Research Round-Up
Research Round-Up is a communication devoted to sharing information related to open funding opportunities and research administration procedures.
For additional information on deadlines, processes and procedures, please instead see our Sponsored Programs Support Services webpage.
Friendly Reminder: Proposal Request Form
Individuals serving as principal investigator on a CEHS-led proposal or co-investigator/collaborator on a grant proposal led by another college or external organization must submit a Proposal Request Form a minimum of 4 weeks prior to the proposal due date. Doing so ensures the timely routing of your proposal for review and approval by College administration, Central Sponsored Programs Administration (formerly known as University Research Services), Grants & Contracts Financial Administration, and, if required, University Research Compliance.
Please address any questions or concerns regarding the information contained below to the CEHS Sponsored Programs team: Kayley Watson (Kayley.Watson@okstate.edu), Samar Abid (SamarAA@okstate.edu), or Erin Brown (Erin.Brown10@okstate.edu).
Tip of the Month
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CEHS Process for MOUs, MOAs, Affiliation/Internship Agreements, Academic/Non-Financial
Agreements, etc.
Any agreement with an external entity (examples given above) needs to be submitted to the CEHS Sponsored Programs staff for review and instruction on how to proceed, prior to being signed by either party. There are two primary paths the agreement can take for review:
- Generally, for any agreement that involves research and/or a sponsored award/financial compensation, the Sponsored Programs staff will gather information from you in order to submit
the agreement draft to the Vice President for Research’s Contract Review Specialists.
The specialists and the SP staff will then work with the necessary parties to negotiate
and confirm terms/conditions.
- In the case of NON-financial research agreements, once approved, the SP staff will send the agreement for signature by our Authorized Official, Kenneth W. Sewell.
- In the case of financial agreements (whether research-related or not), the relevant documents must be approved and signed through the Cayuse routing process. Your SP staff will instruct you appropriately based on the situation.
- Generally, for any agreement not involving research or financial compensation, the Sponsored Programs staff will gather information from you to submit the agreement draft to the OSU Office of Legal Counsel for their review. The legal office and SP staff will then work with the necessary parties to negotiate and confirm terms/conditions. Once approved by both parties, the SP staff will send the agreement for signature by the Provost/Senior Vice President, Jeannete Mendez.
The agreement review process can take anywhere from 1-4 months, depending on the nature of the agreement and whether certain terms (Intellectual Property, Export Controls, etc.) are involved. It is very important to begin working with us with as much advance notice as possible. Using previously approved templates will significantly expedite the process.
Takeaway: To ensure that proper procedure is always followed, please always use the CEHS Sponsored Programs office as the FIRST point of contact related to your agreements.
- Generally, for any agreement that involves research and/or a sponsored award/financial compensation, the Sponsored Programs staff will gather information from you in order to submit
the agreement draft to the Vice President for Research’s Contract Review Specialists.
The specialists and the SP staff will then work with the necessary parties to negotiate
and confirm terms/conditions.
For Your Information
- OSU Webpage for Guidance and News Related to Recent Executive Orders and Federal Actions
OSU’s Vice President for Research office has crafted a web page that includes internal communication, as well as helpful resource information from national associations (e.g., APLU’s Council on Research; Council on Government Relations) regarding the recent executive orders (and rescinding these orders).
https://research.okstate.edu/faculty-resources/guidance-executive-orders.html
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OSU announces Promoting Research Excellence workshop series
Oklahoma State University faculty eager to boost their research success now have a new opportunity for professional growth — a workshop series designed to enhance their skills and impact.
In partnership with the OSU Library, the Division of the Vice President for Research is launching “Promoting Research Excellence”.
From the initial idea to publishing final results, researchers can experience challenges at any stage of the research process. This educational series is focused on offering guidance on best practices to maintain ethical and high-quality practices at every stage.
Conducted monthly in a virtual format, the PRE-workshops will provide education and training on various research topics, including data management (How to Write a Good Data Management Plan for a Grant Application), effective research collaboration (How to Avoid Authorship Disputes), articulating scholarly impact (How to Identify a Suitable Journal for Publication and Is Open Science a Friend or Foe?), ethical use of generative AI (Ethical Uses of Generative AI to Support Your Research), and research safety for early career faculty and graduate students (Safety Issues in Research – Safeguarding Individuals, Teams and Projects).
