As the central hub for undergraduate research opportunities and Nationally Competitive Scholarships, the Office of Scholar Development and Undergraduate Research (SDUR) invites faculty members to engage with the Developing Scholars Program to help with the broader impacts of their research. This program is open to high-achieving first-generation or historically underrepresented students who are interested in undergraduate research experiences. Scholars are paired with faculty mentors within their field of study and are expected to complete 6-10 hours of research-related work per week. To boost access to these opportunities, scholars receive a stipend of $1,250.00 per semester. 

DSP is open to returning students, but preference is given to incoming, transfer, and early career students to maximize their three years of eligibility. As our unit, SDUR, has grown and developed over the past few months from our predecessor, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry, we have explored relationships with research areas such as the social sciences, which may not commonly fall into the connotation of research. In expanding upon new and existing partnerships, we invite you to engage with SDUR through the Developing Scholars Program. 

Here’s how faculty can get involved: 

• Encourage incoming or continuing undergraduate students to apply to DSP. The deadline for application is April 1. Consider becoming a research mentor. This opportunity is open to instructors from any field of study. 
• The Developing Scholars Program would be impossible without faculty mentors. Not only do scholars gain an invaluable set of skills from this relationship, but mentors also often comment on the positive impact of their mentee. 

Faculty mentors should: 

• Meet with their scholar regularly to provide direction, insight, and advice on their scholar's project. 
• Communicate clearly with their scholar and the program staff about progress, successes, and missteps regarding the project and mentoring relationship. 
• Assist the student with developing a research poster. 
• Attend annual spring poster Symposium (April 11, 2024). 
• Fill out an end-of-semester survey about experiences with DSP and their scholar. 

Benefits to Faculty Mentors: 

• Involving first-generation and underrepresented students in your research is viewed very favorably by funding agencies.
• Mentors do not have to contribute funds to have a student participant. If mentors have funds to contribute, however, it enables DSP to serve more students. Note, you can include DSP students in proposal budgets to cover this expense.
• Opportunity to work closely with young, eager people interested in learning how to conduct research. 
• Your influence will impact the success of an undergraduate student. 
• A bright and dedicated student to work on a project, possibly remaining on your team for three or more years. 

If you are interested in learning more about the Developing Scholars Program, please visit our website. If you are interested in being paired with a scholar beginning in the Fall semester, please contact SDUR Director, Beth Powers, bethpowers@k-state.edu. 

The K-State Office for the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering, will host the 25th annual GROW and 22nd annual EXCITE Summer Workshops on June 5-7, 2024.

GROW and EXCITE are outreach programs for middle and high school students. They are designed to encourage and support girls' interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, disciplines. Students of all genders are welcome to participate.

• GROW: Open to students finishing grades 5, 6 or 7 in May 2024.
• EXCITE: Open to students finishing grades 8, 9, 10 or 11 in May 2024.

Registration is now open for the workshops. Register by April 30 to receive early-bird prices or to apply for a scholarship. For more information, visit the GROW or EXCITE websites.

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 15.

KAWSE is looking for summer mentors for the GROW and EXCITE workshops. Read more about the position or apply online. Mentor training is June 4. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all positions are filled.

Any questions about the GROW & EXCITE Summer Workshops may be directed to the KAWSE office at kawse@ksu.edu or (785) 532-6088.

The Office of the Vice President for Research announces new funding available to assist faculty in research planning and large-grant development.

The Travel, Acceleration and Planning, or TAP Grants will provide funding for travel to meet with agency or foundation personnel, travel to meet with collaborators at other institutions for proposal development meetings, support for potential co-investigators at other institutions to travel to K-State for proposal development meetings and faculty and/or staff support for large center-level grant development. 

The process for requesting TAP funds is designed to be simple and fast. The Office of the Vice President for Research will provide quick responses to all properly filed requests.

Full descriptions, funding amounts and procedures for requesting funding are available on the OVPR website.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is hosting a virtual grant writing webinar series: Debuting Your Research Career: How to Plan for and Write Your First (or Next) NIH Grant Application. This monthly webinar series is free and open to all to pre- and post-doctoral fellows, clinician-scientists, as well as early-stage and mid-career research investigators.

