UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AWARDS

As one of the nation’s leading research universities, KU has a special role in conducting research that addresses society's grand challenges. To further this effort, Chancellor Girod hosts the annual University Research Awards to celebrate KU's most outstanding researchers across the Lawrence and KU Medical Center campuses.

The event is open to the entire KU community. Please RSVP below.

Chancellor’s Club Research Award

Joseph Donnelly
Professor
Department of Internal Medicine

Research Postdoctoral Achievement Award

Bren Backhaus
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Physics & Astronomy

Research Staff Achievement Award

Nicola Minafra
Research Scientist
Department of Physics & Astronomy

Steven F. Warren Research Achievement Award

Xiaoqing Wu
Associate Research Professor
Department of Molecular Biosciences

Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Award

(This award features four named awards presented to researchers from both KU and Kansas State University.)

Balfour Jeffrey Research Award in the Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

David Farber
Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor
Department of History
University of Kansas

Olin Petefish Research Award in the Basic Sciences

Ruth Welti
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Biology 
Director of Core Facilities
Kansas State University

Dolph Simons Research Award in Biomedical Sciences

X. Long Zheng
Russell J. Eilers MD Endowed Professor and Chairperson
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine 
University of Kansas

Irvin Youngberg Research Award in Applied Science

Kathleen Lynne Lane
Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor
Department of Special Education
Director of Human Subjects Research
University of Kansas

University Scholarly Achievement Award

(Winners to be announced in March 2026)