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Office for Research and Graduate Education

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

CFAES

Funding Opportunities

As funding opportunities are announced and shared with the Office for Research & Graduate Education we will compile the opportunities, here. This page will be updated periodically as new opportunities come about. 

External Funding Opportunities

Foundation for Food and Agriculture (FFAR)

Greener Cattle Initiative
Enteric methane, which animals release into the atmosphere by burping or exhaling, is a significant source of direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Greener Cattle Initiative (GCI), a multi-partner international consortium created by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, opened its second request for proposals for research to develop scalable technologies that reduce enteric methane emissions and benefit farmers and ranchers, consumers and the environment.  

GCI will consider applications addressing one or more of the following: Delivery mechanisms of non-vaccine enteric methane mitigation technologies; impact of applying interventions early in life to reduce enteric methane emissions later in life or in offspring; combined impacts of administering multiple enteric methane mitigation technologies to examine additive, synergistic or antagonistic effects; and long-term and longitudinal studies to evaluate lasting effects of enteric methane mitigation technologies on mitigation, animal health and productivity. 

FFAR is hosting an informational webinar about this funding opportunity on March 6, 2024, at 3 p.m. ET. Preregistration is required. A recording of the webinar will be available on FFAR’s website. FFAR invites interested individuals to submit questions in advance of the webinar to GreenerCattleInitiative@FoundationFar.org.  
Deadline: April 3, 2024

Harvest for Health Breakthrough Crop Challenge
The Harvest for Health Challenge aims to accelerate the development of underutilized crops and to increase the diversity of nutritious foods in the marketplace.

Many nutritious, resilient crops remain underutilized, contributing to poor dietary diversity and health outcomes. The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), with support from the RF Catalytic Capital, launched the Harvest for Health challenge to accelerate development of underutilized crops.
Deadline: August 7, 2024

Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research
The Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research (ROAR) program provides nimble deployment of funds to support research and outreach in response to emerging or unanticipated threats to the nation’s food supply or agricultural systems. ROAR participants, including but not limited to university researchers, farmers or producers, commodity groups and government officials, may apply for funds in response to an outbreak for development of diagnostics, monitoring and mitigation strategies. The ROAR program fills the gap until traditional, longer-term funding sources can be secured.
Deadline: Ongoing

National Institute of Health (NIH)

Check back later

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Ideas Lab: Use-Inspired Acceleration of Protein Design (USPRD)
The Use-Inspired Acceleration of Protein Design (USPRD) initiative will accelerate the translation of novel approaches to protein design and enable new applications of importance to the U.S. bioeconomy. Significant advances have been made in the ability of researchers to predict the three-dimensional (3D) structure of proteins from primary sequence, and to use that information to design proteins with desired characteristics. These advances have been enabled by: macromolecular modeling; training data available in repositories such as the Protein Data Bank (PDB); the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning; and high-throughput protein characterization. The improved accuracy of in-silico design has reduced the number of constructs that need to be validated in costly and time-consuming “wet lab” experiments. 

USPRD aims to advance protein design and its applications to the next level by: 

  1. Accelerating the use of protein design technologies to enable applications beyond human therapeutics, e.g., applications to advanced materials, biomanufacturing, agriculture and food security, environmental remediation, sustainability, and climate-related challenges. 
  2. Extending the range of accurate prediction models to enable the design of enzymes and families of enzymes. This will require models and tools that account for the dynamic nature of protein structures. 

Preliminary Deadline: April 23, 2024

Partnership to Advance Conservation Science and Practice (PACSP)
The objective of the PACSP Program is to support conservation research that investigates organismal biology, ecology, and/or evolution and is designed to contribute to the development and implementation of evidence-based activities and/or technology solutions to advance biodiversity conservation. We seek proposals that involve the implementation of conservation activities based on conservation science principles via academic-conservation organization partnerships.  The strongest projects will involve ongoing assessment of biodiversity outcomes, for instance via an adaptive management framework, that inform both scientific understanding and conservation actions.  A significant distinction between the PACSP program and other NSF programs is that proposals to this program must make clear and well-defined connections between basic research questions and the implementation of conservation focused actions. 

