The Johnson Cancer Center offers support on a competitive basis to undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty. All faculty scientists affiliated with the Cancer Center are eligible to apply. One stipulation is that funding for the Biology Graduate Student Travel Award is limited to Division of Biology graduate students per the wishes of the donors.

Please review the following award descriptions and click on the application link associated with the award for which you are interested in applying. A Microsoft Word version of the application will load and can be completed electronically before submitting via e-mail or regular mail. If you have problems with the form, a printed or electronic version can be obtained directly from the Johnson Cancer Center.

For Undergraduate Students

Cancer Research Awards

Conducting research in a laboratory can be the highlight of an undergraduate experience, allowing students to learn about cancer, the scientific method, technical approaches, and the critical analysis of results. Each year, the Johnson Cancer Center offers 50 awards to support such opportunities. Students choose appropriate affiliated faculty mentors according to research interests and then approach them about sponsoring their applications. The student and the mentor complete the application together. Each student award winner receives $1,000 and the faculty mentors each receive $1,000 per student to support research expenses. Applications are judged competitively by a committee that makes recommendations to the center. The application deadline is October 1.

Download application (It may be necessary to save to disk before opening.)

June Hull Sherrid Scholarships and Helen L. Graves Family Heart Research Awards

These awards are available to undergraduate students. See Education Programs for information.

For Graduate Students & Post-Doctoral Fellows

Graduate Student Summer Stipends

The center will fund three-month summer stipends for 10 graduate students studying under the direction of our affiliated scientists. The awards are given to the mentors, not the students, and the application must be made by the faculty member. The award amounts will be at the same level (salary and fringe benefits) that the students receive during the academic year.

The intention of these awards is two-fold: to support graduate students working on cancer-relevant projects, and to support the overall research programs of their major professors. Our goal is to provide summer stipends for graduate students who are appointed to nine-month graduate teaching assistantships or to twelve-month graduate research assistantships. Our intent is not to replace departmental support of graduate students, but rather to help mentors cover these expenses. Thus, the application asks in a straightforward fashion if the major professor would otherwise be responsible for summer support.

These awards will be made on a competitive basis, based on the merit of the student’s research, cancer relevance, and ability of the mentor to provide such funding from other sources. The application deadline is March 1.

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Graduate Student & Post-Doctoral Travel Awards

These awards are intended to support travel to professional meetings or workshops by graduate students and post-doctoral fellows of faculty affiliates of the Johnson Cancer Center. They will be awarded on a competitive basis. Individuals attending a meeting are expected to present a poster or short talk. Criteria that will be considered include positive impact on the applicant’s training, potential impact on laboratory recognition, the possibility of establishment or support of collaborative efforts, evidence of frugality, and the availability of matching funds. These funds were contributed to support cancer-relevant research and training. Recognizing that many affiliated scientists perform basic research only potentially relevant to cancer biology, we will also evaluate whether the student’s research falls within the cancer-relevant portion of the faculty mentor’s program and whether the meeting or workshop itself is relevant to basic cancer research.

This application must be submitted by the mentor — not the student or postdoc — and multiple applicants from one lab for the same trip should be submitted together as one application. We ask for quite a bit of information because a shorter application used previously resulted in the necessity for much further investigation by the evaluation committee. We have seen requests with exorbitant estimates of air travel, overly-expensive travel and room expenses due to accompanying spouses, per diem charges beyond the limits of the state, and meals covered by registration. We would appreciate this application being prepared with attention to detail and in the spirit that limited funds must benefit as many people as possible. The biannual application deadlines are October 1 and March 1. Applicants should consult this description of the State of Kansas rules on reimbursement.

Download application (It may be necessary to save to disk before opening.)

Biology Graduate Student Travel Awards

These awards are intended to support travel to professional meetings or workshops by graduate students of the Division of Biology. They are funded by endowments established in memory of Barbara J. Consigli and Kenneth E. Bassett. In accordance with the wishes of the donors, biology students are eligible without regard to research interests. Support will be awarded on a competitive basis. Students attending a meeting are expected to present a poster or short talk. Criteria that will be considered include positive impact on the student’s training, potential impact on laboratory recognition, the possibility of establishment or support of collaborative efforts, evidence of frugality, and the availability of matching funds.

This application must be submitted by the mentor — not the student or postdoc — and multiple applicants from one lab for the same trip should be submitted together as one application. We ask for quite a bit of information because a shorter application used in previous rounds resulted in the necessity for much further investigation by the evaluation committee. We have seen requests with exorbitant estimates of air travel, overly-expensive travel and room expenses due to accompanying spouses, per diem charges beyond the limits of the state, and meals covered by registration. We would appreciate this application being prepared with attention to detail and in the spirit that limited funds must benefit as many students as possible. The biannual application deadlines are October 1 and March 1. Applicants should consult this description of the State of Kansas rules on reimbursement.

