September 25, 2025
Congratulations to those who received awards in August 2025, and especially to Dr Hendry and Dr. Yao, who received Kansas IDEA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence (K-INBRE) Awards last month. K-INBRE is celebrating 25 years of networking and collaboration, including with WSU (see the Announcement section.) Please join us in congratulating K-INBRE, and those WSU researchers funded by K-INBRE, on this incredible achievement!
So far in FY2026, WSU researchers under Academic Affairs have submitted external proposals in the amount of $11,609,181 and received $5,486,206 in external awards.
WSU leadership continues to carefully monitor the impact of any executive orders on our research programs. If you receive any communication from a federal sponsor, please continue to forward that information to your respective office of research. And as always, if you have questions about the content of this newsletter, please contact us at research@wichita.edu.
Past and future editions of this newsletter may be found here:
https://www.wichita.edu/research/ResearchNewsletter/index.php.
LAST MONTH'S
AWARDS
TRIO DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM
PI/Department: Brooke Allen, Ed-Disability Services Student Sup
Sponsor: Department of Education - US
Amount: $306,514
AWARD OF COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN APEX ACCELERATOR
PI/Department: Teresa Bennett, APEX Accelerator Program
Sponsor: Office of Naval Research
Amount: $534,219
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO WASTEWATER SYSTEMS FOR NUTRIENT REDUCTIONS - YEAR 4
PI/Department: Tonya Bronleewe, HWS of Urban & Public Affairs
Sponsor: Dept of Health & Environment - Kansas
Amount: $100,000
LEVERAGING AI FOR FOOD SYSTEM DATA ACQUISITION AND INQUIRY
PI/Department: Laila Cure Vellojin, Industrial & Manufacturing Eng
Co-PI/Department: Souvika Sarkar, School of Computing
Sponsor: Kansas Leadership Center
Amount: $4,771
ALGEBRAIC NUMBER FIELDS IN FOURIER ANALYSIS AND FRACTAL GEOMETRY
PI/Department: Robert Fraser, Mathematics & Statistics
Sponsor: Natl Science Foundation
Amount: $210,000
SUSTAINING MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT 2025 - 2026 MULVANE USD 263
PI/Department: Jennifer Friend, Kansas Mentor and Induction Center
Sponsor: USD 263 Mulvane
Amount: $800
SUSTAINING MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT 2025 - 2026 NICKERSON USD 309
PI/Department: Jennifer Friend, Kansas Mentor and Induction Center
Sponsor: USD 309 Nickerson
Amount: $1,600
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ECO-CBET: CONVERGENT ELECTROLYSIS-ELECTRODIALYSIS SYSTEM (CEES) TO CURB URBAN CHLORIDE POLLUTION BY ECO-FRIENDLY ROAD DEICING AND WASTE SALT UPCYCLING
PI/Department: Shuang Gu, Mechanical Engineering
Co-PI/Department: Janet Twomey, Industrial & Manufacturing Eng
Sponsor: Natl Science Foundation
Amount: $335,940
FMRG: ECO: ELECTRO-MANUFACTURING OF ETHYLENE AND NITROGENOUS CHEMICALS BY SYNERGIZING THE CAPTURE AND CONVERSION OF CO2 AND WASTE NITROGEN
PI/Department: Shuang Gu, Mechanical Engineering
Co-PI/Department: Eylem Asmatulu, Mechanical Engineering | Mehmet Yildirim, Industrial & Manufacturing Eng
Sponsor: Iowa State University / Natl Science Foundation
Amount: $900,000
KANSAS IDEA NETWORK OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH EXCELLENCE 5: URO/ SRP
PI/Department: William Hendry, Biological Sciences
Sponsor: Univ of KS Medical Ctr Research Inst, Inc. / Natl Institutes of Health
Amount: $63,000
AEROTHERMAL ASSESSMENT OF HYPERSONIC FLOWS OVER ABLATED SURFACES AND WOVEN TPS
PI/Department: Linda Kliment, Aerospace Engineering
Sponsor: Natl Aeronautics & Space Admn
Amount: $750,000
ADVANCING ROBUST BUILDING DAMAGE DETECTION FOR RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE
PI/Department: Shruti Kshirsagar, School of Computing
Sponsor: Univ of Kansas Ctr - Research, Inc. / Kansas Board of Regents
Amount: $49,969
IMPACT OF EXERCISE ADAPTATIONS ON THE AGING STEM CELL
PI/Department: Rajprasad Loganathan, Biological Sciences
Sponsor: Natl Institutes of Health
Amount: $165,916
MRI: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF A SUPERRESOLUTION LASER SCANNING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE FOR ENHANCING LIFE SCIENCES RESEARCH IN SOUTHERN KANSAS
PI/Department: Rajprasad Loganathan, Biological Sciences
Co-PI/Department: Moriah Beck, Chemistry | William Hendry, Biological Sciences | David Long, Biomedical Engineering | Li Yao, Biological Sciences
Sponsor: Natl Science Foundation
Amount: $650,432
LEGAL RESEARCH – ELWVTEM
PI/Department: Lisa Parcell, The Research Partnership
Sponsor: IMS Consulting and Expert Services
Amount: $5,000
KBOR NURSING INITIATIVE GRANT
PI/Department: Debra Pile, AVC School of Nursing
Sponsor: Kansas Board of Regents
Amount: $200,859
CYBERCORPS SCHOLARSHIP FOR SERVICE: GRADUATING WORKFORCE-READY CYBERSECURITY PROFESSIONALS
PI/Department: Sergio Salinas Monroy, School of Computing
Co-PI/Department: Joseph Jabara, School of Computing | Zhiyong Shan, School of Computing
Sponsor: Natl Science Foundation
Amount: $602,312
CONSULTANT SERVICES: FORESTRY GAPS INITIATIVE
PI/Department: Jeffrey Severin, HWS of Urban & Public Affairs
Sponsor: Kansas State University
Amount: $20,000
HEARTLAND FOOD BUSINESS TRAINING AND AI U TRAINING
PI/Department: Brandy Willett, Wichita Small Bus. Development Ctr
Sponsor: Fort Hays State University / Small Business Administration
Amount: $13,500
EVALUATION OF REPEATED HUMAN-ANIMAL INTERACTION ON ANXIETY IN FIRST-YEAR GRADUATE STUDENTS
PI/Department: Nicole Windsor, Physical Therapy
Sponsor: Kansas Health Foundation
Amount: $4,772
BOARD ENGAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC PLANNING
PI/Department: Scott Wituk, Community Engagement Institute
Sponsor: Prairie Land Realtors
Amount: $8,992
CLINICAL SERVICES CODING AND BILLING RESOURCE GUIDE FOR VISION HEALTH SERVICES
PI/Department: Scott Wituk, Community Engagement Institute
Sponsor: Community Care Network of Kansas, Inc.
