Dear Colleagues,

The Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), managed by the National Academies of Science and coordinated with six federal agencies.

PEER is a competitive grants program that invites scientists in developing countries, partnered with US government-supported collaborators, to apply for funds to support research and capacity-building activities on topics with strong potential development impacts including biodiversity, agriculture, environment, clean energy, disaster mitigation, food security, water/sanitation, urbanization, democracy and governance, and education. Its goal is “to build scientific capacity and empower researchers in developing countries to use science, technology, innovation, and partnerships to address local and global development challenges.”

Proposals must be submitted by foreign collaborators working with US principal investigators with active awards from one of the following agencies: Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Science Foundation (NSF), Smithsonian Institution, United States Forest Service (USFS), or United States Geological Survey (USGS). The role of the US government supported partner is to provide complementary expertise and skills to the PEER project, but the partner's research experience does not need to directly overlap. While partnerships are generally based on topical or disciplinary similarities, many PEER partnerships also provide access to specific methodologies or instrumentation otherwise unavailable to the PEER applicant. PEER pre-proposals are not accepted from U.S.-based researchers. Please review the list of 65 PEER eligible countries.

The PEER Program is accepting research proposals in the following focus areas.

1. Multiple Countries/ Open Call
2. Multiple Countries/ Family Planning and Reproductive Health
3. Cambodia/ Investigator Development Awards: Multiple Sectors
4. Indonesia/ Multiple Sectors and Biodiversity
5. Laos/ Nutrition and Disabilities Capacity Strengthening
6. Peru/ Impacts of Extractive Industries on Indigenous Peoples in the Peruvian Amazon
7. Haiti/ Education
8. Middle East and North Africa/ Refugee Host Communities Health
9. Tunisia/ Multiple Sectors
10. Zambia/Technological and Social Alternatives to Charcoal Use and Production

Most projects are anticipated to run for one to two years. Single institution awards are anticipated to range in size from $40,000 to $80,000 (USD) per year for one to two years. A few larger and more complex projects (those involving multiple institutions and/or multiple countries, with one of them serving as the lead) may receive between $80,000 to $100,000 (USD) per year for up to two years. The maximum award amount is $200,000 over two years.

Consistent with the goals of PEER, applicants should outline how their research findings will lead to development-related policy or programmatic change. All projects must also contribute to USAID higher education objectives by strengthening engagement with junior researchers and undergraduate/ graduate students. Proposals that include multi-disciplinary research teams, multi-country collaboration, and/or engagement with policy actors and other development stakeholders are desired but not required.

The deadline for submitting a pre-proposal is Friday, January 12, 2018. Questions about eligibility and the application process may be directed to PEER staff at peer@nas.edu.

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

Dear Colleagues,

The Department of Resources Recovery and Recycling (CalRecycle) intends to hold a public workshop to discuss the proposed Eligibility, Scoring Criteria, and Evaluation Process for CalRecycle's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) Grant Program Appropriation for FY 2017-18.

CalRecycle established GGRF Programs provide financial incentives for capital investments in infrastructure for aerobic composting, anaerobic digestion and recycling and manufacturing facilities that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These grants promote California infrastructure developments that achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions by diverting more materials from landfills and producing beneficial products such as soil amendments, renewable fuels or recycled-content products. Grants are targeted to build or expand organics infrastructure, such as composting and anaerobic digestion, or rescuing food to feed hungry people, as well as new or expanded infrastructure for manufacturing products with recycled content fiber, plastic, or glass.

Programs

• Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant Program
• Organics Grant Program
• Recycled Fiber, Plastic, and Glass Grant Program
• Greenhouse Gas Reduction Loan Program

These programs are part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment. A priority is to realize environmental and economic benefits in disadvantaged communities.

The public workshop will be held on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at the Cal/EPA Headquarters Building, 1001 I Street within the Byron Sher Conference Room from 1:30 – 3:30 pm PST.