Download application (It may be necessary to save to disk before opening.)

Heart Research Awards

These awards are presented to one or more faculty members to support graduate student research on heart development, function, or disease. Both student stipends and research expenses may be covered. It is given every two years. The application deadline is October 1 of odd years.

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For Faculty

Endowed Assistant Professorship in Cancer Biology

The goal of this program is to increase the number of K-State faculty members doing research in the area of cancer biology. It is aimed at the assistant professor level because of the difficulties inherent to generating, funding and recruiting endowed full professorships. The program will fund up to three years of salary (including fringe benefits) for one new faculty member, with the department agreeing to provide recruitment costs, start-up expenses, and laboratory space, as well as a regular line after three years. This would allow a department, in anticipation of an open line (e.g., a retirement or a deferred commitment for a line), to hire a new faculty member earlier if they are willing to recruit a cancer scientist. The Johnson Cancer Center hopes to establish one or more new funds to provide such professorships in the future. The Center is funding the present initiative, for which funding is already in place, as a proof of concept. Future funding will be awarded on a funds-available basis. Call the Center for more info.

Detailed program description
Proposal format - Edit this document and submit hard copy.

Innovative Research Awards

Preliminary data can be crucial to the success of a research proposal. The Johnson Cancer Center will fund “seed money” projects intended to support future grant applications. Any Cancer Center-affiliated faculty researcher is eligible to apply, and awards will be made on a competitive basis. The size of these awards is constrained by available resources (totaling $50,000 for each biannual competition) and it is unlikely that requests for major equipment or sustained support of full-time research assistants or postdocs will be successful. Requests will be evaluated based on potential for future funding, and preference will be given to programs not currently enjoying extramural funding. These funds were contributed to support cancer-relevant research and training. While recognizing that many affiliated scientists perform basic research only potentially relevant to cancer biology, we will also evaluate whether the research impacted falls within the cancer-relevant portion of the scientist’s program. The biannual application deadlines are October 1 and March 1.

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Faculty Equipment Awards

New technology and the acquisition of necessary equipment can be crucial to modern research, yet funds are not always available for this purpose. The Johnson Cancer Center will provide funding for the purchase of new equipment. Funding will be awarded on a competitive basis, and the amount designated for this purpose totals $15,000 for each biannual competition. Criteria include the number of affiliated laboratories that will make use of the equipment, the equipment’s importance to their research programs, and the availability of matching funds. These funds were contributed to support cancer-relevant research and training. While recognizing that many affiliated scientists perform basic research only potentially relevant to cancer biology, we will also evaluate whether the research involved falls within the cancer-relevant portion of the scientist’s program. The biannual application deadlines are October 1 and March 1.

Download application (It may be necessary to save to disk before opening.)

Travel Fellowship Program

Recognizing that scientific techniques are often important drivers in the progress of modern life science research, the Johnson Cancer Center will provide funding (totaling $2,000 for each biannual competition) to affiliated Faculty Scientists and trainees to pursue travel opportunities outside of attendance at meetings.

The purposes of this program are to:

1. Support visits to other institutions for the purpose of learning new scientific techniques, subsequently applying these techniques in K-State laboratories;
2. Support new or ongoing collaborative studies that cannot be conducted without visiting colleagues at other institutions; and
3. Introduce the newly learned techniques and/or research advances to other investigators at Kansas State University.

The financial resources requested should be needed for relatively brief visits and can be used for domestic travel, lodging and meals for one person per laboratory. Funding will be awarded on a competitive basis. Funding criteria include the impact of the experience on the Faculty Scientist’s research program, frugality and availability of matching funds. These funds were contributed to support cancer-relevant research and training. Because many affiliated scientists perform basic research only potentially relevant to cancer biology, we will also evaluate whether the techniques or collaborative research falls within the cancer-relevant portion of the scientist’s program.

The application has been lengthened because a shorter version used in the past resulted in the necessity for much further investigation by the evaluation committee. We have seen requests with exorbitant estimates of air travel, overly-expensive travel and room expenses due to accompanying spouses, per diem charges beyond the limits of the state, and meals covered by registration. We would appreciate this application being prepared with attention to detail and in the spirit that limited funds must benefit as many people as possible. The biannual application deadlines are October 1 and March 1. Applicants should consult this description of the State of Kansas rules on reimbursement.

Download application (It may be necessary to save to disk before opening.)