At a glance

THRUST Awards

The goal of these awards is to strengthen resubmission efforts of externally reviewed but unfunded proposals by addressing reviewer comments and generating additional supporting data.

Program Design

• Five awards of $50,000 each per year; $250,000 total.
• At least two awards are available for proposals submitted in each cycle (October 1 and March 1), with the fifth award flexible and made in whichever cycle yields the stronger proposal on merit.
• Any uncommitted funds will roll over to the next RFP cycle.
• Resubmitted extramural proposals supported by Thrust funding must be at least five times the seed funding received. A $50,000 Thrust award requires a resubmitted proposal with at least $250,000 in direct costs.

Submission Guidelines

11 pt Times New Roman, 1-inch margins; 5-page limit for the program of work, including a budget and brief justification. Applications must include:

• Original proposal submitted to an external funding agency
• Agency's complete official review or summary statement
• Score (if applicable)
• A brief one-year program of work, based on the external proposal, detailing plans to address critiques, the resubmission strategy, and a timeline

The prior external submission must meet minimum agency review thresholds:

• NIH: the proposal was scored (not triaged).
• NSF: the proposal received average panel or ad hoc ratings of Good, Very Good, or Excellent.
• DOE: review contained "fund if possible" language, strong score (at least 4 out of 6 possible points), and PI demonstrates alignment with DOE and national lab priorities.
• USDA (NIFA/ARS): review includes language such as "high priority if additional funds available", "meritorious but not funded", or "recommended for funding".
• Other federal, state, or private sponsors: comparable evidence of competitive merit review, as determined by ORD.

Funding duration: 1 year with an optional no-cost extension of up to 1 additional year with justification and approval from the OVPR. Resubmission to the external agency is expected within 18 months of the project start date. PIs may request a one-year no-cost extension with justification and an updated resubmission timeline and budget; the final report is due 30 days after the extended end date, documenting the outcome of the resubmission and progress toward securing external funding.

Expected Outcome

Revised proposal resubmitted to the same or comparable external funding program.

Proposal Evaluation

ORD-convened reviewers score each proposal on a 1 to 5 scale (1 = Poor, 5 = Outstanding) across the criteria below, weighted as shown. Rubrics explicitly consider alignment with the Next-Gen K-State strategic plan and with published priorities of federal funding agencies.

Requirement: proposals must include a short paragraph explicitly titled "Agency Priority Alignment", citing the agency, program, and the specific strategic priority, topic area, or solicitation language the project is designed to address.

Reviewers verify that a full external review or summary statement is provided, that the agency review threshold is met, and that the proposed one-year program of work is carved out of the external proposal and clearly fills gaps identified in the prior review.

Thematic Scope of Calls for Proposals

• LAUNCH, THRUST, and ORBIT calls are open to all disciplines and to all four Opportunity Agenda areas.
• Each call may include non-binding guidance identifying areas ORD judges to have the highest probability of external funding success, including emerging federal priorities announced since the previous cycle. Such guidance is advisory. Proposals developed organically by faculty outside the highlighted areas are welcome and will be scored on the same rubric, so that innovation in unanticipated directions is not disadvantaged.
• Where a sponsor restricts funds to a defined area, that restriction is expressed through a designated award series rather than by narrowing the base competition.

Purpose

The Kansas State University (K-State) Ad Astra Intramural Grants Program is designed to advance the university's research mission by supporting faculty-driven initiatives that enhance competitiveness for external funding, foster interdisciplinary research collaboration, and promote innovation leading to commercialization. This program consolidates internal funding opportunities under a unified framework administered by the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR), through its Office of Research Development (ORD), and is funded in partnership with the One K-State Fund, through the Office of the President. The program aligns with the Next-Gen K-State strategic plan, particularly the Opportunity Agenda areas: community health and well-being, sustainability, global food security and biosecurity, and enabling technologies.

