Grant officer helps faculty earn millions in research funding

Kim Wittman | Grant Officer | Office of Research

Before faculty and staff can begin their research, they often need to find funding sources to purchase supplies, pay personnel and maintain equipment. Grant officers like Kim Wittman in Pre-Award Services help these investigators earn the funds they need to do their work.

Wittman began her time at the KU Office of Research in May 2012 as a grant specialist. She was promoted to grant coordinator and later to grant officer. In this role, she helps faculty and research staff apply for grants offered by federal agencies.

“Kim is a team player. She is always willing to assist when she can and goes the extra mile,” said Fawn Weber, grant manager in the Office of Research. “She is a great communicator and always knows when to ask the questions that are needed and important.”

One of the most complex awards Wittman helped earn was a $26 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish a new Gen-4 Engineering Research Center called the Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub, or EARTH. The award was announced in August 2024, and the research center it funds will develop technologies to create a sustainable and circular refrigerant economy.

“The full proposal was 1,000 pages, and Kim did an incredible job managing all of the documents required by NSF,” said Mark Shiflett, Foundation Distinguished Professor of chemical & petroleum engineering and director of the EARTH center. “Kim is extremely detail-oriented and energetic, which helped the ERC team complete the proposals ahead of schedule so that sufficient time was available for carefully reviewing the proposals to produce the best outcome.”

In addition to supporting work essential to protecting the environment, this grant will create Kansas jobs and provide KU students with the opportunity to learn from and connect with experts in their fields. These grants would not come to KU without the hard work of pre-award staff like Wittman.

“Kim has a lot of experience with proposal preparation,” Shiflett said. “This is very helpful because she knows the right people to work with for acquiring information or approvals needed so that the proposal submission remains on schedule.”