Offered throughout the academic year, these Zoom sessions will not be recorded and are available for faculty and graduate students.
Register using the links below!
PRE Spring 2025 workshop series
Thursday, March 13: 3 p.m.
Publishing with Purpose: Choosing the Right Journal for Your ResearchThursday, April 17: 3 p.m.
Oops-Proof Your Data: Security and Backup 101Thursday, May 1: 3 p.m.
The Research Ecosystem: Dysfunction and Reform -
OSU now has Pivot, a funding opportunity search engine!
OSU has secured an institutional license for Pivot-RP by Clarivate, a human-curated search engine with thousands of external funding opportunities across all disciplines (including grants, fellowships, prizes/awards, travel funds, and more). See: https://clarivate.com/academia-government/
Anyone with an 'okstate.edu' email address (faculty, students, and staff) can create an account and access it. Pivot-RP includes opportunities for researchers and artists at all levels (i.e., undergraduate students through those with established careers). Pivot-RP allows for browsing and filtering opportunity lists, as well as creating customized keyword-based searches for opportunities sent automatically to your email Inbox weekly.
Please go to https://Pivot.proquest.com and click the “Create account” option, selecting “Use Email Address/Create Password” which provides access to Pivot-RP. Please use your 'okstate.edu' email address. You can log in from anywhere, no VPN is required. Additional information and resources for using Pivot-RP can be found here.
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New Mileage Reimbursement Rate for 2025
The IRS announced an increase in the mileage reimbursement rate effective Jan. 1, 2025, to $0.70 per mile. This is an increase from the $0.67 IRS rate for 2024 (refer to Internal Revenue Notice 2024-312 released Dec. 19, 2024). All state agencies may use the IRS rate for travel incurred on and after Jan. 1, 2025.
The AIRS system will be programmed so that trips occurring on or after Jan. 1, 2025 will automatically apply the correct mileage rate.
Funding Opportunities
- LIMITED SUBMISSION: NSF: EPSCoR Graduate Fellowship Program (EGFP) FY26
https://okstate.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1966803
Internal Submission Deadline: Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Funding Organization's Deadline: Monday, June 2, 2025
NSF Solicitation: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/egfp-nsf-epscor-graduate-fellowship-program
IMPORTANT NOTE for INTERNAL COMPETITION: We expect that the selected PI (from our internal competition) will work very closely with the OSU Graduate College, specifically Dr. Carol Powers (asst dean), to develop the full proposal submission for this funding opportunity.
The NSF EPSCoR Graduate Fellowship Program (EGFP) provides an opportunity for applicants who received the distinction of GRFP Honorable Mention no more than three years before the proposal due date to be named NSF EPSCoR Graduate Fellows and obtain financial support for their graduate education at an institution in an EPSCoR jurisdiction. EGFP aims to enhance the capacity and competitiveness of EPSCoR jurisdictions by providing funding to graduate degree-awarding institutions to support NSF EPSCoR Graduate Fellows as they pursue graduate degrees in the disciplines specified by the NSF Directorates and Office that are participating in the EGFP funding program. Fellows may pursue degrees in field that differ from the field or sub-field of study that the GRFP Honorable Mention recipients previously listed in their GRFP application.
EGFP awards will be made to institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions. Awards will provide three years of stipend and associated cost-of-education allowance for each NSF EPSCoR Graduate Fellow. Stipends must be budgeted at the level of $37,000 per year per Fellow and cost-of-education allowances must be budgeted at the level of $16,000 per year per Fellow. A total of three years of support must be budgeted per Fellow. Each Fellow must be given up to five years to utilize the support. Awardees will administer the awards such that the Fellows receive the full stipend amount and the institution retains the full cost-of-education allowance during the three years that each Fellow receives support. All submissions must request support for a minimum of three Fellows.
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LIMITED SUBMISSION: Hamm Institute for American Energy -FY26 Grant Program
https://okstate.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1964217
Internal Submission Deadline: Tuesday, April 1, 2025
The Hamm Institute for American Energy believes that the future of energy is interdisciplinary and collaborative. The energy challenges facing the world are too big and too complex for any one researcher, one discipline or one institution to solve. There will be three different funding opportunities outlined below.
- Planning Grants. The Hamm Institute will award four one-year planning grants up to $25K. These planning grants provide the funding necessary for preparing a proposal.
