Theme 1: Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities, and Discovery
Goal
Create a culture of excellence that results in flourishing, sustainable, and widely recognized research, scholarly and creative activities, and discovery in a variety of disciplines and endeavors that benefit society as a whole.
Strategic Action Plan (pdf)
Latest news
Activities and Accomplishments
- Total research expenditures grew 36% over the past decade – from $160.7M to a record high of nearly $218.6M in FY19. Our national ranking for this key university benchmark measure improved from 75th to 68th among public research universities.
- Researchers are actively competing for funding at unprecedented levels, resulting in more proposals submitted and more dollars awarded. Since launching K-State 2025, annual award dollars grew by 50%, from $137.4M in FY12 to $206.3M in FY21, and the university received nearly $1.6B in grant awards.
- The university was awarded a growing number of major prestigious multi-state, multi-institutional major grants with an international and interdisciplinary focus.
- As the only university in the country with four USAID Feed the Future Innovation Labs, K-State is a leader conducting cutting-edge research on critical global food challenges.
- The Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry was established to facilitate, increase and measure participation of undergraduates in meaningful research, scholarly and creative activities, and discovery, or RSCAD.
- Research faculty development was enhanced through a variety of initiatives, including annual visits of new faculty with granting agencies in Washington, D.C., and compliance training.
- Research visibility was raised through communication initiatives such as RSCAD Momentum, a weekly newsletter; an expanded research website; a social media presence; the launch of Seek, K-State's flagship research magazine; and research showcase events.
- To better support our researchers, research administration was modernized with major process improvements and systems development, including a proposal and awards electronic repository system, Cayuse SP; an electronic research compliance system, IRB Manager; an online compliance training system, CITI; Research and Discovery Activity Reporting, RADAR; and Research Information Security Enclave, RISE.
- Corporate sponsored research increased, with 159 projects totaling $8.5M in FY21. The university’s master agreements with strategic industry partners grew exponentially, from four master agreements in FY11 to 89 in FY21.
