- Author: Kathleen P Nolan
Dear Colleagues,
USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is hosting a competitive funding opportunity webinar. This webinar provides an overview of the USDA NIFA competitive grant programs in order to enhance the application success rate of eligible institutions. The 2-part informational webinar is meant to enhance the application success rate of all.
The webinar will be scheduled on Thursday, May 25, 2017 as follows:
- Session I - 8:00 am to 9:00 am PST
- Session II - 10:00 am to 11:00 am PST
You may view the webinar at the following link: http://nifa-connect.nifa.usda.gov/cfow/
For audio, please join by phone via AT&T Connect: 1-877-369-5243 or 1-617-668-3633; Access Code: 0211403#.
Thank you.
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)
- Author: Kathleen P Nolan
Dear Colleagues,
Delaware State University, in collaboration with USDA/NIFA's Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition, will host the “1st conference on preparing winning grants." This workshop will focus on NIFA's Food Science and Nutrition competitive grant programs, with an emphasis on mentorship and successful grant writing in nutrition, food science, and food safety research, education, and extension.
The event will be held in Dover, Delaware at the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino on Thursday, May 11, 2017 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm EST.
Sessions will include:
- Small scale mentoring from successful USDA/NIFA Food Science, Nutrition, and Food Safety awardees;
- National Program Leader roundtables;
- Lightning talks;
- Posters;
- Break-outs; and
- Mock panels.
The cost to attend is $75.00. The deadline to register and submit abstracts online is April 25th. Conference registration can be completed here.
Thank you.
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)
- Author: Kathleen P Nolan
Dear Colleagues,
The Kee Kitayama Research Foundation has announced a Request for Proposals to conduct research and educational programs for California's cut flower and potted plant industry (Please see attached).
KKRF is requesting a one-page “Letter of Intent” that summarizes the proposed research project and the associated budget to be submitted to the KKRF office (aphilpot@ccfc.org) by the deadline of May 1, 2017.
KKRF chooses research projects that have the greatest potential of achieving results beneficial to the California ornamental industry. The program solicits research that is scientifically sound, achievable in the time allotted, and benefit to the floral industry; those proposals with immediate benefits to the industry are encouraged. Proposals submitted for educational seminars in the different growing areas are encouraged.
Projects should be targeted in research areas that are culturally significant and related to floriculture (cut flower, cut greens, nursery, ornamental, bedding plants, and the like) including (not in order of priority):
- Improving efficacy and lowering costs of pest or disease control
- New and/or novel methods for controlling thrips in a more sustainable manner including, but not limited to, using biological controls
- New and/or emerging pests
- New and/or emerging crop protection materials, including, but not limited to compost teas and other commercial or non-commercial biologically based solutions
- Water – quality, conservation and use efficiency while conforming to local regulations
The funding period will be from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018.
Thank you.
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)
KKRF RFP 2017-18
- Author: Kathleen P Nolan
Dear Colleagues,
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced $150.2 million in available funding to support projects that build a foundation of knowledge in agricultural sciences to address a range of societal and global challenges such as food security, food safety, sustainable agriculture, and rural entrepreneurship. Funding is made through NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.
The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative is America's flagship competitive grants program that provides funding for foundational and translational research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. The AFRI Foundational RFA supports six priorities of the 2014 Farm Bill: plant health, production, and plant products; animal health, production, and animal products; food safety, nutrition, and health; bioenergy, natural resources, and environment; agriculture systems and technology; and agriculture economics and rural communities. In addition, it supports Critical Agricultural Research and Extension as well as Exploratory Grants Programs. AFRI projects address key agricultural, food, and natural resource problems of national, regional, and multi-state importance.
Program areas include:
a. Plant health, and production and plant products;
b. Animal health, and production and animal products;
c. Food safety, nutrition, and health;
d. Bioenergy, natural resources, and environment;
e. Agriculture systems and technology; and
f. Agriculture economics and rural communities
g. Critical Agricultural Research and Extension (CARE)
h. Exploratory Research
New this year, the AFRI Foundational RFA welcomes workshop proposals to catalyze activities for harnessing big data to synthesize new knowledge, to make predictive decisions, and to foster data-driven innovation in agriculture. This new focus area aligns with NIFA's Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics and Tools (FACT) initiative, which supports data-enabled solutions for addressing complex problems facing contemporary agriculture. This year's AFRI Foundational RFA also seeks applications to develop a U.S. animal vaccinology research network to help leverage U.S. expertise and encourage mutually beneficial international linkages to develop new vaccine tools and technologies.
