Research

Minority Serving Institutions

More and more funding agencies are requesting collaboration with minority serving institutions to provide opportunities for their students and professional and infrastructure development for their faculty and programs. Through our Graduate School's recruitment activities and programs such as K-INBRE, EPSCoR, and Pathways to STEM: Kansas Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, K-State has developed relationships with several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSIs), and Indian Tribal/Serving Institutions. The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs can help introduce you to the appropriate contacts at these institutions. Note that for reviewers to believe that such institutions are true collaborators on a proposed grant request, they must be included in the proposal budget and they must take part in the research and/or educational programs proposed. Some examples of possible activities include the following.

  • Develop a summer research experience program for one or more students from the collaborating minority institution on an aspect of your proposed research. To make such program attractive, the stipend for minority students often needs to be higher than is typically the case since it must offset what they would make if they were to work for the summer.

  • Offer summer salary and accommodations for one or more faculty members from the minority institution who are interested in being included in your research. These individuals could be visiting professors for the summer at one of the universities that will be participating in the proposed research. This is similar to Research Experiences for Teachers programs offered by several agencies. A stated goal could be the development of a grant proposal by the mentored faculty member to continue the research at his/her home institution.

  • Develop a research project that the Minority Institution PI can use in his or her classroom that can be expanded into a summer research project either at the Minority Institution or at one of the other participating institutions.

  • Purchase equipment related to your research that will help build the infrastructure of the Minority Institution and allow its PI and students to conduct research related to your project.

  • Agree to seminars or guest lectures at the minority institution, in part as an educational activity and in part as a graduate student recruitment activity. (Note this activity alone is not enough to be viewed favorably by reviewers.)

  • Work with the Minority Institution to develop an educational program that would benefit it as well as meet the educational goals of your project.

For more information, contact Mary Lou Marino at 785-532-3211 or mlmarino@ksu.edu.