Theme 4: Drive Transformational Discovery, Innovation and Scholarship
We will transform how we carry out the research mission in an integrated, interdisciplinary way. This transformation will sharpen focus areas and culture while strategically building capacity through structures, resources and people. Internal research development programs will be coordinated, core facilities will be strengthened, and strategic constellation and cluster hiring will support the full continuum of research from discovery through commercialization.
K-State will build on its historic strength in world-class innovation and scholarship by redefining our culture of discovery with our land-grant mission at the forefront and leaning into our status as the only university in Kansas with a presence in all 105 counties.
To do so, we must establish a clear research agenda aligned with our K-State Opportunity Agenda that leverages our core disciplinary strengths, advances interdisciplinary approaches through both basic and applied research, and accelerates the growth of the research enterprise in new and unprecedented ways. K-State will implement a coordinated internal funding pipeline — including seed funding, support for scored-but-unfunded proposals, interdisciplinary seed grants and an expanded Pathway to Commercialization program — to move ideas from proof of concept through preliminary data generation, team formation, extramural funding support, and ultimately to new products and services. Early-career faculty will be supported in their disciplinary development so they can become future research leaders and catalysts for both disciplinary and interdisciplinary discovery. These efforts will align with strategically funded constellation and cluster hires in biomanufacturing, grain sciences, food as medicine, the Kansas Water Institute, and nuclear engineering to build critical mass in Opportunity Agenda priority areas.
As a comprehensive university, K-State will recognize and elevate discovery, innovation, and scholarship across the entire institution — including creative endeavors in the arts and humanities that may not generate the same level of external funding but deliver equally valuable impact for the university, its communities, and the world. Internal programs such as the DASH Awards (Design, Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences) will be expanded and sustained, and the HEART (Humanities, Education, and Arts Research Travel) Award program will be established to provide competitive grants and travel support for disciplines underserved by traditional external funding. These programs ensure all faculty have meaningful pathways to scholarship support and will help surface collaborators and ideas from these disciplines for major interdisciplinary proposals.
K-State must also build environments, facilities, structures and resources that support large-scale, interdisciplinary scholarship. This includes more efficiently coordinating and elevating these activities across our institution, leveraging our existing footprint, providing robust pre- and post-award support for large-scale grants, spurring technology transfer and commercialization of the intellectual property our faculty develop, and growing the talented research workforce that enables this work.
K-State will invest in consolidated core research facilities and associated staff — including the Biosecurity Research Institute, Biomedical Core Facility, Materials Characterization Core, Biomanufacturing Core and Training Facility, and Integrated Genomics Facility — with dedicated operating, equipment and renovation funds, supplemented by targeted infrastructure investments in renovations and new construction to modernize research spaces. These platforms will lower the cost and risk of advanced research and development, make it easier for Kansas industry partners to collaborate with K-State, retain high-value research talent in-state, and convert federal and private research dollars into technologies, startups, and high-wage jobs. Faculty, graduate student, and staff capacity will expand commensurate with 2030 research targets, using approaches such as cluster hires aligned with the K-State Opportunity Agenda to attract and retain talent in areas central to future success.
Ultimately, K-State will be the partner of choice for organizations seeking to amplify their vision and resources through university talent, research collaboration and statewide connections.
The Agriculture Innovation Initiative, a $210 million public-private partnership project, is delivering a suite of purpose-built facilities designed for interdisciplinary collaboration: the L. Eldon Gideon Agronomy Research and Innovation Complex; the Western Star Global Grain and Food Center connecting animal, food and grain science programs; the Weber and Call Hall renovations for animal sciences; and the Bilbrey Family Event Center for equine and livestock teaching and Extension, which celebrated its ribbon cutting in October 2025. These new facilities are platforms for the kind of public-private partnership and cross-disciplinary discovery that defines the next-generation land-grant university, and drives innovation that strengthens Kansas agriculture, rural communities and the global food system.
No university in the country is better positioned to lead biosecurity research than K-State. The Biosecurity Research Institute, or BRI, operates at biosafety level BSL-3 standards. It is one of the few facilities in the world capable of large-animal biocontainment research involving cattle, swine and sheep. Immediately adjacent sits the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, a $1.25 billion USDA investment and the first facility in the U.S. with BSL-4 containment for large livestock, chosen because of K-State’s biosecurity infrastructure and expertise. The $130 million investment in a new Kansas Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory enhances the hub within Manhattan and adds to the KC BioHub the state's only public veterinary diagnostics lab and a member of the USDA's National Animal Health Laboratory Network. The modernized facility will link diagnostic surveillance, BRI’s applied research, and NBAF’s highest-containment science into a unified campus ecosystem.
That ecosystem is further strengthened by the Biomanufacturing Core and Training Facility, which is currently being renovated at the BIVAP facility. Designed to support corporate partners in advancing diagnostics, prophylactics and therapeutic countermeasures for infectious animal diseases, it provides the capability for full-scale biomanufacturing of multiple products and extends K-State’s role from detection and research into development and scale-up. This integrated biosecurity and biomanufacturing ecosystem positions Kansas as a first responder to emerging animal disease threats and as a preferred partner for federal agencies and global industry, protecting Kansas agriculture, national food security and global biosafety.
To accelerate commercialization, the Kansas State University Research Foundation, or KSURF, has been restructured into a more proactive commercialization arm, with new leadership focused on translating faculty discoveries into startups, industry partnerships, and statewide economic growth. KSURF is launching the Wildcat Innovation Network, which pairs early-stage K-State teams with experienced alumni, industry leaders and investors to help translate research and ideas into viable startups that change the world. Together, the restructured KSURF and strengthened corporate engagement functions demonstrate that K-State is open for business and committed to becoming a leading innovation hub that tightly connects academic research with real-world applications.
Research intelligence and proposal support tools already helping faculty identify funding opportunities, map collaborators and track emerging research trends. The planned launch of Atom Grants in August 2026 will further strengthen grantsmanship capacity through AI-enabled grant discovery, opportunity matching and workflow tools that reduce administrative burden and improve submission competitiveness across all disciplines and career stages.