The agenda is as follows:

• Welcoming Remarks 1:30 – 1:40
• Overview of ARB Draft Funding Guidelines and AB 1550 1:40 – 1:50
• Proposed Allocation by Program and Application Process 1:50 – 2:00
• Disadvantaged and Low-Income Community Verification Process 2:00 – 2:15
• Questions and Comments 2:15 – 3:15
• Next Steps 3:15 – 3:30

Webcast capabilities will be available for those not able to attend in person at http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Broadcast/ .

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

Dear Colleagues,

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals to enable the development of advanced plant technologies (APT) for the detection of environmental threats.

The goal of the APT program is to control and direct plant physiology to detect chemical, biological, radiological, and/or nuclear threats, as well as electromagnetic signals. Plant sensors developed under the program will sense specific stimuli and report these signals with a remotely recognized phenotype (e.g., modified reflectance, morphology, phenology, etc.). These stimuli should be related to human activities (e.g., intentional or accidental chemical or biological release) and not be a natural function of the plant. Classes of DoD-relevant stimuli include: biological agents (e.g., spores, virus, bacteria, toxins), chemicals (e.g., organic, inorganic), and radiative signals (e.g., EM, RF, particle decay). Substitute stimuli that are similar to but less toxic/dangerous than existing national security threats, and that are equally difficult to detect, are preferred.

To accomplish the above program goals, proposers will leverage state-of-the-art plant gene alteration techniques towards three specific and complementary technical objectives:

1. Identify, test, and integrate genetic components for plant sensing and reporting.

2. Tailor plant resource collection and allocation to support sense-and-report traits.

3. Ensure long-term sense-and-report capability by engineering plants to be robust in intended environments.

Meeting both the sensor and survivability technical goals of the APT program will require a combination of plant genomics emerging technologies, precision gene editing tools, and novel methods for engineering new sensing capabilities and physiological responses. Proposing teams should include experts in diverse fields including plant physiology, gene editing, biochemistry, modelling, phenotyping, remote sensing, and plant ecology. It is expected that proposals will involve multidisciplinary teams that include expertise from multiple complementary disciplines (e.g., synthetic biology, sensor technology, plant genomics and ecology).

Proposers are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract in advance of a proposal to minimize effort and reduce the potential expense of preparing an out of scope proposal. The deadline for submitting a pre-proposal is January 11, 2018, 1:00 PM PST. Full proposals may be submitted irrespective of comments or feedback received in response to the abstract. The full proposal due date is February 21, 2018, 1:00 PM PST. Questions about this opportunity may be directed to APT@darpa.mil, DARPA/BTO, ATTN: HR001118S0005.

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

Dear Colleagues,

The Pew Charitable Trust's antibiotic resistance project works to promote antibiotic stewardship in both human medicine and animal agriculture. Pew seeks to support research studies that can help inform strategies and efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics without harm to animal health, and guide future scientific studies.

Through two forthcoming Request for Proposals, Pew is committed to supporting research that will survey the existing scientific literature and address three key questions.

Is Antibiotic Use Effective to Prevent Disease in Food-Producing Animals?

• First, what scientific evidence is available to show the impact of different practices on disease prevalence and the need to use medically important antibiotics in food animals? The research should focus on one or more of the major food-producing animal species in the U.S.
• Second, what key data gaps exist in the scientific evidence, and how do they impede the ability to make animal management decisions that are grounded in science?
• And third, what research is needed to fill those gaps?

What Practices Reduce Antibiotic Use in Food Animals?

• First, what scientific evidence is available to show a demonstrated animal health benefit from different preventive uses of medically important antibiotics?
• Second, what key data gaps exist in the scientific evidence, and how do they impede the ability to make a determination about the efficacy of preventive uses of antibiotics?
• And third, what research is needed to fill those gaps?

UC ANR has expressed interest in the Pew Charitable Trust's antibiotic resistance funding opportunity. In response, the Pew will distribute the full RFP with additional details on timing, evaluation and proposal criteria, terms and conditions. Upon receipt, the full RFP will be made available on the OCG Calendar of Funding Opportunities.

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)