- Seed Grants. The Hamm Institute will award four seed grants up to - $25K to annually support projects over two to three years.
- $100,000 Gamechanger Grant. The Hamm Institute plans to award one annual $100,000 project grant to sustain projects on the cusp of external investment or uniquely aligned with Hamm Institute goals.
ELIGIBILITY
These awards are open to all faculty members at Oklahoma State University. Group applications will be accepted and are encouraged. If unsure of your eligibility, contact Associate Vice President for Research, Dr. Christine Johnson, for clarification prior to applying.
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[Robert Wood Johnson Foundation] Systems for Action: Community-Led Systems Research
to Address Systemic Racism
DEADLINE: June 4, 2025
This 2025 call for proposals (CFP) will provide funding for a new cohort of community-led pilot studies to produce new, actionable evidence about how to help medical, social, and public health systems work together to address forms of systemic racism. This CFP focuses specifically on systems alignment (SA) interventions that have the potential to dismantle or disrupt the health effects of systemic racism and to positively affect the health and wellbeing of communities that experience systemic racism. S4A prioritizes SA interventions that, if successful, can be rapidly replicated and spread to many communities and contexts across the U.S. in order to achieve broad national impact.
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[American Heart Association] Pilot Grants to Explore the Use of the AHA Protein Binding
Atlas to Discover Novel Protein Interactions
https://professional.heart.org/en/research-programs/aha-funding-opportunities/protein-atlas
DEADLINE: May 1, 2025
Informational Webinar: Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 11 am - 12 pm CST Register here
The AHA Protein Binding Atlas was established through a cooperative research and development agreement between the AHA and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Its objective is to combine world-class technology and high-impact biology to develop a comprehensive reference atlas of cell-protein targets to accelerate and hone drug discovery. The AHA Protein Binding Atlas leverages the world-class high performance computing power of LLNL and machine learning algorithms for protein-molecule binding predictions to refine and accelerate candidate drug selection for clinical development. The Protein Binding Atlas consists of approximately two million small molecules fully simulated against nearly 15,000 proteins to model binding predictions. The Atlas is a static database of in-silico calculations of protein-ligand interactions, as well as supplemental information for proteins and ligands, intended to provide insight into drug-candidate molecules regarding on-target interactions and off-target interactions.
This request for proposals (RFP) is to solicit applications for innovative pilot projects aimed at predicting and understanding protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions involved in key biological processes associated with cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic diseases, including obesity. Applicants are encouraged to utilize the AHA Protein Portal in their proposals -
[Spencer Foundation] Research Grants on Education: Small
https://www.spencer.org/grant_types/small-research-grant
Applications Open: Mid-February, 2025
Full Proposal Deadline: Mid-April, 2025
The Small Research Grants on Education Program supports education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived, with budgets up to $50,000 for projects ranging from one to five years. We accept applications three times per year.
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.
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[National Science Foundation] Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Education Organizational Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed OPRF)
DEADLINE: April 25, 2025
The Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed PRF) Program funds postdoctoral fellowship projects designed to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of STEM Education research by recent doctoral graduates in STEM, STEM Education, Education, and related disciplines. This solicitation supports organizational postdoctoral fellowship projects; a companion solicitation (STEM Ed IPRF) supports individual postdoctoral fellowship awards. The Program is designed to broaden the pool of researchers who can advance knowledge regarding STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development. Principal Investigators who are women, veterans, persons with disabilities, and from groups underrepresented in STEM, or who have attended community colleges and minority-serving institutions (e.g. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Alaska Native Serving Institutions, and Hawaiian Native and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions) are especially encouraged to apply.
STEM Ed OPRF awards provide support to organizations as they develop a STEM education postdoctoral research fellowship project and support a cohort of fellows. The program should enable fellows to engage in ongoing research, to develop independent research, and to implement an independent professional development plan under the guidance of a sponsoring researcher. Fellows are expected to devote themselves full time to the fellowship activities for the duration of the fellowship.
