As the director of Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute, or BRI, I walk into the facility with the same smile on my face, level of enthusiasm and sense of awe that I did on my first day over ten years ago. With support from phenomenal staff and great researchers and their teams, every day is a day that we can make a difference — be it a local, state or global level.
In 2020, as much of the university was closing down with lights turned off and people working from home, the BRI remained open and busy. The COVID shutdown really brought out the best in our dedicated people and demonstrated the importance of what can be done at the BRI. With institutional support, we maintained our safe and secure environment and refocused much of our efforts towards addressing this new threat. With an established agreement with the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, more than 29,000 COVID tests were performed for the local and regional communities. Research at the BRI proved that mosquitoes could not transmit the virus and that although some animals were refractory to infection, cats could be infected and shed the virus. Multiple animal species were tested as potential animal models and the studies have progressed to testing of vaccines for animals. Circumstances that made meat processing facilities shut down were investigated and longevity of viral infectivity on different types of surfaces under different environmental conditions were determined. Studies supported by industry evaluated the effectiveness of different inactivation methods. Since 2020, more than 20 scientific reports on COVID have been published based on work at the BRI.
Research, educational and training activities at the BRI have increased beyond my early hopes and expectations and continue to expand as new opportunities arise. Amongst many successes from work at the BRI are the development and licensing of vaccines for highly pathogenic avian influenza and for classical swine fever. Studies supported by work at the BRI were instrumental in the testing of the mRNA vaccine platform that ultimately became the basis of several COVID vaccines. An exciting development at the BRI is the ongoing construction of a Biotechnology Development Module — where, using state-of-the-art technologies and equipment, we can translate potential vaccines and diagnostic reagents into small-scale production. With new companies moving into the region, the hope is that our most promising discoveries can be moved towards commercialization.
We hope that we are always prepared for, and able to respond to the next biological threat that arises, but I sometimes think that the smile that I walk in with may be the most infectious thing that we have at the BRI…and surely you can understand why.
-Stephen Higgs
Associate vice president for research
Director, Biosecurity Research Institute
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ORD Opportunities
NSF Regional Innovation Engines
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The National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships has announced a new opportunity, NSF Regional Innovation Engines. This program is intended to catalyze and foster innovation ecosystems to address critical technologies and national and societal challenges through academia-industry-government partnerships.
Unlike standard NSF solicitations which have either no preliminary phase or a formal preliminary proposal requirement, this opportunity will begin with submission of short concept outlines. Concept outlines for both Type-1 (2-year, $1M) and Type-2 (10 year, up to $130M) proposals must be submitted to NSF by June 30, 2022.
There is no limit to the number of concept outlines that can be submitted by K-State as the lead organization; however, we can serve as the lead on only one letter of intent and proposal. Thus, this is a limited submission opportunity and it is necessary to inform the Office of Research Development if you plan to submit a concept outline. There would have to be an internal down-select in the event that more than one concept outline is invited to go forward by NSF.
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NEH Summer Stipends Writing Clinic – Summer 2022 |
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Office of Research Development, or ORD, staff will again offer a month-long writing clinic that will use an iterative process to help interested faculty members develop and refine their submissions for the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipends program. This clinic is based on the approach ORD has offered successfully for both the National Science Foundation CAREER opportunity and the NEH Summer Stipends program.
Interested faculty members must agree to participate in all sessions and assignments of the clinic. We will meet once a week via Zoom to review and discuss the writing assignments.
The steps will be as follows:
- Prewriting Questions – submit by July 11; group meeting week of July 11.
- Significance and contribution section as well as the Organization and methods section– based on answers to prewriting questions – submit by July 18; group meeting week of July 18.
- Competencies, skills and access; final product and dissemination sections as well as the work plan (1 page) and bibliography – submit by July 25; group meeting week of July 25.
- Full 3-page narrative section, 1 page work plan and resume – submit by August 1; group meeting week of August 1.
If you are interested in participating in this Writing Clinic, please send an email stating your interest to ord@k-state.edu by June 16.
-Beth Montelone
Senior associate vice president for research
Director, Office of Research Development
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BSL-3 training program mini symposium |
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8:30 a.m.-noon
Thursday, June 16
Zoom and the BRI Auditorium
A mini symposium for the K-State Biological Safety Level-3 Training Program, which is funded by the USDA, will be held on Thursday, June 16 from 8:30 a.m.-noon at the BRI Auditorium and via Zoom. Space is limited at the BRI auditorium so we ask that you RSVP to kcortes@vet.k-state.edu as soon as possible.
The purpose of this two-week program is to provide introductory BSL-3 training to research personnel, either current federal staff and research fellows or recent graduates from U.S. universities and current enrolled college students with career interests in USDA Agricultural Research Service who want to attain additional training and knowledge in the area of high-containment research and as potential career choice. This program is in coordination with the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) at Kansas State University.