Amount: $25,000
CLINICAL SERVICES CODING AND BILLING RESOURCE GUIDE FOR VISION HEALTH SERVICES
PI/Department: Scott Wituk, Community Engagement Institute
Sponsor: Community Care Network of Kansas, Inc.
Amount: $17,500
KHF - PROJECT TEAM FACILITATION
PI/Department: Scott Wituk, Community Engagement Institute
Sponsor: Kansas Health Foundation
Amount: $4,491
NETWORK MOBILIZATION STRATEGY SESSION
PI/Department: Scott Wituk, Community Engagement Institute
Sponsor: Kansas Health Foundation
Amount: $3,863
KANSAS IDEA NETWORK OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH EXCELLENCE 5: DSCPUI
PI/Department: Li Yao, Biological Sciences
Sponsor: Univ of KS Medical Ctr Research Inst, Inc. / Natl Institutes of Health
Amount: $28,000
KANSAS IDEA NETWORK OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH EXCELLENCE 5: SPRING
PI/Department: Li Yao, Biological Sciences
Sponsor: Univ of KS Medical Ctr Research Inst, Inc. / Natl Institutes of Health
Amount: $42,000
S4H HOPE KITS EXPANSION PROJECT
PI/Department: Marci Young, HOPE Services
Sponsor: Kansas Department for Aging & Disability Services
Amount: $35,000
MONTHLY AWARDS FOR THE DIVISION OF INDUSTRY AND DEFENSE EQUAL $73,481,358 OF WHICH $71,061,298 BELONGS TO THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AVIATION RESEARCH (NIAR).
FUNDING
OPPORTUNITIES
Focused Funding Opportunities
Please reach out early and as soon as you have found a potential opportunity that you wish to apply for. Early notifications allow the Office of Research to minimize the risk of missing agency deadlines, to fix potential errors, to ensure compliance with WSU policies and procedures, and to ensure the best service from our office.
Pivot is the funding opportunity database WSU subscribes to; you must affiliate with Wichita State University to access the system. To request assistance with a customized search please contact funding@wichita.edu. If any of the following opportunities are of interest to you, please email proposals@wichita.edu as soon as possible so that a grant specialist may be assigned to assist. Visit Pre-Award Services to find out more about applying for external funding.
LIMITED: Funding Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Title: Integrated Data Systems & Services (IDSS)
Application Deadlines: Limited: Because WSU may only submit one application to each category, Notices of Intent to apply must be sent to proposals@wichita.edu by October 1, 2025 at 12:00 P.M. (Noon), in case an internal competition is needed. The anticipated date for informing applicants if they have been chosen to proceed is October 15, 2025. Full Application is due December 4, 2025.
Purpose: “Supports national-scale data infrastructure that powers open, data-intensive and AI-driven research and education by funding the development, expansion and planning of integrated systems and services for the scientific community.”
Amount: $500,000-$6,000,000
Funding Agency: National Trust for Historic Preservation
Title: National Trust Preservation Funds
Application Deadline: October 1, 2025
Purpose: “Grants from National Trust Preservation Funds (NTPF) are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by supporting ongoing preservation work and by providing seed money for preservation projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for preservation projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector.”
Amount: $2,500-$5,000; Note, Cost Share is required.
Funding Agency: International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG)
Application Deadline: October 13, 2025
Purpose: “The ICRG invites eligible investigators and institutions to apply for funding to conduct research focused on gambling behaviors and problems among college-aged individuals, students and athletes. This research aims to investigate the prevalence, risk factors, and impacts of gambling in these groups, with a special emphasis on online sports betting behaviors and their consequences.”
Amount: $450,000
Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH): National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Title: Aging Mammalian Tissues In Vitro (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Application Deadline: October 20, 2025
Purpose: “This notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) invites applications that propose interdisciplinary research that aims to develop complex mammalian 3-dimensional (3D) in vitro microphysiological systems (MPS) to model aging and recapitulate aging processes/phenotypes observed in the whole organism in vivo. This NOFO is primarily focused on human cell-derived MPS (e.g., tissue chip, organ-on-chip, tissue organoids). However, systems developed using cells of nonhuman mammalian origin are acceptable for benchmarking, system validation, or when their relevance to understanding human aging biology is justified. Supported projects will be expected to advance the adoption of MPS in aging biology research and as new human-relevant tools for drug discovery.”
Amount: Application budgets are limited to $275,000 in direct costs over the two-year period
Funding Agency: Department of Justice (DOJ): Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
Title: BJA FY25 DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction (CEBR) – Competitive Grants Program
Application Deadline: October 22, 2025
Purpose: “This funding opportunity seeks to support states and units of local government with existing crime laboratories that conduct DNA analysis to solve crimes and protect public safety by maximizing the effective utilization of DNA technology to process DNA samples for entry into the Combined DNA Index System.”
