Northeast SARE’s Graduate Student Research Grant Program supports graduate student research focused on sustainable agriculture using either or both natural and social science approaches.
Donor Name: Northeast Sustainable Research and Education (SARE)
State: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Vermont, and District of Columbia
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/19/2022
Size of the Grant: $15,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
Northeast SARE offers grants to graduate students to conduct research on topics specific to sustainable agriculture under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Proposals should address issues of current or potential importance to Northeast farmers, agricultural researchers, and farm support professionals like NRCS personnel, Extension educators, and nonprofit staff.
Projects may address a range of topics including, but not limited to, cropping systems, pest management, livestock health, social sustainability, soil quality, farm energy production, farm labor, urban agriculture, and the marketing of local agricultural products. They must also explore one or more of the sustainable agriculture themes of environmental stewardship, profitability, and quality of life for farmers and the farm community.
Funding Information
- Northeast SARE’s Administrative Council allocated $400,000 to fund projects for this cycle of Graduate Student Research Grants. Individual projects are capped at $15,000; about 25 projects will be awarded.
- Typical project length is 2 years. All projects must be completed by November 30, 2025.
Eligibility Criteria
- This grant program is open to any graduate student enrolled at an accredited college, university, or veterinary school who is proposing to conduct research in the Northeast region. Proposals are limited to one per graduate student per year. An individual student may receive only one Northeast SARE Graduate Student Grant over the course of their studies.
- Northeast SARE encourages projects submitted from or in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ community and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). Additionally, we encourage projects submitted from or in collaboration with Minority Serving Institutions (including 1890 land grant institutions and other historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and tribal colleges and universities) and other organizations in the Northeast that work with historically underrepresented communities.
- Proposals must be written by the graduate student applicant, in support of their individual research effort and not that of a group project or team of researchers. While collaboration is encouraged, the graduate student applicant will be the manager and contact for the project, if funded. As such, they are expected to lead all aspects of the application and subsequently to make sure the proposed work is completed, and project reports are filed in a timely fashion. If the project is part of a larger project or thesis, the portion of work proposed for SARE funding must be clearly identified in the proposal.
- Projects must take place within the Northeast region. Applicants and host organizations may be located outside of the Northeast region if the project activities and the audience served are located within the Northeast region.
- Current SARE grant recipients who are behind in their reporting will not be awarded a new project.
- Northeast SARE will not fund proposals that appear to duplicate work that has been approved for funding by another grant program within or external to SARE. It is the applicant’s responsibility to make clear to reviewers that any proposed work is unique, especially if it is similar to work proposed to another grant program. The proposed work may build on or complement another project, but it must be clearly differentiated. If a SARE proposal is approved for funding and a proposal to fund the same work is also approved by another grant program, only one source of funding can be accepted.
- Graduate student applicants must propose to work with a specific faculty advisor. That person serves as the PI in order to administer funding for the project at the graduate student’s institution. If either the graduate student or the faculty advisor declines to be a part of the project prior to the award being made, the proposal will be withdrawn; it cannot be transferred to a different student or faculty advisor.
- Northeast SARE is committed to accessibility for all eligible applicants.
For more information, visit Northeast Sustainable Research and Education (SARE).