The Program's focus is on conservation goal-related research that will directly translate to on-the-ground biodiversity conservation efforts. Proposals that adopt a convergent approach between climate and/or other anthropogenic environmental change, conservation, and the health of ecosystems and the organisms therein are especially encouraged. Proposals are also expected to incorporate project outcomes within the context of broader societal impacts and, as appropriate for the research proposed, engage non-academic partners in collaboration. 
Deadline: April 24, 2024

Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)
The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research. NSF encourages submission of CAREER proposals from early-career faculty at all CAREER-eligible organizations and especially encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities to apply.
Deadline: July 24, 2024

EDU Core Research (ECR:Core)
The EHR Core Research (ECR) program offers this ECR:Core solicitation and invites proposals for fundamental research (curiosity-driven basic research and use-inspired basic research) that contributes to the general, explanatory knowledge that underlies STEM education in one or more of the three broadly conceived Research Areas: Research on STEM Learning and Learning Environments, Research on Broadening Participation in STEM fields, and Research on STEM Workforce Development. Within this framework, the ECR program supports a wide range of fundamental STEM education research activities, aimed at learners of all groups and ages in formal and informal settings.
Deadline: October 3, 2024

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage System Program
Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage System Program (ASAFS) will support the development of improved alfalfa forage and seed production systems. Proposals submitted to ASAFS should address one or more of the following priorities: (1) Improving alfalfa forage and seed yield through better nutrient, water and/or pest management; (2) Improving persistence of alfalfa stands by lessening biotic or abiotic stresses; (3) Improving alfalfa forage and seed harvesting and storage systems to optimize economic returns; (4) Improving estimates of alfalfa forage quality as an animal feed to increase forage usage in animal feeds; and/or (5) Breeding to address biotic and abiotic stresses that impact forage yield and persistence and the production of seed for propagation.
Letter of Intent Deadline: April 4, 2024

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program
The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) supports projects that provide education, outreach, and technical assistance for beginning farmers and ranchers in the United States and its territories to enter and/or improve their success in farming, ranching, and management of nonindustrial private forest lands; and provide beginning farmers and ranchers the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to make informed decisions for their operations and enhance their sustainability. This informational webinar, on February 21,2024 at 2:00 PM (EST), is intended for those interested in the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. The webinar discusses how to utilize NIFA resources and prepare a competitive application, adhering to the Funding Year 2024 Request for Applications (RFA) guidelines.
Letter of Intent Deadline: April 4, 2024

Equipment Grant Program 
The Equipment Grant Program (EGP) serves to increase access to shared-use special purpose equipment/instruments for fundamental and applied research for use in the food and agricultural sciences programs at institutions of higher education, including State Cooperative Extension Systems. The program seeks to strengthen the quality and expand the scope of fundamental and applied research at eligible institutions, by providing them with opportunities to acquire one major piece of equipment/instruments that support their research, training, and extension goals and may be too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NIFA grant programs. 

The EGP does not support the acquisition of suites of equipment to outfit research laboratories /facilities or to conduct independent experiments simultaneously. Similarly, the EGP does not fund common, general purpose ancillary equipment that would normally be found in a laboratory and/or is relatively easily procured by the organization or through other NIFA grant programs. Rather, it is intended to help fund items of equipment that will upgrade infrastructure. Moreover, EGP does not fund research projects, including research that uses the equipment acquired with support from the program nor does it support the operation and maintenance of facilities. 
Deadline: May 3, 2024

Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI) focuses on collaborative science engagement that intends to develop a community of researchers across both crops and animals that will lay the foundation for expanding knowledge concerning genomes and phenomes of importance to the agriculture sector of the United States. Success of the initiative will inform approaches to understanding how variable weather, environments, and production systems interact with genetic diversity present in crops and animals to impact growth and productivity. This will provide greater accuracy in predicting crop and animal performance under variable conditions and more efficient selection of well-adapted, superior genotypes that farmers and ranchers can produce.  

