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 176 research seminars between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. Of those 176, 16 new seminars added to the portfolio were provided with seed funding from the Kenan Institute. A total of 741 attendees participated in the 16 Gordon-Kenan Research Seminars. The majority of attendees were early career investigators, including a total of 421 graduate students and 195 postdocs.
North Carolina was represented at the seminars during FY 2023-24: North Carolina State University was represented 5 times, Duke University was represented 5 times, The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill was represented 3 times, and Wake Forest University was 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 375 seminars held in the portfolio today. Since the start of the program, over 11,000 early career scientists have attended a Gordon-Kenan Research Seminar, with an average registration of 47 attendees at each event. 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.