Office of Research & Creative Activity
Mission and Organization
The mission of the Office of Research & Creative Activity at Western Kentucky University is to provide outstanding support for the research, service, creative, and scholarly endeavors of our faculty, staff, and students. Our staff is dedicated to partnering with the university community to increase external support for these activities, while ensuring compliance with federal, state, and institutional regulations.
Our unit includes the Office of Sponsored Programs and the Office of Research Integrity. The Office of Sponsored Programs is a service unit that assists the faculty and staff at WKU in obtaining and administering external funds. The Office of Research Integrity provides guidance in the protection of the rights, welfare, and security of faculty, staff, and students involved in activities throughout the WKU campus system and supporting communities to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local requirements.
We also oversee a variety of programs and initiatives that provide support for research, creative and other scholarly enterprises at WKU including:
Programs for Faculty and Staff
Research & Creative Activity Program (RCAP)
Faculty Incentive Program (FIP)
Programs for Students
At Western Kentucky University, students work alongside talented faculty in cutting-edge research, service, creative, and scholarly endeavors. We challenge our students to be active agents in their education in order to be equipped with the skills and experiences necessary for ensuring success in their future careers.
Faculty Undergraduate Student Engagement (FUSE)
Current News Items
Additional Resources
Notify the Office of Sponsored Programs of your intent to submit your proposal.
Applied Research and Technology Program (ARTP)
ARTP Centers foster interdisciplinary research that does not easily fall within a single department.
Dr. Jenni Redifer, Interim Associate Provost for Research
January 27, 2025
Subject: Federal Updates Resulting From Administration Transition
Dear colleagues,
University leadership is closely monitoring the recent announcement from HHS/NIH and evaluating its potential impact on research and sponsored projects at WKU. The pause in communications from HHS/NIH is scheduled through February 1, 2025. Executive orders may also impact other funding agencies. While the current situation has raised many questions, it is not uncommon for new administrations to pause certain activities during the transition period while they work to align their programs and onboard new agency leadership.
To keep you informed, the WKU Office of Sponsored Programs has created a Federal Updates Resulting from Administration Transition webpage to post updates and pertinent information related to financial and administrative impacts to federally sponsored programs. We will update this page as new information becomes available. If you receive communication related to federal requirements or agency statuses, please forward them to research@wku.edu so that we can include them on the OSP Federal Updates webpage.
For questions related to how recent executive orders may impact a proposal you plan to submit, please contact: proposal.development@wku.edu.
For inquiries regarding current awards/active projects, please contact: post.award@wku.edu.
We will continue to provide additional information as it becomes available.
Thank you for your patience during this time.
-Dr. Redifer