The series will provide information on the funding opportunities for early career researchers at NIAID, navigating the F, K, DP2 and R38/K38 awards, and understanding the peer review process.

Dates and Topics:

• April 18, 2024: Navigating NIH to prepare your grant application – K awards
• May 23, 2024: Developing your candidate information section and research strategy for F and K awards
• June 20, 2024: Navigating NIH to prepare your grant application – DP2/R38/K38 awards
• July 18, 2024: Understanding the Peer Review process

Register here.

NSF Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) Program Informational Webinar

March 28, 2024. 12 p.m.

Please join us for an informational webinar about the NSF Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) program.

During this webinar, NSF staff will provide an overview of the POSE program and the upcoming funding opportunity. Following the presentation will be a question and answer session.

The program is open to institutions of higher education; non-profit, non-academic organizations; for-profit organizations; and State educational offices or organizations and local school districts.

Register via Zoom for the POSE webinar. Real-time captions will be available. If you require a reasonable accommodation in order to attend, please email rarequest@nsf.gov in advance.

For more information, feel free to review POSE's Frequently Asked Questions.

March 28, 2024,1 – 2 p.m.

April 11, 2024, 1 – 2 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

With this solicitation, the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is continuing its support of research expansion for Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). The goal of the CISE MSI program is to broaden participation by increasing the number of CISE-funded research projects from MSIs and to develop research capacity toward successful submissions to core CISE programs.

Register here.

Office Hours: Intro to America’s Seed Fund at NSF

March 28, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov



Join this question-and-answer session to learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by the National Science Foundation. A Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program director will answer questions about how to get started, the basics of eligibility and what they look for when they review project pitches.

Register for the Intro to America's Seed Fund webinar on Zoom.

Thursday, March 28, 2024, 2 – 3 p.m.

This webinar will provide an overview of the NIJ FY 2024 Evaluating Strategies to Advance the Implementation of Evidence-Based Policies and Practices solicitation, in which NIJ seeks rigorous research proposals to increase the impact of existing crime and justice research evidence and demonstrate how they can directly improve research evidence used by policy and decision-makers who shape justice. 

Register here.

Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) Innovation Hub (i-Hub) Programs Virtual Office Hours 

Join the virtual office hours on Thursday, March 28, 2024, to discuss New Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) Innovation Hub (i-Hub) Programs Focusing on GeoHealth and Public-Private Partnerships.

GEO iHub opportunities will help build capacity to address Climate Change Impacts on Human Health, develop new Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers and the CIVIC Innovation Challenge to accelerate the transition to practice of foundational research and emerging technologies into communities through civic-engaged research.

Join three separate virtual office hours and interact directly with NSF RISE program officers to learn how to be successful in getting support in these new focus areas:

• CIVIC Solicitation: March 28, 2024, 1 - 2 p.m.
• Climate Change Impacts on Human Health (C2H2) DCL: March 28, 2024, 2 - 3 p.m.
• IUCRC Program: March 28, 2024, 3 - 4 p.m.

More information and links to the Zoom meetings can be found here.

No registration is required.

March 29, 2024, 2 – 3 p.m.

The NSF's Division of Chemistry is hosting an office hour about one of its Disciplinary Research Programs: Chemical Structure, Dynamics, and Mechanisms A (CSDM-A). Hosted by Dr. John Papanikolas, and the CSDM-A team. It will feature a discussion of the program scope, funding priorities, program portfolio, and recent research highlights, followed by a Q&A session.

Register here.

Spring 2024: Global Centers (GC) Office Hours

March 29, 2024, 12 – 1 p.m.

April 1, 2024, 12 – 1 p.m.

April 4, 2024, 12 – 1 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

The GC Program Team is hosting a series of virtual Office Hours aimed at giving potential PIs an opportunity to ask questions about the new solicitation. 

We will be holding a series of sessions starting March 29 and ending on May 22, during which any questions about the Program can be asked and discussed. Two of the sessions will have a special focus: April 1 (Focus on Non-R1 Institutions), and April 8 (Focus on Minority Serving Institutions). 

More information and a Zoom link can be found here.

The Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology (BRC-BIO) program will hold a webinar on April 2, 2024 from 3 - 4 p.m. A short presentation will be followed by an open Q&A session with cognizant Program Officers.

Key information from the solicitation:

• Primary investigators must be at the Assistant Professor rank (or tenure-track equivalent) with service for no more than 3 years at their current institution by the submission date.
• Proposed projects should help enable the establishment of research programs that will be competitive for future research proposals to the NSF (e.g., CAREER) or other agencies. Projects should enrich undergraduate research experiences and, thereby, grow the STEM workforce.
• Projects can include biology-focused research collaborations among those in academia or partnerships with industry or other non-academic partners that advance the PI’s research program. 
• Next submission window: May 1 – July 1, 2024

Please register for the meeting using the following link: https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_lmYOJQ90QcyBMZqCt10sag#/registration

Future Research Directions for the CISE Community (CISE-RV) Program Webinar

April 3, 2024, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

May 3, 2024, 2 – 3 p.m.

NSF CISE program directors will host two webinars to inform the CISE research community on the research and development strategic visioning (CISE-RV) program.

The webinar will include an overview presentation from the program directors and allow time for Q&A. 

The goal of this DCL is to encourage a diversity of compelling approaches to early-concept strategic visioning by the broad R&D community in different emerging areas important to the CISE mission.

Register here.

NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Teams Q&A Webinar

April 4, 2024, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

May 2, 2024, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

Please join this I-Corps Teams webinar to ask an I-Corps program director questions and hear updates about the I-Corps program, curriculum, and important dates. Details will be shared at the beginning of each webinar to view real-time captions.

Registration can be found here.

Human Networks and Data Science Program Office Hour

April 4, 2024, 9:30 – 11 a.m.

Please join the Human Networks and Data Science Program to discuss questions about the program with the program director. 

To join, use the Human Networks and Data Science office hour Zoom link.

For more information about the program, visit the Human Networks and Data Science Program page.

April 9, 2024, 12 – 1 p.m.

April 18, 2024, 2 – 3 p.m.

April 23, 2024, 12 – 1 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

The Directorate for STEM Education at the National Science Foundation is hosting a series of virtual office hours for the STEM Education Organizational Postdoctoral Research Fellowships program to support PIs in preparing proposals for the upcoming deadline.

More information and a Zoom link can be found here.

April 9, 2024, 12 – 1 p.m.

May 14, 2024, 12 – 1 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov

Please join this Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Q&A webinar to learn about the PFI program. During the webinar, you will have the opportunity to ask questions about the PFI program and what to expect for the submission deadline.

Register here.

The Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships is hosting a webinar for participants to learn more about the Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) program funding opportunity. The informational webinar will take place on Thursday, April 11, 2024, from 2-3 p.m.

In this session, program directors will give an overview of the funding opportunity, explain the Ideas Lab process and discuss preparing a proposal. 

Register here.

HSI: ELPSE Solicitation Office Hours

April 11, 2024, 1 – 2 p.m.

April 22, 2024, 2 – 3 p.m.

Join this office hours session to learn more about the Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Enriching Learning, Programs, and Student Experiences (HSI:ELPSE) solicitation.

Register here.

Office Hours: Preparing your Phase I Proposal for America's Seed Fund at NSF

April 11, 2024, 1 – 2 p.m.

April 25, 2024, 1 – 2 p.m.

Join this open-ended session to ask questions about what’s needed when creating a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) proposal. A SBIR/STTR program director will answer questions and point you to resources.

Register here.

April 16, 2024, 2 – 3 p.m.

May 21, 2024, 2 – 3 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov



Representatives from across the Division of biological Infrastructure (DBI) will be available to discuss specific programs and funding opportunities. There will then be an open question and answer period – questions can be on any NSF or DBI topic. Join us remotely and bring your questions!

Register here.

DMR Open Hour: DMREF Q&A

April 12, 2024, 10 – 11 a.m.

Join Germano Iannacchione, director of NSF's Division of Materials Research (DMR), and DMR Program Directors for our monthly office hour and Q&A session. This Open Hour will focus on the Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) Program.

Register here.

