Featured Opportunities

August 19, 2026

• The AAWU’s American Short-Term Research Publication Grants aim to increase the number of women in research, development, and academic leadership, and to promote gender equity across all spheres of research by providing funding to support women in preparing research manuscripts for publication. Grants are open to applicants in all fields of study, though those engaged in science, technology, engineering, and math fields, or those researching gender issues, are especially encouraged to apply. Established in 1888, AAUW American Fellowships are the oldest non-institutional source of graduate and postdoctoral funding for women in the United States.
• The purpose of the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) program is to provide funding to support new graduate (master’s, DVM, or doctoral) student training and completion of degree programs to develop human capital to participate in meeting the mission of the USDA to increase the pipeline of domestic agricultural students. The NNF program offers funding for eligible full-time students pursuing graduate studies at the master’s, DVM, or doctoral levels within the food and agricultural sciences. Fellows must be new graduate students and citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States. Awards made by the NNF program are specifically intended to support graduate programs that engage outstanding students to pursue and complete their degrees in areas where there is a need for the development of scientific and professional expertise in the food and agricultural sciences.
• The Met’s Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art is the only center for scholarship on modern art located in an encyclopedic museum. Each year, the Research Center offers four Fellowships: 1) a two-year Pre-Doctoral Fellowship; 2) a Post-Doctoral Fellowship, which may be one or two years in duration; 3) a one-year Mid-Career Fellowship for an established scholar with publication record commensurate with their career stage; and, 4) a one-year Non-Residential Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Fellowships with The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art offer an exceptional opportunity to conduct focused research on an independent project while contributing to the life of the Research Center. This program supports research on a wide range of modern visual art and projects are not expected to address the Museum’s collections. Nevertheless, fellows often discover works at The Met that are relevant to their research.
• The Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is requesting applications to its Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences (84.350B). Since 2004, IES has invested in training programs to prepare individuals to conduct rigorous and relevant education research that advances knowledge within the field and addresses issues important to education policymakers and practitioners. Through these programs, the National Center for Education Research (NCER) seeks to fund new approaches to train and mentor students and researchers to encourage their entry into and success within education research careers. These efforts seek to improve the quality of education research and encourage new ideas, approaches, and perspectives. For FY 2027, IES is competing the following training programs: 1) Early Career Development and Mentoring Program for Education Research and 2) Methods Training for Education Research.
• The National Science Foundation’s Earth Sciences program supports foundational research that advances understanding of Earth’s interior and surface processes, past and present. The program supports research on physical and chemical processes that shape the structure, dynamics and composition of the Earth, from its core to its crust. This includes research on tectonics and high-temperature processes. The program supports research on the interactions of hydrologic, geomorphic and geochemical processes in Earth's near-surface terrestrial environments, with a focus on water systems and landscape evolution. The program also supports research on processes that change Earth's life and environments through time. Projects can explore how these processes are reflected in the geologic record.
• The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) – Research Collaboration (RC) The aim of DEPSCoR is to improve the research capabilities at institutions of higher education (IHE) in eligible States/Territories to perform competitive basic research in science and engineering that is relevant to the DoD mission and reflect national security priorities. This funding opportunity aims to create basic research collaborations between a pair of researchers, namely 1) Applicant/Principal Investigator (PI), henceforth referred to as Applicant, a full-time faculty member who has never served as a PI on a prior DoD directly funded research Prime award; and 2) Collaborator/co-Principal Investigator (co-PI), henceforth referred to as Collaborator, an investigator who will provide mentorship to the Applicant and has served as a PI on a DoD directly funded research Prime award actively between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2026. This structure is aimed at introducing potential applicants to the DoD’s unique research challenges and its supportive research ecosystem. Only one Applicant/Principal Investigator and one Collaborator/co-PI are allowed per application. There are no institutional limits on the number of proposals K-State can submit.
