The ORSP Update
April 2025
Our monthly newsletter highlights opportunities, awards, and events through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
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Topic List
Announcements
Join us for Research and Creative Activity Day this Friday, April 4th, in Sykes Student Union!
This day highlights student, faculty, and administrator research from all academic disciplines across our campus community. Also, check out our two new events: the Interdisciplinary Faculty Panel and the Faculty/Student Research Connection! See the event schedule below for more information.
NEW: Student Research Hubs
This all-new resource for students is a one-stop-shop for information about the events, funding, publication, IRB, etc. CLICK HERE to view the Undergraduate Student Research Hub and CLICK HERE to view the Graduate Student Research Hub. This is an excellent resource to share with students interested in, or currently conducting, research and creative activity.
Professional Development Opportunity: DREAM
DREAM is an AY-long professional development program for tenure-track/tenured faculty who are interested in becoming principal investigators of externally funded projects. Training will include best practices to identify funding opportunities, to build collaborations across disciplines and institutions, to communicate with a sponsor’s program officer, to write a grant proposal, and to ensure compliance with responsible conduct of research policies. In addition to the training, each participant will identify a professional mentor who will provide advice related to expanding the participants’ research and scholarly portfolios by developing funding proposals, executing sponsored research projects, and publishing results in peer‐ reviewed publications. Applications for DREAM will be announced on Tuesday, April 15th. Any questions? Email Catherine Spaur at CSpaur@wcupa.edu.
NEW DATE: Grant Funding 201 Workshop
The Grant Funding 201 Workshop webinar has been moved to 04/21/2025! Click here and register to attend. See the flyer below for more information.
Congratulations Dr. Beatrice Adera
Congratulations Professor Beatrice Adera on being selected to work with Jaramogi Oginga
Odinga University of Science and Technology [JOOUST] in Kenya! Click here to view the press release announcement and learn more about her collaborative project titled Capacity Building to Enhance
Disability Inclusion and Support for Students with Disabilities. We look forward to
hearing about how this project makes a difference in the lives of students with disabilities
in Kenya.
IRB Q&A Drop-In Sessions
The Spring 2025 schedule for the IRB Q&A drop-in sessions is here! Drop in at any time during the scheduled times to ak your application questions. Click here for more information!Want your research to be highlighted?
Submit your research story here! Follow us on Instagram to support our office and stay involved with WCU’s research community. Click here to view!
Listen to ORSP's Podcast
Check out ORSP's new podcast, “Faculty Podcasts”! We currently have two episodes available on Spotify: “Connect and Conquer: The Power of Conversations with your Program Officer” and “Student Engagement in Research and Creative Activity”. Click here to tune in to these insightful conversations with our faculty guests. Click here to listen on Spotify!
Faculty Spotlight
ORSP is delighted to put the research spotlight on Dr. Tom Kwiatkowski’s (Assistant Professor of Chemistry) project:
“In an effort to improve student engagement and readiness for advanced chemistry labs, I have designed and am currently implementing a free General Chemistry lab manual for all CRL103 lab sections. This new manual follows a guided inquiry approach where students examine fundamental chemistry concepts through research-driven questions that align with lecture content. In addition to reinforcing lab skills, the manual introduces new, exciting labs that emphasize critical thinking. Housed on D2L, the manual provides real-time feedback on pre-lab quizzes, a designated prelab document with videos and pictures for each lab, and the customizability for our faculty to tailor the manual to their teaching style.”
Recently Awarded Grants
Simon Condliffe, CBPM: Center for Rural Pennsylvania - $35,560
* Grant currently being negotiated. Only primary PIs have been listed. Congratulations to all co-PIs on these projects!
Upcoming External Funding Opportunities
Arts & Humanities
05/07/2025: Publishing Historical Records in Collaborative Digital Editions FY 2026 - First Deadline
05/20/2025: Preservation and Access Education and Training
Health Sciences
05/26/2025: PA-25-169: Trailblazer Award for New and Early Stage Investigators (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)07/24/2025: Climate Change and Human Health Seed Grants
Science & Mathematics
05/01/2025: Fund for Wild Nature Grant
05/02/2025: Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Department of Defense Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI) Department of Defense Army05/15/2025: 3D Printer Grants
05/25/2025: Fiscal Year 2026 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)
05/26/2025: Alternatives Research & Development Foundation (ARDF) Annual Open Grant Program
06/30/2025: Solar Module and Solar Hardware (SMASH) Incubator
Education & Social Work
04/25/2025: William Penn Foundation - Early Childhood Education Program
05/14/2025: The Spencer Foundation: Research Grants on Education
Interdisciplinary Opportunities
05/01/2025: Diabetes Grant Program05/25/2025: Environment and Public Space - Reduce Environmental Burdens
Upcoming Student Opportunities
Research and Creative Activity Day
Join us this Friday, April 4th, in Sykes Student Union for our annual Research & Creative Activity Day! This day highlights student, faculty, and administrator research from all academic disciplines. There will be poster presentations, oral presentations and awards presented in each category. Also, don't miss our all-new event the Faculty/Student Research Connection! This event is an excellent opportunity to learn more about research and network with our campus community.
Research Internship: Machine Learning for Multimodal Image Segmentation
Internship opportunity for students currently pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or related fields. If postgraduate, degree must have been earned within the last two years of the appointment start date. For more information, click here.
NEW: Student Research Hubs
This resource includes information about the events, funding, publication, IRB, etc. CLICK HERE to view the Undergraduate Student Research Hub and CLICK HERE to view the Graduate Student Research Hub. This is an excellent resource to share with students interested in, or currently conducting, research and creative activity.
RAM Research Directory
Are you interested in research? Click here to use the RAM Research Directory to find a research mentor!
Save the Dates
04/04/2025: Research and Creative Activity Day. Join us from 9:30AM – 3:00PM in Sykes Ballrooms.
04/04/2025: SRCA Awards Ceremony. 2:30PM - 3:00PM in Sykes Ballroom A.
04/21/2025: NEW DATE! Grant Funding 201 Workshop. This webinar is hosted by McAllister & Quinn from 12:30PM - 2:00PM.
04/25/2025: Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI) Kickoff Event. 12:00PM - 1:30PM Sykes Ballrooms.