Amount: Up to $1,000,000
Funding Agency: America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM)
Title: Affordable and Agile Composite Additive Manufactured Structures (AACAMS)
Application Deadline: October 28, 2025
Purpose: “The project call, Affordable and Agile Composite Additive Manufactured Structures (AACAMS), aims to establish a well-articulated set of roadmaps and reports that will lay the groundwork for investment by the Department of Defense (DoD) and industry to fully mature the continuous fiber additive manufacturing (CFAM) capability and ensure it reaches scale. This study will build a comprehensive understanding of the current CFAM landscape, the technology gaps limiting adoption, and the attributes of this technology that integrators need to mature before deploying CFAM in their products. One award is anticipated.”
Amount: $450,000
Funding Agency: Russell Sage Foundation (RSF)
Title: Core Program: Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context
Application Deadlines: Letter of Inquiry due October 29, 2025; If invited, Full Proposal due February 18, 2026
Purpose: “The Russell Sage Foundation’s (RSF) core program on Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context merges its long-standing program on Behavioral Economics and its special initiative on Decision Making and Human Behavior in Context. This program encourages perspectives from multiple disciplines, including economics, psychology, political science, sociology, law, public policy, and other social sciences, to further our understanding of economic, social, political, and psychological decision-making processes, attitudes, behaviors, and institutional practices in public and private contexts such as policing/criminal legal systems, employment, housing, politics, racial/ethnic relations, and immigration.”
Amount: Up to $200,000
Funding Agency: HALO (Private Companies and More)
Title: Opportunities for Research and Development
Application Deadline: October 31, 2025
Purpose: HALO promotes opportunities for research and development presented by industry. Opportunities vary greatly. Recent requests from industry partners due October 31, 2025 include, for example, “Free in vivo testing: Unleash your molecule’s potential as a crop protector;” “Accelerating food formulation with predictive AI;” and “Digital twins and AI for process optimization.”
Amount: Varies based on opportunity
Funding Agency: City of Salina, Kansas
Title: Request for Proposals/Bid: Strategic Plan on Homeless Solutions
Application Deadline: October 31, 2025
Purpose: “The City is seeking an individual or firm to develop a strategic and actionable plan to address homelessness in Salina, Kansas.”
Amount: n/a - bid
Funding Agency: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Foundation
Title: Grants and Endowments
Application Deadline: November 1, 2025
Purpose: “Part of our multifaceted relationship with healthcare professionals has always been providing funding through grants and endowments. MS Focus: The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation happily funds exceptional grant or endowment requests that can help those affected by MS find better days.”
Amount: Up to $40,000
REMINDER: Funding Agency: NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising
Title: Advancing Academic Advising Research
Application Deadlines: November 1, 2025 and April 15, 2026
Purpose: “NACADA research support is intended to facilitate research related to academic advising. Quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methodologies are welcome, as is research from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Program assessment is not funded. Successful proposals will clearly describe the development, implementation, analysis, and reporting of rigorous inquiry that investigates academic advising’s impact, context, or theoretical basis.”
Amount: $500-$5.000
Funding Agency: Healthy Americas Foundation
Title: Chronic Diseases Research Grants
Application Deadline: November 3, 2025
Purpose: “The Healthy Americas research grants aim to support up to 20 scholars conducting research about chronic diseases in communities for which there are limited scientific research efforts. Research should examine the role of contributory causes, including biological, behavioral, social, and/or environmental factors; health care access; and/or the intersection of mental health and chronic disease.”
Amount: $10,000
Funding Agency: School for Advanced Research (SAR)
Title: Resident Scholars
Application Deadline: November 3, 2025
Purpose: “Today, Resident Scholars approach research from the perspective of archaeology, anthropology or from related fields such as history or sociology.”
Amount: Fellowships
Funding Agency: Pershing Square Philanthropies
Title: 2026 Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize
Application Deadline: Letter of Intent due November 3, 2025
Purpose: “The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize provides early-career scientists the freedom to take risks and pursue their boldest research at a stage when traditional funding is lacking. While the Prize initially focused on the greater New York City area, as of 2026, applicants and winners will now represent institutions from across the United States.”
Amount: $750,000
Funding Agency: VIA Art Fund
Title: Artistic Production Grant Spring 2026 Cycle
Application Deadlines: Letter of Inquiry due November 6, 2025; If invited, Full Applications due January 22, 2026
Purpose: “Artistic Production grants fund the production and exhibition of new artistic commissions, in amounts ranging between $25,000 – $100,000. Often exhibited beyond museum walls in public space, these projects feature high levels of thought leadership, artistic production, and public engagement.”
Amount: $25,000-$100,000
REMINDER: LIMITED: Funding Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
Title: National Digital Newspaper Program
Application Deadlines: Limited: Because WSU may only submit one application, Notices of Intent to apply must be sent to proposals@wichita.edu by November 6, 2025 at 12noon, in case an internal competition is needed. The goal date for informing you if you have been chosen to proceed is November 20, 2025. Full Application due January 15, 2026.
Purpose: “…to create a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963, from all the states and U.S. jurisdictions.”
Amount: Up to $325,000
Funding Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA): Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI)
Title: Competitive Grants Program: Foundational and Applied Science Program
Application Deadlines: November 6 – November 13, 2025
Purpose: “AFRI is America’s flagship competitive grants program that provides funding for fundamental and applied research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences.” Topics vary greatly; Examples of topics due in November include: “Welfare of Agricultural Animals;” “Animal Breeding, Genetics and Genomics;” and “Data Science for Food and Agricultural Systems.”
Amount: $50,000-$800,000; varies based on topic and type of project.
Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Application Deadline: November 7, 2025
Purpose: “This notice of funding opportunity invites applications designed to examine the efficacy of digital health technology approaches to the management of diabetes.”
Amount: Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
Funding Agency: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Title: Request for Applications
Application Deadline: November 13, 2025
Purpose: Two topics currently open include “Advancing Technology for Spatiotemporal Omics in Live Tissue” and “Implementation of Synthetic Biology Principals in Immunology.”
Amount: Up to $600,000
Funding Agency: Institute of Museum and Library Services
Title: Museum Grants for American Latino History and Culture (ALHC)
Application Deadline: November 14, 2025* tentative due date
Purpose: “The ALHC grant program supports projects that build the capacity of American Latino history and culture museums to serve their communities as well as projects that broadly advance the growth and development of a professional workforce in American Latino institutions.”
Amount: $5,000-$500,000
Funding Agency: Institute of Museum and Library Services
Title: Museums for America Program
Application Deadline: November 14, 2025* tentative due date
Purpose: “The Museums for America program supports museums of all sizes and disciplines in strategic, project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, professional development, community debate and dialogue, audience-focused studies, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation.”
Amount: $5,000-$250,000
Funding Agency: The Teagle Foundation
Title: Cornerstone: Learning for Living
Application Deadlines: Concept Papers due December 1, 2025; If invited, Full Applications due February 2026
Purpose: “The Cornerstone: Learning for Living initiative aims to reinvigorate the role of the humanities in general education, and in doing so, expose a broad array of students to the power of the humanities; help students of all backgrounds build a sense of belonging and community; strengthen the coherence and cohesiveness of general education; and increase teaching opportunities for humanities faculty.”
Amount: $300,000
Funding Agency: American Cancer Society
Title: Clinician Scientist Development Grant (CSDG)
Application Deadline: December 1, 2025
Purpose: “The Clinician Scientist Development Grant (CSDG) supports full-time faculty members in becoming independent investigators as clinician scientists. This grant is designed for people trained primarily as clinicians who want to maintain clinical practice and conduct cancer research.”
Amount: $135,000/year in direct costs
Funding Agency: Brady Education Foundation
Title: Proposals for Program Evaluations (Research Project and Existing Program Evaluation)
Application Deadlines: December 1, 2025 for Stage 1 Proposals; If invited, Stage 2 Proposals due four months later.
Purpose: “…projects that are consistent with a strength-based perspective and have the potential to inform future educational research, practice, major philanthropic giving, and/or public policy.”
Amount: Varies; see website for examples of previously funded projects.
Funding Agency: Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF)
Title: Research Grants
Application Deadline: Pre-Proposals due December 1, 2025
Purpose: “Our grants program has provided millions of dollars in funding to cutting edge research institutions to help address the many challenges that exist in sustainable materials management.”
Amount: $15,000-$500,000 (with most awards averaging $160,000 for two years)
Funding Agency: Wenner-Gren Foundation
Title: Conference and Workshop Grant
Application Deadline: December 1, 2025
Purpose: “This grant program supports meetings and events that promote the development of inclusive communities of anthropologists and advance significant and innovative research.”
Amount: $20,000
Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Title: NOURISH (Nutrition for OUR Immune System Health): Autoimmunity Challenge
Application Deadline: December 4, 2025
Purpose: “The NOURISH Autoimmunity Challenge is a crowdsourcing competition focused on generating a cadre of innovative ideas on how to best integrate diet and nutrition studies into autoimmune disease research with a focus on identifying dietary interventions that are feasible, testable, scalable, and will have broad impact across the broad autoimmune disease portfolio.”
Amount: Up to $150,000 in total prizes
Funding Agency: Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Title: Next Gen Pregnancy Initiative
Application Deadline: December 4, 2025
Purpose: “Building upon the original goals of the BWF Preterm Birth Initiative, a recently convened Pregnancy Think Tank has helped shape the next generation of BWF preterm birth awards. Growing evidence suggests the interrelatedness of the duration of pregnancy, fetal growth, and adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, stillbirth, and maternal medical complications including maternal mortality.”
Amount: $500,000
Funding Agency: Elsa U. Pardee Foundation
Title: Grants for Innovative Cancer Research
Application Deadline: December 15, 2025
Purpose: “The Elsa U. Pardee Foundation funds research to investigators in United States non-profit institutions proposing research directed toward identifying new treatments or cures for cancer. The Foundation funds projects for a one-year period which will allow the establishment of capabilities of new cancer researchers or new cancer approaches by established cancer researchers.”
Amount: By design, there are no limits set on the amount that can be requested.
Funding Agency: Spencer Foundation
Title: Research Grants on Education: Small
Application Deadline: December 15, 2025
Purpose: “The Small Research Grants on Education Program supports education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived. This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location. Our goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.”
Amount: Up to $50,000
Funding Agency: Temper of the Times Foundation
Title: Advertising for the Environment
Application Deadline: December 15, 2025
Purpose: “Grants are awarded for projects that will lead to measurable outcomes for wildland ecosystem conservation and restoration in the United States. Grants may be used to fund the production of print, radio, or television ads, to pay for advertising space or airtime, or to produce or distribute pamphlets, books, videos, or press packets.”
Amount: $5,000-$15,000
Funding Agency: Klingenstein Philanthropies
Title: Transformation of Mental Health Care Program
Application Deadline: December 15, 2025
Purpose: “We are soliciting applications for academic investigators conducting research to demonstrate the benefits of novel ways to access or deliver mental health care or prevention approaches that can be implemented at scale.”
Amount: $200,000
Funding Agency: Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)
Title: Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards
Application Deadline: January 7, 2026
Purpose: “Our commitment to enriching the research skills and professional growth of young faculty members at ORAU member institutions is embodied in the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards Program. These competitive research awards provide seed money for junior faculty members that often result in additional funding from other sources.”