• More than a decade ago, the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (NSF CISE) established the Expeditions in Computing (Expeditions) program to provide the NSF CISE research community with the opportunity to pursue ambitious, foundational research agendas that promise to define the future of computing and information. Investigators are strongly encouraged to come together within or across departments or institutions to identify compelling, transformative research agendas that look ahead by at least a decade and promise disruptive innovations in computer and information science and engineering for the years ahead. Expeditions may advance a range of areas including, but not limited to, fundamentally new architectures for intelligence and the hardware and compute substrates that make them possible; rigorous physical and mathematical theories of how systems learn, generalize, and can be interpreted; neuroscience-inspired approaches to learning, memory, reasoning, and behavioral steering; intelligence embodied in the physical world through general physical intelligence, advanced robotics hardware, and novel architectures and learning paradigms for embodied systems; transformative approaches to next generation communication and networking; and high-risk, high-reward areas that no single discipline could pursue alone.
• The National Science Foundation’s Life and Environments Through Time (LET) program supports research that advances knowledge about the patterns and processes relating to the origin and evolution of Earth’s climate, environments, life, and sedimentary record. This research takes place at the molecular, local, regional, and global scales from the Archean Eon through the Holocene epoch. LET-supported research can be useful for predicting and planning for future global change, and for the maintenance and security of ecosystem services and human societies. LET projects address research questions by integrating geobiology, geochemistry, paleobiology, paleoecology, sedimentology, and sedimentary geology archives, proxies, techniques, and concepts. LET welcomes projects that challenge the conceptual bases, have broad implications, and inform future research directions on these disciplines.
• The National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Engineering (ENG): Chemical, Bioengineering, Energy, and Transport Systems (CBET) solicitation supports foundational engineering research that involves the transformation and/or transport of matter and energy by chemical, thermal, or mechanical means. Through ENG: CBET, the physical, chemical, and biological sciences are integrated in foundational engineering discoveries. The investment delivers the chemical and process engineering that turns laboratory breakthroughs into scalable methods for U.S. industry to grow domestic production in semiconductors, advanced materials, biotechnology, and energy systems. ENG: CBET investments leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to solve challenging problems in fluid dynamics, chemical process control, advanced materials, synthetic and engineering biology, and energy management. The solicitation promotes the use of AI as an instrument for discovery when scientifically appropriate, in areas such as quantum biosensors, biomanufacturing, chemical and bioreactor design, and multiphase flow systems that support nuclear technologies.
• The National Science Foundation’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program serves a critical role in helping the Directorate for Engineering focus on important emerging areas in a timely way. The EFRI program invests in potentially transformative ideas that offer the opportunity for significant shifts in foundational engineering knowledge. The EFRI Wave-Based Computing (WBC) solicitation will support foundational and transformative research to advance the development of computing approaches that harness the principles of wave dynamics. The EFRI WBC solicitation will support two tracks: 1) Track 1: Exploratory approaches may be funded through EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) awards and 2) Track 2: Larger, multidisciplinary projects may be funded through four-year awards of up to $2,000,000. The EFRI WBC program encourages collaboration with industry. Proposers may consider using a formal mechanism, such as NSF Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI).
• The Department of Health and Human Services, NIH’s Enhancing Mechanistic Research on Precision Probiotic Therapies (R61/R33) NOFO supports highly innovative mechanistic research to accelerate the development of effective precision probiotic interventions using a milestone-driven, biphasic award mechanism. It aims to identify, understand, and develop strategies to address barriers in precision probiotic interventions to account for the heterogeneity in humans that often causes inconsistent probiotic therapeutic responses. Specifically, this NOFO solicits applications that will characterize person-specific features affecting probiotic responses to identify subgroups of probiotic responders, which may then help enhance probiotic clinical outcomes. The first phase, funded by the R61 mechanism, will provide 1 or 2 years of support to identify host biological patterns (e.g., native microbiome, immune system, sex, diet, age, genetic background, lifestyle, or health history) that are correlated with differences in probiotic clinical effects using observational or secondary data analysis studies. The second phase, funded under the R33 mechanism, will support studies to assess the causality of the factors identified in the R61 phase that impact probiotic responsiveness through rigorous mechanistic study designs in animal models or human subjects. This NOFO will not support efficacy or effectiveness clinical trials.