These goals require interdisciplinary approaches that combine technologies such as advanced computing, automated high throughput phenotyping and genotyping as well as climatic modelling to be successful. The initiative seeks to build on efforts such as the Plant Genome Research Project, the National Animal Genome Research Program, and other public initiatives. Key criteria include promoting fair access to data, software, germplasm, and other biological materials through open data sources, standards, and exchange of research materials. The initiative also seeks to connect animal sciences (e.g. animal physiology, meat science, animal nutrition, and veterinary science), plant sciences (e.g. agronomy, crop modeling, and plant physiology) and allied fields including genetics, genomics, artificial intelligence, informatics, statistics and engineering. 
Deadline: May 30, 2024

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) - Foundational and Applied Science (FAS) Program
The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) - Foundational and Applied Science (FAS) Program provides funding for fundamental and applied research, education, and Extension. supports grants in six AFRI priority areas:

  • Plant health and production and plant products
  • Animal health and production and animal products
  • Food safety, nutrition, and health
  • Bioenergy, natural resources, and environment
  • Agriculture systems and technology
  • Agriculture economics and rural communities

AFRI-FAS invests in agricultural production research, education, and Extension projects for a more sustainable, productive, and economically viable plant and animal production system. Applications that address climate change, nutrition security, expanding markets for producers, indigenous traditional ecological knowledge, and equity for underserved producers are encouraged.
Deadline: Varies until December 31, 2024

Other Funding Agencies

Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) – Rapid Funding
CIGLR provides short-term funding up to $10,000 to form an initial response to an emergency or time-sensitive need in the Great Lakes (e.g., Flint water crisis, Toledo water crisis, oil or chemical spill, 100-year storm, etc.). Decisions on rapid proposals can be made internally in 2 days, and provide the seed funding researchers need to be ‘first-responders’ even as they solicit more substantial funds from an appropriate agency or organization. Any principal investigator or student from a Regional Consortium University Partner institution or Private Sector Partner organization may request rapid funding.
Deadline: None

Awesome Foundation Grant 
A micro-granting organization, funding “awesome” ideas, The Awesome Foundation set up local chapters around the world to provide rolling grants of $1000 to “awesome projects.” Each chapter defines what is “awesome” for their local community, but most include arts initiatives and public or social practice art projects.
Deadline: None

Cliff Family Foundation
Through the program, the foundation will award general support grants as well as funding for specific projects in the three focus areas: strengthen our food system, enhance equitable community health outcomes, and safeguard our environment and natural resources. Priority is given to applicants that address two or more of the funding priorities at the same time, demonstrate strong community ties, and operate within viable and clearly defined plans for positive change. 
Deadline: August 1, 2024 

Internal Funding Opportunities

Food, Nutrition, and Cancer Seed Grant Program 
The purpose of this seed grant program, sponsored though a partnership with the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), Foods for Health Research Initiative (FFH), and Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC), is to provide resources for new, exploratory research and collaborations in nutrition and cancer that capitalize on the collective expertise and resources available at Ohio State. 

Teams must be led by two faculty from the Ohio State University (Co-PIs). One faculty must represent the CCC and the other must represent CFAES. In the case where the CFAES faculty is also a CCC member, the Co-PI team must represent distinct colleges. All Co-PIs must have Principal Investigator status through the University. Proposed research should use collaborative expertise to address how food, nutrition, and diet can be used to improve outcomes in cancer prevention, care, and survivorship. The same individual may not serve as Co-PI on more than one application. Individuals listed as Co-PI on one application may serve as collaborators (Co-Is) on other proposals.
Notice of Intent Deadline: May 15, 2024

Sustainability Proposal Development Grant
This grant award program, offered by the Sustainability Institute, will support teams of scholars from two or more distinct disciplines in the development of external funding proposals relating to one or more of the Sustainability Institute research program areas. The target funding opportunity must have a submission date on or before December 31, 2024, and preference will be given to teams pursuing funding to address climate change mitigation and adaptation, human health and/or environmental justice.
Deadline: June 1, 2024 (or until annual funding is exhausted)

Core Faculty Funding for Scholarly Activity
The Sustainability Institute has set aside funds in FY24 to support scholarly activities of the SI Core Faculty. These funds are available to any SI Core Faculty and are intended to help bolster scholarly activities related to sustainability research, teaching, or outreach. Requested funds can be used to support scholarly activities such as, but not limited to: conference travel, workshop participation, hosting a guest speaker, or to offset research expenses, including data collection, lab equipment, or GRA costs.   
Deadline: June 1, 2024 (or until annual funding is exhausted)