Amount: $5,000; Note, Cost Share is Required
Funding Agency: Open Research Community Accelerator (ORCA) and partners
Title: Modernizing Academic Appointment and Advancement Challenge
Application Deadline: January 8, 2026
Purpose: “…invites proposals from U.S.-based accredited, tax-exempt colleges and universities—including their departments, centers, and institutes—to reimagine their academic hiring, review, promotion, and tenure (RPT) processes. This initiative seeks bold, creative strategies to develop academic reward systems that foster a collaborative, responsive, and transparent research environment.”
Amount: $250,000 for Tier 1; $50,000 for Tier 2
Funding Agency: Kansas Tourism
Title: Attraction Development Grants
Application Deadline: January 9, 2026
Purpose: “The Attraction Development Grant Program supports the creation of new or enhancing sustainable, market-driven travel experiences in Kansas. Its goal is to attract new visitors, influence travel decisions, and generate economic benefits through new jobs, capital investment, increased revenue, and higher visitation.”
Amount: Total funding available is $1,000,000, no minimum or maximum request, however, Cost Share is Required
Funding Agency: Simons Foundation
Title: Scientific Software Research Faculty Award
Application Deadlines: Letter of Intent due January 21, 2026; If invited, Full Application due no later than three months prior to award start date (by September 1, 2027)
Purpose: “The Simons Foundation invites applications for funding to support new research professor positions (e.g., “clinical professor,” “professor of practice” or “research professor,” the titles and roles depending on the university) in existing academic departments (the “host institutions”) to be filled by scientific software-focused researchers. The SSRF Award will support researchers who have a strong track record of leadership in scientific software development. The aim of this program is to stimulate the development and maintenance of core scientific software infrastructure in academic environments through creating a new, long-term, faculty-level career path.”
Amount: A Scientific Software Fellowship provides five years of salary support for the awardee’s academic-year salary and fringe benefits, whether normally paid over 9 or 12 months, as follows: 100 percent salary for each of the first two years and then 50 percent each year for next three years. For the last three years, the host university is expected to provide the other 50 percent of salary support each year through existing department channels. Note: summer salary is not an allowable cost.
Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Title: Stephen I. Katz Early Stage Investigator Research Project Grant (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Application Deadline: January 27, 2026
Purpose: “The Stephen I. Katz Early Stage Investigator Research Project Grant supports an innovative project that represents a change in research direction for an early stage investigator and for which no preliminary data exist. Applications submitted to this notice of funding opportunity must not include preliminary data. Applications must include a separate attachment describing the change in research direction. The proposed project must be related to the programmatic interests of one or more of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers based on their scientific missions..”
Amount: Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
REMINDER: Funding Agency: NASA
Title: ROSES: A.10 INNOVATE
Application Deadline: Proposals accepted anytime until March 31, 2026
Purpose: “This element invites proposals to rapidly advance the use of satellite observations of the Earth to efficiently support the U.S. economy, national security, and any other applications topics relevant to NASA’s Earth Science to Action Strategy. This element is intended to support high-risk, high-reward projects that are too speculative to garner other funding sources, as well as boost the emerging space economy and commercial providers of Earth information. All non-governmental U.S. entities are eligible to apply, but private sector organizations new to NASA are strongly encouraged to lead proposals or partner on proposals with academia or NASA centers.”
Amount: Up to $1,000,000 over three years
Funding Agency: Sigma/Midwest Nursing Research Society
Title: Sigma/Midwest Nursing Research Society Research (MNRS) Grant
Application Deadline: April 1, 2026
Purpose: “The purpose of the Sigma/Midwest Nursing Research Society research grant is to encourage qualified nurses to contribute to the advancement of nursing through research; proposals for pilot and/or developmental research may be submitted. All research topics and designs are eligible for support. Multidisciplinary, historical, and international research is encouraged.”
Amount: $3,500
Funding Agency: Department of Defense: DEVCOM: Army Research Laboratory
Title: Varies: Academic Applied and Advanced Innovation, Advanced Energy Materials Program, Advanced Learning-Enabled Intelligent Cyber Physical Systems, Polymer Chemistry, Fluid Dynamics
Application Deadline: Ongoing until November 20, 2027
Purpose: “The Broad Agency Announcement is a competitive solicitation procedure used to obtain proposals for basic and applied research and the part of development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement.”
Amount: TBD; White Papers
Funding Agency: Department of Defense: DEVCOM Analysis Center (DAC)
Title: Varies: Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Applied Research
Application Deadline: Ongoing until January 4, 2028
Purpose: “DAC’s research objective is to gain knowledge on phenomenon or technology to account for its effects within the analysis and assessment process. The knowledge and understanding gained through research will be used to model and analyze the performance, systems effectiveness, and human-systems integration of new phenomena or technologies.” Topics vary; for example: “Methodologies and Techniques to Analyze Assistive Automation & Artificial Intelligence Enabled Systems,” “Scientific Understanding and Analytical Methodology for Multi-Domain Operations,” “Using Machine Learning and Open Source Big Data Platforms to Enable Prognostics and Predictive Maintenance,” and “Personnel Survivability.”
Amount: TBD; White Papers
Funding Agency: PenFed Foundation
Title: Military Heroes Program – Community Grants
Application Deadline: Ongoing; Letters of Inquiry accepted anytime
Purpose: “Funding priorities include Military to Civilian Transition; Community Leadership and Legacy.”