Two competitions per year, with proposals due October 1 and March 1, give faculty a predictable second opportunity to apply and allow the university to respond to high-risk, high-reward, time-sensitive federal opportunities. All Ad Astra competitions are at the university level. Proposals are solicited, reviewed, ranked, and awarded centrally by the OVPR.

Eligibility

• Only full-time K-State tenured or tenure-earning faculty members with a research component to their appointment are eligible to serve as Principal Investigators (PIs).
• Faculty with active, unexpended start-up funding must provide a detailed justification for why these funds are not available to be used to support the proposed program of research.
• Faculty reapplying for Ad Astra funds must demonstrate measurable success from any previous Ad Astra award, such as submission of an external grant proposal, receipt of external funding, peer-reviewed publications, or other verifiable research outcomes tied to the initial award.
• A PI may hold only one active Ad Astra award at a time and may submit to only one Ad Astra competition per cycle. Participation in a designated award series (see Designated Award Series below) does not count against this limit unless the sponsoring call states otherwise.
• Collaborative proposals involving multiple colleges or departments are encouraged where applicable to program goals and are required for ORBIT Awards.
• Applications must be certified by the Department Head and the college/unit Associate Dean for Research to confirm alignment with the faculty position responsibilities and goals and the unit's strategic plan.

Designated (Institute-Funded) Award Series

When intramural funds are provided by a specific initiative, institute, or restricted funding source, the same program prefix is used with a designator identifying the funding source or thematic area, for example LAUNCH-Energy, LAUNCH-Global Food Systems, THRUST-Water, or ORBIT-Biomanufacturing.

• There will not be Designated awards offered from each area every year.
• Designated awards are additive to, not carved out of, the base allocations for LAUNCH, THRUST, and ORBIT.
• Designated series follow this policy for nomenclature, review process, rubrics, and reporting. Award size, award count, eligibility restrictions, deadlines, and project periods are set by the sponsoring initiative and stated in its call for proposals.
• Where a sponsoring initiative operates its own review process, for example the Secure Energy Initiative seed funding competition with pre-proposals due October 1, 2026 and full proposals due November 8, 2026, that process governs. ORD coordinates tracking and reporting so that all intramural awards appear in a single portfolio.
• Designated funds carrying fiscal-year spending obligations must be obligated and expended within the fiscal year of appropriation or they are returned to the source. Where state appropriations are received in July, the OVPR anticipates moving the corresponding call to the previous March cycle so that awardees have a full 12 months to spend the award.

Program Timeline

Two RFP cycles are issued each year, with proposal deadlines of October 1 and March 1. The October cycle supports a January 1 project start; the March cycle supports a July 1 project start.

Application and Review Procedures

• Proposals must be submitted through this portal by 11:59 p.m. on the announced deadline (October 1 or March 1).
• Routing does not require college-level ranking, endorsement, or matching commitments. No college matching funds are required or permitted within the program.
• Incomplete proposals, or proposals that do not meet stated eligibility or documentation requirements, will be administratively withdrawn by ORD.
• ORD coordinates the review, convenes reviewers (internal and, where appropriate, external to K-State), verifies eligibility, compiles scores and reviewer comments, and prepares a ranked list for each competition.
• ORD transmits the ranked list, scores, and summary of reviewer commentary to the Vice President for Research, who consults the One K-State committee and makes final award decisions.
• ORD issues award notices, establishes accounts, and provides feedback to unsuccessful applicants. Uncommitted funds roll over to the next cycle on the same program line.
• All proposals, funded and unfunded, are retained by ORD for research analytics and reporting.

Reporting and Accountability

PIs must submit a mid-project progress update and a final report on the schedule above, summarizing project outcomes, dissemination activities, and progress toward external funding or commercialization goals. Each award carries defined milestones; ORD conducts a documented mid-project check and may place an award on hold, reduce it, or recover unexpended funds where progress materially departs from the funded plan.