The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is requesting applications for the Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) Grants Program for one funding cycle, Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, to provide traineeship programs to eligible institutions for meeting the national need to develop scientific and professional expertise in the food and agricultural sciences.
Donor Name: National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Fellowship
Deadline: 06/08/2023
Size of the Grant: $262,500
Grant Duration: 60 months
Details:
The purpose of the Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) Grants Program, Assistance Listing 10.210, is to provide funding to support graduate student training and completion of master’s and/or doctoral degree programs in identified national need areas within the food and agricultural sciences. The overarching goals and objectives of these graduate fellowships are to encourage outstanding students to pursue and complete graduate degrees in the areas of food and agricultural sciences designated by NIFA as national needs. Awards made by the NNF program are specifically intended to support traineeship programs that engage outstanding students to pursue and complete their degrees in areas where there is a national need for the development of scientific and professional expertise in the food and agricultural sciences. NNF awards invest in graduate training and relevant international experiential learning for diverse individuals who demonstrate their potential to successfully complete graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the USDA.
NIFA is soliciting NNF applications in the following areas:
- Graduate Fellowships to support the training for and completion of master’s and doctoral degree programs in the food and agricultural sciences; and
- Special International Study or Thesis/Dissertation Research Travel Allowances (IRTA) for NEW eligible master’s and doctoral USDA Fellows.
Working collaboratively with eligible institutions, the objectives of the NNF program are to: a.
- Support the training of NEW students at the master’s and doctoral levels, in order to fill nationally identified expertise shortage areas in the food and agricultural sciences.
- Increase the number, quality, and diversity of students in the food, agricultural and related sciences by recruiting outstanding students, particularly those from traditionally underrepresented groups to enter and complete graduate training in these areas.
- Ensure that the National Needs Fellows build science competencies through research and extension activities, and experience and engagement in an international setting within the Targeted Expertise Shortage Area (TESA) in the food and agricultural sciences through the IRTA awards.
Student Eligibility
- Eligibility for NNF – The grantee institutions develop the selection criteria, and it is their responsibility to award fellowships to high caliber students in superior academic standing. Only individuals who meet the eligibility requirements listed below will be awarded fellowships. For individuals to receive Fellowship stipend support they must:
- Be citizens or nationals of the United States of America as determined in accordance with Federal law.
- Have strong interest, as judged by the institution, in pursuing a degree in a national TESA; are preparing for a career as a food or agricultural or natural resources scientist or professional; are registered as full-time students; and
- Not have completed more than one semester or equivalent hours of full-time study as defined by the institution in the same academic program at the same degree level.
- Eligibility for IRTA – At the time of travel under the IRTA grant award, USDA Fellows conducting research at alternate locations or outside the United States must:
- Be supported under a USDA NNF grant and be registered as a full-time student;
- Have completed one academic year of full-time study, as defined by the institution under the fellowship appointment;
- Have formalized arrangements to study and/or conduct research in the foreign/alternate location(s);
- Have sufficient time remaining in their fellowship award to complete the proposed IRTA travel or research; and
- Have a completed NIFA Form 2010 – Fellowship Appointment Form on file with the funding agency (NIFA).
Targeted Expertise Shortage Areas (TESA)
Applicants should propose training projects at the master’s and/or doctoral levels to support graduate fellowship stipends for NNF and/or IRTA in ONE of the following TESAs:
- Animal Production
- Plant Production
- Forest Resources
- Agricultural Education and Communication
- Agricultural Management and Economics
- Food Science, Human Nutrition and Human Sciences
- Agricultural Biosecurity
- Climate-smart Agriculture
- Data Science (to enable systems and communities to effectively utilize data, improve resource management, and integrate new technologies and approaches to further U.S. food and agriculture enterprises)
Funding Preference
Funding preference will be given to applications that propose to:
- Establish innovative and evidence-based frameworks for graduate training;
- Establish master’s degree or doctoral programs;
- Establish multidisciplinary graduate training programs;
- Increase the multicultural diversity of the nation’s scientific and professional expertise in the food and agricultural sciences;
- Partner with teaching/research/extension or across colleges/institutions or public/private sectors;
- Provide leadership skills opportunities; and/or
- Develop performance measures for evaluating the overall effectiveness of the graduate training.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $3,100,000
- Award Ceiling: $262,500
Project Period
Approximately 60 Months
Eligibility Criteria
Land-grant institutions, colleges and universities having significant minority enrollments and a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences; and other colleges and universities having a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food, and agricultural sciences. Research foundations maintained by an eligible college or university are eligible to submit graduate training proposals under this RFA. Award recipients may subcontract to organizations not eligible to apply provided such organizations are necessary for the conduct of the project.
Applicants should be institutions that confer a graduate degree in at least one of the TESAs listed in Part I of this RFA. Awards are made to eligible colleges and universities. Individuals are not eligible to apply for these grants to support their graduate education.
Successful applications must select and identify Fellows and award Fellowships within eighteen (18) months of the start date of a grant. Post-doctoral Fellowships will not be awarded under this grant announcement.
- Institutions that fail to meet this deadline will be required to refund monies associated with unawarded Fellowships to NIFA.
- Graduate fellowship appointments must be awarded only to registered students who are pursuing full-time study in graduate programs in the TESA and at the degree level supported by the grant.
- Applicants may not request partial fellowships. A USDA Fellow at the master’s degree level who maintains satisfactory progress is eligible to receive grant support for a maximum of twenty-four (24) months during a thirty (30) month period. A USDA Fellow at the doctoral degree level who maintains satisfactory progress is eligible to receive grant support for a maximum of thirty-six (36) months within a forty-two (42) month period.
It is the intent of this program that Graduate Fellows pursue full-time uninterrupted study or thesis/dissertation research, including time spent pursuing USDA-funded special international study or thesis/dissertation research activities. Graduate Fellows in academic institutions are not entitled to regular annual leave but are entitled to the normal student holidays observed by the institution. The time between academic semesters or quarters is to be utilized as an active part of the grant period. During the period of support, USDA Graduate Fellows, at the discretion of their institutions, may accept additional supplemental employment that would positively contribute to their training or research and would make them eligible for tuition waivers (e.g., full, or partial tuition waivers with research or teaching assignments).
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