Amount: Unspecified
REMINDER: Funding Agency: TechWerx / US. Department of Energy
Title: Varies: TechWerx/DOE Opportunities
Application Deadlines: Upcoming/TBD
Purpose: TechWerx is a hub focused on connecting the Department of Energy with collaborators to foster innovation. Upcoming funding opportunities currently listed include “Energy & Minerals Partnership for Academic-Industry Career Training,” “Solar Training and Education for Professionals: Enabling Informed Consumer Choice,” “Building Access to Tribal Energy Resilience” and “Apprenticeship Utilization Technical Assistance Program.”
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Title: NSF Individual and Small Team Proposals
Application Deadline: Varies by topic. Proposals are accepted anytime unless a due date is listed.
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Applied Mathematics – Nov 17, 2025
- Astronomy and Astrophysics – Nov 17, 2025
- Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (AGS-PRF)
- Biomechanics and Mechanobiology
- Biosensing
- Chemistry: Disciplinary Research Programs – Sep 30 or Oct 31, 2025 - based on discipline
- Cultural Anthropology Program Senior Research Awards (CA-SR) –Jan 15 & Aug 15 annually
- Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) Core Research (ECR: Core) – Oct 2, 2025
- Division of Materials Research: Topical Materials Research Programs (DMR-TMRP)
- Division of Materials Research: Condensed Matter and Materials Theory (CMMT)
- Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Core Programs (MCB)
- Energy, Power, Control, and Networks
- Environmental Biology
- Environmental Engineering
- Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research: Workshop Opportunities (EPS-WO)
- Foundational Research in Robotics (FFR)
- Infrastructure Capacity for Biological Research (Capacity)
- Linguistics –Jan 15 & Jul 15 annually
- Manufacturing Systems Integration
- Mathematical Biology – Oct 14, 2025
- Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics – Jan 29, 2026
- Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
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Research Infrastructure in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (RISBS)
- Science of Learning & Augmented Intelligence – Feb 11, 2026
- Security, Privacy & Trust in Cyberspace (SaTC 2.0) – Sep 29, 2025 or Jan 26, 2026
- Security and Preparedness
- Social Psychology – Jan 15 & Jul 15 annually
- Sociology
- Statistics – Dec 15, 2025
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Title: NSF Special Programs
Application Deadline: Varies by topic – click each topic to learn more about these special program opportunities. Proposals are accepted anytime unless a due date is listed.
- Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE): Core Programs – Varies by size of application (Small, Medium, Core)
- Critical Aspects of Sustainability (CAS) – Various funding mechanisms available
- Division of Chemistry: Disciplinary Research Programs (CHE-DRP) – Sep 30, 2025 for CAT, CSDM-B, and SYN; Oct 31, 2025 for CMI, ECS and MSN
- Division of Materials Research: Topical Materials Research Program
- Division of Physics: Investigator-Initiated Research Projects – Varies by topic
- Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program (HEGS) – Jan 16, 2026
- Mathematical Sciences Infrastructure Program – Feb 3, 2026
- National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program (NRT) –tbd
- Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) – Aug 19, 2026
- Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science – Oct 8, 2025
- Research in the Formation of Engineers (RFE)
EDUCATION &
TRAINING
WSU Office of Research Workshops
Topics include an Introduction to the WSU Office of Research with resources and contacts, WSU policies and procedures related to research, finding funding utilizing Pivot, project budgeting and general grant-writing tips. Previously recorded workshops can also be found on the Office of Research website.
AAUW Career Development Grants: Info Session: September 26, 2025
“Career Development Grants champion gender equity in education and workplaces by investing up to $8,000 in women pursuing a certificate, credential, or training program needed to enter, transition into, or advance within high-demand STEM fields in which they are underrepresented. This grant cannot be used for a degree program (ex. Master’s Degree). Grants fund short-term, accredited programs. AAUW also welcomes applications from women currently employed in high-demand STEM fields who seek executive-level or leadership development training to advance into decision-making roles.”
Learn More about AAUW and Upcoming Information Sessions
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): Federal Trademark Searching: Overview: September 26, 2025
“This webinar will introduce you to the fundamental mechanics of using our trademark search system. It’s geared toward new users and those interested in conducting basic searches.”
NIH: National Cancer Institute: Enhancing Childhood Cancer Data Sharing and Utility: September 29-30, 2025
“The National Cancer Institute’s Office of Data Sharing (ODS) is pleased to announce its inaugural data jamboree to promote the sharing, access and reuse of pediatric and adolescents and young adults cancer datasets in conjunction with the ODS 3rd Annual Symposium.”
Department of Energy: National Lab Capabilities and Engagement Mechanisms for Critical Minerals and Materials Webinar: September 29, 2025
“The U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Collaborative will convene stakeholders from across the critical minerals and materials industry and research ecosystem for a webinar spotlighting national lab critical minerals and materials initiatives that are advancing and derisking technologies.”
AFWERX Challenge: “Innovation Unleashed” Ask Me Anything (AMA) Webinar: September 30, 2025
“Join us for the next installment of the “Innovation Unleashed” series—an interactive, one-hour webinar designed for innovators across government, industry, and academia. Whether you’re advancing defense tech, developing commercial solutions, or leading cutting-edge research, this session will show you how to accelerate your work through the AFWERX and SpaceWERX Challenge program.”
Register for AFWERX Challenge Webinar
NIH: National Cancer Institute: How Data Advances the Impact of Cancer Research: September 30 – October 1, 2025
“A foundational shift to a culture of broad data sharing and collaborative science holds immense promise for more rapid advances in cancer research. We invite scientists, clinicians, policymakers, patients, advocates and trainees across government, academia and industry to learn from one another and explore ways to maximize the benefits of these efforts. Please join us for engaging discussions on advancing cancer research through data sharing and reuse.”
NIH NCI ODS 3rd Annual Data Sharing Symposium
AAC&U Webinar: Lessons from the Field: Integrating and Elevating the Humanities in General Education: October 1, 2025
“Participants will learn practical strategies for developing courses anchored in common readings and cross-disciplinary clusters that connect the humanities to technical and pre-professional fields. Panelists will also discuss lessons learned around implementation challenges, faculty engagement, and assessing student outcomes.”