• A Private Company via Halo is looking for functional ingredients or ingredient-based technologies that have demonstrated or are scientifically expected to deliver meaningful healthy-weight benefits in humans, other animals, or in vitro systems. Relevant effects may include appetite or satiety support, improved body condition, fat loss with lean-mass maintenance, or increased activity. Their goal is to adapt suitable solutions for incorporation into a range of pet diets, including wet food, dry food, and treats, while fitting seamlessly into a pet’s normal feeding routine. Although pet-specific clinical validation is not required at this stage, proposals should provide credible supporting evidence or a strong scientific rationale justifying further evaluation in companion animals. Solutions of interest include: 1) Novel active ingredients that support healthy body condition, weight maintenance, or weight reduction; 2) Actives promoting appetite control, satiety, or reduced food-seeking behavior; 3) Solutions that promote fat loss while maintaining lean muscle mass; 4) Ingredients that support energy expenditure, metabolic efficiency, or nutrient partitioning; 5) Bioactive compounds that enhance physical activity, mobility, or other factors associated with healthy weight maintenance; 6) Ingredients that influence GLP-1 signaling or other physiological pathways related to appetite, satiety, energy balance, or nutrient utilization; 7) Probiotics, postbiotics, synbiotics, microbial metabolites, or other microbiome-derived solutions; and 8) Other innovative ingredient-based approaches that deliver measurable benefits aligned with the healthy-weight challenge
• The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences (NSF BIO) Core Research in Biological Sciences (BIO Core) funding opportunity supports foundational and interdisciplinary research projects that expand knowledge of biology at any level of organization, from the molecular to the biome scale. They accept proposals that cover scientific topics associated with legacy programs historically supported by NSF BIO and proposals that explore new areas of biological sciences. BIO Core funds single- and multi-investigator awards. The portfolio of awards is anticipated to include a range of budgets and durations, including exploratory projects of smaller scope and long-horizon projects that benefit from longer-term commitment. BIO Core awards are subject to the availability of funds. The first step in submitting through the BIO Core, which has open deadlines, is to identify which of the three new organizational units that have replaced the former Divisions is the best fit for your work. These thematic units/areas are: Foundations of Life (FL); Living Systems (LS); and Bioinnovation and Infrastructure (BI).
• The Department of Health and Human Services, NIH, Office of Research Infrastructure Programs’ (ORIP) Development of Collaborative Research Facilities or Research-Resource Facilities (C06) NOFO supports two existing construction programs: the Biomedical Research Facilities (BRF) program and the HIV/AIDS Research Facilities (HRF) program. The former program solicits applications from eligible higher education and research institutions to construct new or modernize existing shared-use research facilities. Appropriate facilities include but are not limited to: institution-wide multidisciplinary collaborative research spaces, core laboratories, state-of-the-art facilities to house advanced technologies such as imaging centers, biorepositories, and other shared-use facilities that support emerging new approach methodologies or human-based research technologies. Additionally, these facilities can play a crucial role in advancing implementation science by providing the physical infrastructure necessary to develop, test, refine, and scale evidence-based interventions, ensuring their effective integration into real-world applications. Facilities that solely or primarily focus on supporting animal research or animal care activities are not among the priorities of this NOFO. The HRF program supports the development or modernization of shared-use research facilities that the supported research must align with the HIV/AIDS research priorities established by the NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR). These facilities are expected to strengthen a sustainable infrastructure that enables cutting-edge, collaborative biomedical and behavioral HIV/AIDS research, enhances preservation and advancement of critical HIV/AIDS research resources, and offers robust training opportunities to foster the next generation of HIV/AIDS researchers. This is a limited submission. If you are interested in applying to this program, you must notify (working title, team list, short synopsis of the construction/modernization project you want to propose) the Office of Research Development by 5 pm September 25, 2026 via ordlimitedsubs@ksu.edu.