Accelerate the discovery, creation and transfer of new knowledge.
Through research and scholarship, Wichita State is focused on accelerating the discovery, creation, and transfer of new knowledge. Research is a focus within our academic departments and the Wichita State campus is home to more than 30 research centers and institutes. The focus of research and scholarship at Wichita State is to bring together the intellectual curiosity and strengths of faculty and students from a range of disciplines and give them the support to develop research programs that drive the diversity and growth of the Kansas economy while addressing global challenges. The 2022 academic year was a successful year with over $180 million in funded research. These research efforts will only continue to increase as Wichita State focuses on supporting and enhancing the development of interdisciplinary academic programs and economic engagement that aligns with regional growth initiatives.
Strategic Plan Objectives
| Strategic Plan Objectives | Key Performance Indicators | Baseline1 | Academic Year 20222 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support and enhance research and creative activity | Funded research (sponsored, research, finance and administration fees, NIH/NSF) | $128.8M | $180.5M |
| Post docs | 5 | 10 | |
| Graduate student stipends | $5,868,696 | $6,594,426 | |
| GRASP student participation | 152 | 111 (held online via JudgeZed) | |
| Identify, develop and support interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary academic priorities | President’s Convergence Sciences Research Initiative |
Wichita State's Interdisciplinary Research Initiative empowers faculty, staff and students who span the disciplines to form research clusters that address our most pressing and opportunistic challenges. More than $1 million in grant funding is available.The initiative is an effort to bring together the intellectual curiosity and strengths of faculty and students from a range of disciplines and give them the support to develop research programs that drive the diversity and growth of the Kansas economy while addressing global challenges. As defined by the National Science Foundation, interdisciplinary research is a means of solving vexing research problems — in particular, complex problems focusing on societal needs. It entails integrating knowledge, methods, and expertise from different disciplines and forming novel frameworks to catalyze scientific discovery and innovation. The interdisciplinary research themes include: Health Disparities and Delivery, Digital Transformation, and Sustainability. A successful proposal identifies a societal problem or challenge within one of these themes that could be effectively addressed by combining and integrating efforts of researchers from different disciplines. The proposal does not simply envision individual researchers attacking isolated aspects of the problem, but rather groups of researchers bringing their individual expertise to a concerted effort. A valuable outcome of the group approach envisioned is the teaming up of experienced researchers with emerging researchers, and researchers from disciplines traditionally focused on external funding with those less so." |
|
| Academic Programs |
English, Interdisciplinary Certificate Programs:
Liberal Arts and Sciences, Interdisciplinary Certificate Programs
Certificate in Interdisciplinary Leadership Honors Interdisciplinary Tracks
|
||
| Increase diversity of Faculty | Diversity of Faculty | 35 | 39 |
| Women in Science and Engineering3 | 21 | 24 | |
|
Increase participation and investment in Convergence Sciences |
The university has invested $1.2 million over a period of three years, beginning in 2020, to initiate the efforts of the President’s Convergence Sciences Research Initiative. The initiative is an effort to bring together the intellectual curiosity and strengths of faculty and students from a range of disciplines and give them the support to develop research programs that drive the diversity and growth of the Kansas economy while addressing global challenges. These research efforts are designed to be self-sustaining through federal and private research grants that will also fund student financial support — a priority of the university. | ||
|
Elevate and transform our national reputation for research, scholarship, and creative activity to one of excellence associated with high-impact, high-quality publications, exhibitions, awards, and fellowships. |
|
||
| Economic engagement that involves senior leadership, industry that aligns with regional growth initiatives | Economic engagement included partnerships with the federal delegation to help solve national priorities (Departments of Defence and Commerce, NASA); partnerships with state and local government to help grow the Kansas and regional economy and create jobs (KDHE, DCF, KDADS, Commerce, Transportation, Governor's Office, Kansas House of Representatives and Senate, City Council and Sedgwick County Commission). Additionally, industry partnerships were formed for applied learning and research with the Wichita Regional Chamber, the Greater Wichita Partnership and the Regional Economic Area Partnership of South Central Kansas. These efforts align with regional growth initiatives like the Kansas Framework for Growth, the GWP Regional Growth Plan, the WSU BREG Study, the Downtown Master Plan, and the future of work. | ||
| Development of innovation economy to catalyze economic growth inclusive of local and regional studies, small business support, and facilitation of collaborations across boundaries. | Number of intellectual property disclosures, patents from students, faculty, and staff | 25 | 18 |
| Number of licensing agreements | 4 | 6 | |
| Licensing Revenues | $66,500 | $1,068,586 | |
| 1 Baseline data is based on 2019 results. 2 AY22 Results represent Fall 2021, Spring 2022, and Summer 2022 academic semesters.3Faculty URM includes American Indian/Alaskan Native, Black non-Hispanic, Hawaiian & Hispanic; Women in Science includes Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Geology |
|||
Stories
FirePoint Future Innovators internship showcases under-represented STEM talent
WSU awarded $51 million to advance smart manufacturing in South Kansas
Air Force awards $100 million to continue WSU NIAR's B-1 Digital Engineering program
Wichita State receives $1 million in funding to assist local small businesses