NAIRR Pilot Partner Seres: MLCommons/Croissant: October 2, 2025
“There is an urgent need for standardized metadata for AI/ML datasets as their scale and complexity grows. In this talk, we introduce Croissant, an open metadata vocabulary designed to make AI/ML datasets more discoverable, understandable, and reusable. Croissant provides a flexible framework that describes crucial information about data provenance, structure, licensing, and intended use. We will walk through Croissant's design and attributes and highlight how it can improve AI/ML dataset documentation, compliance, and reproducibility for real-world applications.”
Read More about NSF ACCESS and NAIRR Pilot Partners Webinars
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): Intellectual Property Basics and Helpful Resources: October 2, 2025 or November 6, 2025
“Unfamiliar with patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets? Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from USPTO experts about intellectual property basics and potential ways to protect your innovation as you transition from idea to product.”
Register for USPTO Webinar on October 2, 2025 or November 6, 2025
NIH: Military Women’s Health Webinar Series: Cancer: October 9, 2025
“The NIH Office of Research on Women's Health & the Uniformed Services University Military Women's Health Research Program present a webinar series showcasing research in military women's health.”
Office of Research Workshop: Writing Proposals: October 13, 2025
New to writing grant proposals? Join Fran Cook, CRA, Trainer from the Wichita State Office of Research, who will cover the basics of proposal writing for grants as well as tips for improving grant applications. The virtual workshop will be held via Microsoft Teams, and will include hands-on activities including reviewing a sample solicitation.
Email funding@wichita.edu or register directly on MyTraining.
Point-of-Care Technology Research Network (POCTRN): Research and Innovation Translation Partnerships Conference and Technology Showcase: October 15-16, 2025
“The Research and Innovation Translation Partnerships in Point of Care Technologies and Digital Health Conference and Technology Showcase will be held October 15-16, 2025, on the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, MD. This event will feature keynote talks, panel discussions, forums, and e-poster sessions. Participants include technology developers, researchers, clinicians, and representatives from industry, funding and regulatory agencies, non-government organizations, and investors. These stakeholders will have the opportunity to discuss and share resources, opportunities and expectations to address technology innovation translation and commercialization challenges.”
POCTRN Digital Health Conference and Technology Showcase
NSF Test Bed: Toward a Network of Programmable Cloud Laboratories (NSF PCL Test Bed): October 16, 2025
“In this webinar series, NSF program officers will introduce the NSF PCL Test Bed program and explain the goals, eligibility and procedures for proposal submission. The session will feature a moderated Q&A. Participants can then join breakout sessions to connect and explore teaming opportunities.”
UReCA Research Mixer: October 20, 2025
“Join us for an evening dedicated to undergraduate research, featuring networking, interactive sessions, and a keynote address.” The event is free to WSU Faculty and undergraduate students.
ORAU & NIST: Advanced Manufacturing Webinar Series: October 22 and November 12, 2025
“ORAU and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have partnered to bring ORAU’s member universities a six-webinar series aimed at creating opportunities and partnerships between ORAU’s members and the 18 Manufacturing USA Institutes. These one-hour discussions will focus on priority initiatives and ways to get involved with each institute. Attendance is open to anyone at an ORAU Member University, though Research Directors, Research Faculty and Tech Transfer Offices are especially encouraged to attend!”
Register for ORAU Advanced Manufacturing Webinar Series
Kaiser Permanente Center for Gun Violence Research and Education: Webinar Series: October 24, 2025 and through June 2026
“This event marks the launch of a new bimonthly webinar series for researchers, community-based organizations, and other leaders in firearm violence prevention. Designed to strengthen the capacity, confidence, and visibility of those advancing solutions to prevent firearm-related violence.”
Register and Learn More about Upcoming Kaiser Permanente Center Webinars
U.S. Department of Energy: Domestic Critical Minerals and Materials Supply Chains Workshop Recording
“The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) convened stakeholders from industry, national labs, and academia for a Domestic Critical Minerals and Materials Supply Chains Workshop. This discussion underscored the role of critical minerals and materials to achieving energy dominance and elucidated DOE’s strategies and programming to secure critical minerals and materials supply chains for America’s energy, national, and economic security. The workshop featured speakers from DOE leadership as well as several DOE offices funding critical minerals and materials programs and highlighted exemplary projects that are advancing domestic industry. The meeting concluded with an opportunity to provide input on a series of questions to help DOE understand the needs, challenges, and opportunities facing the critical minerals and materials sector.”
Watch DOE Critical Minerals and Materials Workshop Recording
Data Privacy & Security Training, Questions or Reporting
If your research includes patient medical data and you need to take HIPAA / Sensitive Data Handling training, if you have a question about data privacy or security, or need to report a concern, please contact the WSU Privacy or Security Office.
Privacy: 316-978-4HIP (4447) or privacy@wichita.edu
Security: 316-978-4SEC (4732) or askinfosec@wichita.edu
REMINDER: Learn to Use BeoShock for your Advanced Research Computing Needs
Wichita State University continues to host Beoshock, a High-Performance Computing Cluster (HPC). This HPC is available and free to faculty members, researchers and students engaged in course work or research activities. BeoShock runs the CentOS Linux operating system and features approximately 720 processor cores, two high memory compute nodes with 1.5 terabytes of memory, and four graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerators. BeoShock also has a variety of software tools that may be helpful in your research endeavors, such as Matlab,Mathematica, R, Python and many more.
