Kansas Water Institute projects

Funding opportunities from the Kansas Water Institute

The Kansas Water Institute is proud to support innovative research faculty from different universities in Kansas. Using funds awarded by USGS from the Water Resources Research Act, KWI supports projects that focus on high-priority water topics identified by the Kansas state water plan.

"Mini" call for proposals: Integrating interdisciplinary research with the KSU-Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) program

The Kansas Water Institute has issued a call for proposals to bring interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable food and agriculture production. This “mini” RFP will support interdisciplinary research to be overlaid and/or integrated into the newly-launched Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) Program. The institute will fund four proposals with a maximum budget of $25,000.

The KSU-TAPS program is an innovative, “citizen-science” approach that combines interactive learning with interdisciplinary research. The KSU-TAPS program invites Kansas producers to join a farm-management competition where they will make real-time decisions which will be implemented in replicated plots on the same field. The competition is structured to enable direct comparison and evaluation of each team’s production, efficiency, and economic outcomes.

Proposals are due May 3, 2024 and must be submitted online.

Water Resources Research Act, Section 104(b)

The Kansas Water Institute (KWI) will be accepting proposals for research grants under the Water Resources Research Act, Section 104(b). Funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Section 104(b) major goals are to foster research on water and related issues of importance to the state and region and to encourage the entry of students and early career scientists into the field of water resources.

Deadline for 2024 applications is 5 p.m., May 10, 2024.

KWI fosters research on the state’s highest priority water resource concerns, specifically the guiding principles of the Kansas Water Plan. Successful proposals will explore new ideas to address water problems in Kansas and expand understanding of water and related phenomena within the Kansas context.

Expected outputs include refereed scientific research publications. Graduate and undergraduate student training is highly encouraged.

The funding requests for this RFP are typically capped at $50,000 for a 2-year project and require a 1:1 match. The RFP typically funds four projects