Decision, Risk and Management Sciences Office Hour

April 17, 2024, 1-2 p.m.

May 15, 2024, 1 – 2 p.m.

June 19, 2024, 1 – 2 p.m.



Please join the Decision Risk Management Sciences office hour to discuss questions about the program with the program directors. 



To join, use the Decision Risk Management Sciences 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 Claudia Gonzalez-Vallejo or Bob O'Connor in advance. 

For more information about the program, visit the Decision Risk Management Sciences program page.

2024 CISE CAREER Workshop

April 29, 2024, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

April 30, 2024, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

This workshop is specifically designed to offer guidance and support to early-career faculty members preparing to submit proposals for the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award.

The forthcoming 2024 CISE CAREER workshop is scheduled to take place on April 29-30, 2024, at George Washington University.

Important Dates:

• In-person attendance and travel fellowship application deadline:  March 22, 2024
• Virtual attendance registration deadline:  April 12, 2024
• Workshop date:  April 29-30, 2024

For more information and registration details can be found here.

April 30 2024, 6 – 7 p.m.

May 23, 2024, 6 – 7 p.m.

July 25, 2024, 6 – 7 p.m.

See additional dates and times on nsf.gov



Join this question-and-answer session to learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by the National Science Foundation. A Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program director will answer questions about how to get started, the basics of eligibility and what they look for when they review project pitches.

Register here.

Call for Nominations for the National Medal of Science

The National Medal of Science is the highest recognition the nation can bestow on scientists and engineers. The presidential award is given to individuals deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, or social and behavioral sciences, in service to the Nation.

For this prestigious honor, please nominate colleagues and peers who have made extraordinary contributions that have advanced the scientific enterprise.

Complete nomination packages, consisting of a completed nomination form and three letters of support, are due by May 3, 2024.

Nominations can be submitted here.

Call for Nominations for the 2025 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award

Dear Colleagues,

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science invites nominations for the 2025 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, one of the longest running and most prestigious science and technology awards given by the U.S. government. The Lawrence Award is presented by the Secretary of Energy to honor mid-career U.S. scientists and engineers for exceptional technical contributions and achievements in research and development supporting DOE’s mission and its programs to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States.

Awards will be considered in each of the following nine categories: Atomic, Molecular, and Chemical Sciences; Biological and Environmental Sciences; Computer, Information, and Knowledge Sciences; Condensed Matter and Materials Sciences; Energy Science and Innovation; Fusion and Plasma Sciences; High Energy Physics; National Security and Nonproliferation; and Nuclear Physics.

The deadline to submit a nomination is Thursday, May 9, 2024, 4 p.m. Nominations must include statements summarizing the candidate’s achievements and connection to DOE support, three to six letters of support, a curriculum vitae, and a short bibliography. An independent panel of eminent experts will be convened by DOE to review nominations in each award category and inform award recommendation(s) submitted to the Secretary of Energy. Final award selections are made by the Secretary of Energy. Each Lawrence Award category award winner receives a citation signed by the Secretary, a gold-plated medal bearing the likeness of Ernest O. Lawrence, and a $20,000 honorarium. In the event the award is given to more than one individual within an award category, the recipients share the honorarium equally. To read nomination guidelines and submit a nomination visit Lawrence Award Nomination & Selection Guidelines.

The Lawrence Award was established in 1959 to honor the memory of the late E.O. Lawrence, who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the cyclotron (a particle accelerator) and after whom two DOE national laboratories, one in Berkeley and the other in Livermore, California, are named. Office of Science Administers the Lawrence Award on behalf of the Department of Energy. DOE encourages nominations of individuals from underrepresented groups and is committed to fostering safe, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible work, research, and funding environments. Read the Office of Science’s Statement of Commitment for more information.

Please consider nominating a colleague and encouraging nominations by sharing this letter broadly with colleagues and professional networks. Thank you for your help with this important award program.

Questions may be addressed to Kaitlyn (Katie) Schroeder-Spain, Ph.D., Lawrence Award Program Manager, at SCLawrence.Award@science.doe.gov. 