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[National Science Foundation] Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Directorate
for STEM Education (IUSE: EDU)
DEADLINE: July 16, 2025
The National Science Foundation (NSF) plays a leadership role in developing and implementing efforts to enhance and improve STEM education in the United States. Through the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative, the agency continues to make a substantial commitment to the highest caliber undergraduate STEM education through a Foundation-wide framework of investments. The IUSE: EDU is a core NSF STEM education program that seeks to promote novel, creative, and transformative approaches to generating and using new knowledge about STEM teaching and learning to improve STEM education for undergraduate students. The program is open to application from all institutions of higher education and associated organizations. NSF places high value on educating students to be leaders and innovators in emerging and rapidly changing STEM fields as well as educating a scientifically literate public. In pursuit of this goal, IUSE: EDU supports projects that seek to bring recent advances in STEM knowledge into undergraduate education, that adapt, improve, and incorporate evidence-based practices into STEM teaching and learning, and that lay the groundwork for institutional improvement in STEM education. In addition to innovative work at the frontier of STEM education, this program also encourages replication of research studies at different types of institutions and with different student bodies to produce deeper knowledge about the effectiveness and transferability of findings.
IUSE: EDU also seeks to support projects that have high potential for broader societal impacts, including improved diversity of students and instructors participating in STEM education, professional development for instructors to ensure adoption of new and effective pedagogical techniques that meet the changing needs of students, and projects that promote institutional partnerships for collaborative research and development. IUSE: EDU especially welcomes proposals that will pair well with the efforts of NSF INCLUDES (https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/nsfincludes/index.jsp) to develop STEM talent from all sectors and groups in our society.
For all the above objectives, the National Science Foundation invests primarily in evidence-based and knowledge-generating approaches to understand and improve STEM learning and learning environments, improve the diversity of STEM students and majors, and prepare STEM majors for the workforce. In addition to contributing to STEM education in the host institution(s), proposals should have the promise of adding more broadly to our understanding of effective teaching and learning practices.
The IUSE: EDU program features two tracks: (1) Engaged Student Learning and (2) Institutional and Community Transformation.
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[National Endowment for the Humanities] Humanities Initiatives at Colleges and Universities
https://www.neh.gov/program/humanities-initiatives-colleges-and-universities
Optional draft due: March 25, 2025
DEADLINE: May 6, 2025
These programs strengthen the teaching and study of the humanities at institutions of higher education by developing new or improving existing humanities programs, educational resources, or coursework.
Projects must address a core topic or focused set of themes drawn from humanities areas such as history, philosophy, religion, languages and literature, or humanities-informed composition and writing skills. Under Section 3(a) of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, “The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.”
The Humanities Initiatives programs support activities such as:
- Curriculum development
- developing and/or revising a set of courses (e.g., general education courses, honors courses or programs, capstone courses)
- creating teaching materials (e.g., course modules, readers, primary document collections, digital collections)
- planning and piloting a major, minor, or certificate program
- Student enrichment
- developing frameworks for sustainable humanities-focused internship programs
- creating ongoing opportunities for hands-on, place-based, or experiential learning
- designing programs or curricular innovations that help students understand the relevance of humanities education and make connections between the humanities, careers, and students’ lives after college
- Faculty development
- constructing pedagogy or curriculum through shared reading programs, faculty workshops, or other professional learning activities
- organizing a series of guest speakers for faculty and community audiences
- Partnerships
- creating bridge programs or dual enrollment programs between high school and college, or between community colleges and four-year institutions
- collaborating with museums, libraries, or other community organizations to create classroom materials
- producing humanities programming for students and community members
- Curriculum development
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[Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood] Parenting Education, Early Childhood Welfare,
or Early Childhood Education and Play Grant
https://earlychildhoodfoundation.org/#program-guidelines
DEADLINE: May 31, 2025 (Letter of Intent)
The Foundation’s goal is to provide seed money to implement those imaginative proposals that exhibit the greatest chance of improving the lives of young children, on a national scale. Because of the Foundation’s limited funding capability, it seeks to maximize a grant's potential impact.
The Foundation provides funding in the following areas:
- Parenting Education: To help parents create nurturing environments for their children, we support programs that teach parents about developmental psychology, cultural child rearing differences, pedagogy, issues of health, prenatal care and diet, as well as programs which provide both cognitive and emotional support to parents.
- Early Childhood Welfare: Providing a safe and nurturing environment is essential as is imparting the skills of social living in a culturally diverse world. Therefore, the Foundation supports projects that seek to perfect child rearing practices and to identify models that can provide creative, caring environments in which all young children thrive.
- Early Childhood Education and Play: We seek to improve the quality of both early childhood teaching and learning, through the development of innovative curricula and research based pedagogical standards, as well as the design of imaginative play materials and learning environments.