s analysis of blood samples from people who did not have a previously diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 infection, along with socioeconomic, health, and demographic data, offers insight into the undetected spread of the virus and subgroup vulnerability to undiagnosed infection. nih.gov
In children with rhabdomyosarcoma, or RMS, a rare cancer that affects the muscles and other soft tissues, the presence of mutations in several genes, including TP53, MYOD1, and CDKN2A, appears to be associated with a more aggressive form of the disease and a poorer chance of survival. This finding is from the largest-ever international study on RMS, led by scientists at the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Center for Cancer Research, part of the National Institutes of Health. nih.com
To better understand the role of bacteria in health and disease, National Institutes of Health researchers fed fruit flies antibiotics and monitored the lifetime activity of hundreds of genes that scientists have traditionally thought control aging. To their surprise, the antibiotics not only extended the lives of the flies but also dramatically changed the activity of many of these genes. Their results suggested that only about 30% of the genes traditionally associated with aging set an animal’s internal clock while the rest reflect the body’s response to bacteria. nature.com
For decades, the ice shelf helping to hold back one of the fastest-moving glaciers in Antarctica, Pine Island Glacier, has gradually thinned. Analysis of satellite images reveals a more dramatic process in recent years. From 2017 to 2020, large icebergs at the ice shelf's edge broke off, and the glacier sped up.nsf.gov
A genetic mutation linked to melanoma in humans gives the lizards their lemony-hue—and triggers tumor growth on their scaly skin. smithsonianmag.com
Past genetic studies on feline domestication hadn’t included this wildcat native to the Tibetan Plateau. smithsonianmag.com
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k-state.edu/research
researchweekly@k-state.edu
785.532.5110
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