A Gordon-Kenan Graduate Research Seminar (GKGRS) is a two-day meeting designed specifically for graduate students, post-doctoral students, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience. Gordon Research Conferences held a total of 196 research seminars between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Of those 196, the 16 new seminars added to the portfolio were provided with seed funding from the Kenan Institute. A total of 791 attendees participated in 16 Gordon-Kenan Research Seminars from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.
The majority of attendees were young investigators, including a total of 446 graduate students and 223 postdocs. North Carolina was represented at the seminars during FY 2024-25: Duke University was represented 4 times, The University of North Carolina – Charlotte and NC A&T University were represented 1 time by a participant. From 2001 to 2022, GKGRS/GRC Chairs have raised $4,072,666 from federal funding and $7,200,495 from private industry partners.
During that time, 4,712 scientists from North Carolina attended 3221 GRC conferences or seminars. In addition, NC State University scientists have participated as speakers 307 times and have chaired 20 GRC conferences or seminars. Since KIETS began collaborating with the GRC in 2001, the GRS program has expanded exponentially, from 1 GRS to the 372 seminars held in the portfolio today.
Since the start of the program, over 11,500 early-career scientists have attended a Gordon-Kenan Research Seminar. The program has been so successful that as of 2024, all eligible GRCs were required by the GRC board to hold an associated GRS, institutionalizing the program in perpetuity.