May 15, 2024, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

The workshop is intended to provide guidance and mentorship to prospective CAREER applicants to the NSF Directorate for STEM Education. It will serve as an opportunity for participants to gain a better understanding of the program, including eligibility requirements, the application process, and outcomes of past CAREER awardees, and for participants to interact with other applicants, former awardees, and NSF program officers.



Register here.

The U.S. National Science Foundation will host the Spring 2024 NSF Grants Conference from June 3 – 5, 2024 in Philadelphia, PA. The conference is making an eagerly anticipated transition to a hybrid event.

Registration will open on Wednesday, March 6, at 11 a.m. for in-person and virtual participation. We anticipate in-person registration will sell out quickly, so be prepared to register as soon as possible.

More information can be found here.

NASA's Science Mission Directorate is seeking subject matter experts to serve as external (email) and/or virtual panel reviewers of proposals to the "ROSES" research solicitation. The honorarium is nominal, but it's a service to the community and can be educational for those who might like to propose to SMD in the future.

All of the reviewer forms may be accessed on the main landing page or just follow the links below to the volunteer review forms. Once in a form, click the boxes to indicate the topics in which you consider yourself to be a subject matter expert. If your skills match our needs for that review and there are not too many organizational conflicts of interest, we will contact you to discuss scheduling.

A wide range of volunteer reviewer web forms have been (re)posted recently including:

·       Advanced Information Systems Technology

·       Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (ROSES D.2)

·       Citizen Science for Earth Systems Programs

·       Earth Action: Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery, and Resilience (ROSES A.42)

·       Earth Surface and Interior and Space Geodesy Programs

·       Ecological Conservation Impact Assessment

·       Emerging Worlds (ROSES C.2)

·       Exobiology (ROSES C.5)

·       Exoplanets Research Program (ROSES F.3)

·       Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST)—Space Science

·       Heliophysics Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning-Ready Data (ROSES B.16)

·       Heliophysics Supporting Research (ROSES B.2)

·       Lunar Data Analysis (ROSES C.8)

·       MatISSE and C.22 DALI (high-TRL planetary instrument programs)

·       Planetary Data Archiving, Restoration, and Tools (ROSES C.4)

·       Planetary Instrument Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations (PICASSO)

·       SMD Bridge Programs Seed Funding Opportunity (ROSES F.23)

·       Solar System Observations (ROSES C.6)

·       Solar System Workings (ROSES C.3)

·       The Physical Oceanography Program (PO)

·       Yearly Opportunities for Research in Planetary Defense

Questions regarding the related programs may be directed to the points of contact at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/program-officers-list/. Any issue with the web forms may be directed to sara@nasa.gov 

National Science Foundation prepares activities and educational resources for April’s solar eclipse

The U.S. National Science Foundation in collaboration with agency partners will serve as a major source of information, educational activities and experiences on and around the total solar eclipse taking place on April 8, 2024. The next total solar eclipse will not be visible in the contiguous United States until 2044, so this is a once-in-a-generation event of astronomical magnitude. NSF

Google AI could soon use a person’s cough to diagnose disease

A team led by Google scientists has developed a machine-learning tool that can help to detect and monitor health conditions by evaluating noises such as coughing and breathing. The artificial intelligence system1, trained on millions of audio clips of human sounds, might one day be used by physicians to diagnose diseases including COVID-19 and tuberculosis and to assess how well a person’s lungs are functioning. nature.com



From autism to Alzheimer’s: A large-scale animal study links brain pH changes to wide-ranging cognitive issues

A global collaborative research group comprising 131 researchers from 105 laboratories across seven countries announces a groundbreaking research paper submitted to eLife. The study identifies brain energy metabolism dysfunction leading to altered pH and lactate levels as common hallmarks in numerous animal models of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, such as intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depressive disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease. EurekAlert!

Experimental gene therapy for giant axonal neuropathy shows promise in NIH clinical trial

An investigational gene therapy for a rare neurodegenerative disease that begins in early childhood, known as giant axonal neuropathy (GAN), was well tolerated and showed signs of therapeutic benefit in a clinical trial led by the National Institutes of Health. Currently, there is no treatment for GAN and the disease is usually fatal by 30 years of age. NIH

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