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The BioNexus Science2Art program utilizes art as an expression of scientific knowledge and creativity and is a platform for regional scientists to display and describe their research.
How the Science2Art Program works:
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Submit high-resolution artwork by Friday, June 17.
- Artwork is reviewed and selected by curators.
- Selected applicants will be notified in early July.
- Chosen artwork will be: Printed on various media, featured online and in the 2022 Science2Art video and featured in Science2Art exhibit at TBD location in KC.
- Auctioned online at BioNexusKC.org and at Annual Event in Fall 2022.
PLEASE NOTE: By submitting artwork, the researcher is committing to a 1-hr video session in Kansas City on a date TBD.
All proceeds from the auction benefit STEAM education in our community.
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1-2 p.m.
Monday, June 13
The Engineering Research Initiation, or ERI, program supports new investigators as they initiate their research programs and advance in their careers as researchers, educators, and innovators. This funding opportunity aims to broaden the base of investigators involved in engineering research and therefore is limited to investigators who are not affiliated with “very high research activity” R1 institutions.
These webinars will each feature a short overview presentation from the ERI Team about the program and will include ample time for Q&A.
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1-2 p.m.
Thursday, June 2
The NSF Robotics team of program directors will hold an informational webinar to answer questions about the sunset of the National Robotics Initiative and share current NSF funding opportunities for robotics research. The webinar will take place on June 2, 2022, at 2:00 PM Eastern.
NSF announced the ending of the National Robotics Initiative 3.0: Innovations in Integration of Robotics program in Dear Colleague Letter: NRI Sunset Announcement. Over the 12-year lifetime of the National Robotics Initiative, or NRI, NSF and its federal NRI partners have invested over $250 million in over 300 pioneering research projects innovating robots to enhance human safety, productivity, and independence.
NSF remains committed to supporting and growing a thriving robotics research community. The Foundational Research in Robotics, or FRR, program will now provide a single home for foundational research in robotics across NSF. FRR welcomes proposals on a broad spectrum of foundational research in robotics, including the topics of collaborative robotics and integration in robotics that were previously supported by NRI.
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UIDP webinar and Q&A on NSF Gen-4 Engineering Research Centers |
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10-11 a.m.
Monday, June 27
The National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center, or ERC, program supports convergent research that will lead to strong societal impact. This webinar will present information and best practices, as well as provide an opportunity for robust Q&A in support of the current NSF Engineering Research Center NSF 22-580 solicitation. The live Q&A with the seven-member NSF ERC program director team will address themes of interest to ERC principal investigator teams as well as the all-important industry/stakeholder community that collaborate with these ERCs. The awards for each new ERC amount to well over $50 million over a decade in support of themes that have the potential for societal impact, translation to the marketplace, and are centered around a systems engineering approach.
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Fulbright UK University Virtual Exhibition |
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Tuesday, June 28
Noon-2 p.m.
On June 28, the U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission is hosting the first virtual U.K. University Exhibition.
Fulbright Scholar liaisons, program advisors and prospective applicants from across the U.S. are invited to join and connect with representatives from U.K. universities, and those looking to build research ties across the pond.
You can visit virtual booths to meet Fulbright partner universities from across the U.K., ask questions, and forge connections with representatives.
There will be a series of presentations throughout the event to help attendees find the best fit for their academic and cultural pursuits. The themes include:
- Studying in different regions of the U.K.
- Student life in the U.K.
- Navigating UK higher education and academia.
- Discipline-specific panels — STEM, social sciences, humanities, arts.
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K-State research in the news |
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Agency news and trending topics |
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As Earth's climate continues to warm, researchers predict that wild animals will be forced to relocate their habitats -- likely to regions with large human populations -- dramatically increasing the risk of a viral jump to humans that could lead to the next pandemic. NSF
Innovations in nanotechnology can help safeguard food security and protect the public from pathogens in food, water and the environment. With support from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), researchers at Land-grant Universities are working together to develop nanotechnology that can be used to detect pathogens, develop vaccines, target drug delivery, create antimicrobial packaging, purify water, combat antimicrobial resistance and more. USDA NIFA
The blind peer-review process has long been a hallmark of academic research. Blind review ensures that research is evaluated based on the merits of the work, not the individuals who did the work. In theory, this results in better-quality research and mitigates the impacts of bias and gatekeeping in academic publishing. In reality, however, blind review can facilitate the perpetuation of institutional discrimination by turning a blind eye to the identities of those whose work is disseminated and the agendas of their institutions. Inside Higher Ed
Now — as the world faces challenges such as preparing for future pandemics and the worsening impacts of climate change — our present moment is defined by the urgent need improve equity, according to Alondra Nelson, acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. National Academies
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Open positions in the OVPR |
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The Office of the Vice President for Research currently has several position openings. Please take a look or share with others who might be interested.
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k-state.edu/research
researchweekly@k-state.edu
785.532.5110
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