Learn more about BeoShock High-Performance Computing and access the BeoShock High Performance Computing User Guides.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
K-INBRE Celebrates 25 Years of Networking and Collaboration
“Twenty-five years ago, University of Kansas Medical Center was chosen as the lead institution in Kansas for a statewide effort to support networks focusing on biomedical research...”
Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Request for Information (RFI): Due December 31, 2025
“The purpose of this RFI is to obtain feedback on an effort that will establish a cadre of trusted partners made up of external academic entities, both Institutes of Higher Education and their associated entities, capable of rapidly spinning up activity on basic scientific research across the breadth of disciplinary perspectives at ARL.” The eleven technical fields identified include “Biological & Biotechnology Sciences (non-medical); Electromagnetic Spectrum Sciences; Energy Sciences; Humans in Complex Systems (non-medical); Mechanical Sciences; Military Information Sciences; Network, Cyber & Computational Sciences; Photonics, Electronics & Quantum Sciences; Sciences of Extreme Materials; Terminal Effects; and Weapon Sciences.”
SSTI Blog: Strategy for Workforce Development Released
“The U.S. Departments of Labor, Commerce, and Education (the departments) released a strategy for workforce development with six overarching themes: industry-driven strategies, worker mobility, integrated systems, accountability, flexibility, and innovation. The plan was written in response to an April 2025 directive from the White House mandating an overhaul of the federal approach to supporting workforce training.”
Read More about Workforce Development Plan
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Notice: Preview of NIH Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support Coming Soon to SciENcv
“This Guide Notice informs the extramural community that NIH plans to launch preview versions of the NIH Common Forms within Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv). Users should be able to access these preview versions of the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Forms and the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement (along with the corresponding instructions) on or before September 15, 2025.” Reminder, please reach out to proposals@wichita.edu if you need assistance with setting up your SciENcv and/or ORCID account.
American Heart Association (AHA) Seeking Peer Reviewers
Why be an AHA Peer Reviewer? Being a reviewer provides a substantial addition to curricula vitae to be noticed through the science community, it serves as a key point for tenure track and other promotions within most institutions, reviewers are exposed to relevant scientific breakthroughs happening daily in their specialties, and more.
Read More about AHA Peer Reviewers
National Science Foundation (NSF) Seeking VINES Track 2 Panelist Reviewers
“If you would like to serve as a reviewer and panelist for proposals submitted to track 2 of the U.S. National Science Foundation Verticals-enabling Intelligent Network Systems (NSF VINES) program, please complete the reviewer interest survey. Responses are due no later than Oct. 8, 2025. The NSF VINES program supports research and innovation to enhance wireless communications and intelligent network systems for faster, more reliable user-to-cloud connections, while promoting U.S. leadership in telecommunications and emerging potential NextG vertical industries.”
NSF VINES Track 2 Panelist Interest Form
NIHCM Newsletter: Childhood Obesity Awareness
“Learn more about children’s health, including obesity rates, suicide prevention, and how schools can support well-being.”
View the NIHCM Infographic on this Topic
National Academies: Improving How State and Local Governments Use AI
“State and local governments around the U.S. are harnessing AI for a range of applications — such as translating public meetings into multiple languages in real time to allow broader participation, or using chatbots to deliver services to the public, for instance...”
Read More or Watch NAS Webinar about this Topic
REMINDER: National Institutes of Health (NIH) Notice: Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications
“NIH is providing guidance to researchers on the appropriate usage of artificial intelligence (AI) to maintain the fairness and originality of NIH’s research application process. NIH is also instituting a new policy limiting the number of applications that NIH will consider per Principal Investigator per calendar year.”
REMINDER: WSU Participating in NSF Emerge for Industry and Research Collaborations
“Halo is a platform where researchers can discover industry-sponsored funding opportunities, connect with corporate research and development teams, and showcase their work to potential partners.”
Read about NSF Emerge and Register for an Account on the HALO Platform
REMINDER - ORCID ID – Persistent Digital Identifiers for Researchers
ORCID is an international, interdisciplinary, open, non-proprietary, and not-for-profit organization created by the research community for the benefit of all stakeholders, providing a persistent digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that distinguishes researchers with record that supports automatic links among all professional activities. A researcher’s ORCID iD and connections are stored in the ORCID Registry, in an account owned and managed by individual researchers. The WSU Office of Research recommends that Researchers set up their ORCID if they have not already, as some federal funders may require the use of an ORCID as part of a researcher’s biographical sketch or CV.
View Training Videos about ORCID and setting up your ORCID ID
REMINDER - Wichita Public Schools (USD 259): Advance Notice Required for Letters of Support and/or Participation in Research
Wichita Public Schools (USD 259) requests a minimum of 30 business days to process letters of support or participation in research. It is WSU’s responsibility to have appropriate support from the school(s)/personnel that will be involved in the project prior to submitting a request. Letters of Support/Grant Proposals: WSU personnel who need a letter of support or USD259 participation on a grant proposal, should complete the External-Request for Grant Support form and are encouraged to reach out directly to Holly Wilson at hwilson@usd259.net early in the process for questions/clarification. Research Requests: WSU personnel who want to conduct research in USD 259, must download and complete the Research Request Document. Investigators are encouraged to reach out directly to Will Graves at wgraves@usd259.net early in the process for questions/clarifications.
As a reminder, all proposals submitted on behalf of WSU must be reviewed by the Office of Research prior to submission. This includes proposals where WSU is a direct recipient of funds and proposals where WSU is a proposed subawardee/subcontractor. Please contact the Office of Research at proposals@wichita.edu to get started.
FREE WSU Office of Research Services
Email funding@wichita.edu to:
- Set up a Pivot account and receive guidance on how to search the database to find funding opportunities;
- Subscribe to funding announcements and funding-related alerts; and
- Attend Research Workshops that will help you with finding funding, budgeting and writing effective proposals (and much more)!
Please let us know how we can help you.