Review the full AFRI Foundational RFA to identify a program area priority to submit an application to with the assistance of OCG Proposal Development Services. Deadlines vary by program area and begin as early as May 24th. Letters of Intent may be required depending on the program area.
Thank you.
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)
- Author: Kathleen P Nolan
Dear Colleagues,
The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) requests proposals for collaborative and interdisciplinary team-based research projects. SESYNC is a synthesis research center that brings together diverse groups in new, interdisciplinary collaborations to identify solutions to society's most challenging and complex environmental problems. Proposals are invited for synthesis projects focused on tools, methods, and other practices applicable to actionable team research on socio-environmental problems.
SESYNC invites proposals for collaborative team-based research (Pursuits) that synthesize existing data, methods, theories, and tools to address a pressing socio-environmental problem. Researchers are encouraged to develop research questions and methods that can be applicable across multiple places and scales and have the potential to inform decision makers. We are particularly interested in novel, actionable synthesis efforts that employ synthesis methodologies in new ways. Projects that bring together quantitative and qualitative data and knowledge are of special interest. Please note that proposals do not need to fall within one of SESYNC's previous Themes or the two new Themes described below. Applicants are encouraged to examine existing SESYNC funded Pursuits for examples of successful proposals.
SESYNC encourages proposals that focus on multiple aspects of socio-environmental systems. Teams should be comprised of no more than 15 members who will meet at our Center in Annapolis for 2–4 meetings of approximately 3–5 days over a period of 1–2 years. The composition and number of participants in a Pursuit will vary depending upon the nature of the research problem and the expertise needed to address it. Teams should be highly interdisciplinary (natural and social scientists), and we encourage the inclusion of individuals from outside of academia (i.e., governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, the business sector). Projects co-developed by academic researchers and non-academic knowledge users (from the NGO, private, and government sectors) are encouraged. SESYNC places priority on teams whose members have not had extensive prior collaborations with one another.
- Environmental Dynamics and Food Systems. We encourage the submission of proposals for projects that synthesize diverse data sources and/or develop models and scenarios that reflect the intersection of food system activities with ecological and/or broader socio-environmental systems. Ideally, studies will seek to identify the mechanisms that link the ecological and social dimensions of one or more activities within the food system, or those that link the food system to other (e.g. water or energy) systems. Inquiries regarding this Theme can be directed to Dr. Kristal Jones at kjones@sesync.org.
- Sudden or Unexpected Events: Environmental Recovery, Reorganization or Restoration. We encourage the submission of proposals for projects that synthesize data, develop and apply models, or couple quantitative and qualitative information in new ways to identify the mechanisms that lead to different ecological or socio-environmental responses to discrete events, which could have long-lasting environmental impacts.
Teams applying for one of these two Themes should be comprised of no more than 10 participants, including team leads. Projects under each Theme listed above may synthesize existing data, methods, theories, and tools to address the socio-environmental problem described. Researchers are encouraged to develop research questions and methods for results that can be applicable across multiple places and scales, and that either improve the sustainability and efficiency of food systems or inform the development of solutions to improve responses to unexpected environmental change. We are particularly interested in novel synthesis research that highlights key findings and research needs, and employs synthesis methodologies in new ways. Projects may focus primarily on ecological, environmental or social dynamics and/or linkages between environmental and social systems. The research must contribute to understanding problems in complex socio-environmental systems. Our intent is to foster interdisciplinarity at the portfolio (Theme-wide) level. You should anticipate interacting with other disciplines other than your own.
SESYNC has significant modeling, data analysis, and database management expertise to guide and support teams that need assistance with the technical aspects of data mining, processing, integration, analysis, visualization, and/or modeling.
Proposals must be uploaded to SESYNC's online submission system by May 15, 2017, at 2 p.m. PST.
Please see the sponsor's website for full details regarding this opportunity.
Thank you.
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)