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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)

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)

Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2)
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2) research projects use fundamental research to produce knowledge about what constitutes or promotes responsible or irresponsible conduct of research and why, as well as how to best instill responsible conduct of research into researchers, practitioners, and educators at all career stages. In some cases, projects will include the development of interventions or applications to ensure ethical and responsible research conduct.
Deadline: January 23, 2025

Developmental Sciences (DS)
DS supports basic research that increases our understanding of cognitive, linguistic, social, cultural, and biological processes related to human development across the lifespan. Research supported by this program will add to our knowledge of the underlying developmental processes that support social, cognitive, and behavioral functioning, thereby illuminating ways for individuals to live productive lives as members of society.
Deadline: January 30, 2025

Growing Convergence Research (GCR)
This GCR solicitation targets multidisciplinary teams who are embracing convergence research as a means of developing highly innovative solutions to complex research problems. GCR proposals are expected to be bold and address scientific or technical challenges and bottlenecks which if resolved have the potential to transform scientific understanding and solve vexing problems. Successful GCR projects are anticipated to lead to paradigm shifting approaches within disciplines, establishment of new scientific communities, or development of transformative technologies that have the potential for broad scientific or societal impact.
Deadline: February 10, 2025

ECR’s Building Capacity in STEM Education Research
(ECR: BCSER) supports projects that build investigators’ capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research that will enhance the nation’s STEM education enterprise. In addition, ECR: BCSER seeks to broaden the pool of researchers who can advance knowledge regarding STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development. Researchers of races and ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities who are currently underrepresented in their participation in STEM education research and the STEM workforce, as well as faculty at minority-serving and two-year institutions, are particularly encouraged to submit proposals.
Deadline: February 28, 2025

Mid-Career Advancement (MCA)
The MCA offers an opportunity for researchers at the Associate Professor rank (or equivalent) to substantively enhance and advance their research program through synergistic and mutually beneficial partnerships, typically at an institution other than their home institution. Research projects that envision new insights on existing problems or identify new problems made accessible with cutting-edge methodology or expertise from other fields are encouraged.
Deadline: 
March 1, 2025

Environmental Sustainability
The Environmental Sustainability program is part of the Environmental Engineering and Sustainability cluster together with 1) the Environmental Engineering program and 2) the Nanoscale Interactions program. The goal of the Environmental Sustainability program is to promote sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems. These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival. Research efforts supported by the program typically consider long time horizons and may incorporate contributions from the social sciences and ethics. The program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society's need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions.

There are five principal general research areas that are supported: Circular Bioeconomy Engineering, Industrial ecology, Green engineering, Ecological engineering, Earth systems engineering.

Deadline: Full proposal accepted anytime. For additional information regarding the removal of deadlines for this program, please refer to the Dear Colleague Letter (NSF 18-082) and Frequently Asked Questions (NSF18-083).

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

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

Ohio Soybean Council
OSC invites you to participate in their quarterly request for proposals process. For the current quarter, proposals received by the deadline of Monday, November 4, 2024 will be considered by the OSC Board at the December board meeting. OSC projects can have a duration of up to 12 months.

All proposals should be submitted through the online project management system (http://projects.soyohio.org). After you have logged on, to submit a new proposal please click on the “Proposals” tab, and then click on “Create New Proposal.” Please feel free to contact Carla DeBoard in the Ohio Soybean office if you need assistance at (614) 476-3100. The deadline for submitting new proposals is Monday, November 4, 2024.

Please note that if you received notification that your proposal was put on hold after the September 2024 OSC Board meeting, your proposal will be considered again at the next meeting and you do not need to re-submit.  Only new proposals should be submitted in response to this request.

The mission of the Ohio Soybean Council is to invest soybean checkoff funds to maximize the value of soybeans and increase profit opportunities for Ohio farmers. To achieve this mission, the Ohio Soybean Council Board of Trustees has developed a three-year strategic plan with several key goals and objectives.  A copy of the OSC Strategic Plan is attached for your reference, and also will be available on the online project management system.

After you have clicked on “Create New Proposal” in the online proposal system, you will see a form that requests basic information regarding your proposal, including contact information, an executive summary and a project budget.  In addition to completing this information, please attach a document of no more than six pages in either PDF (.pdf) or Word (.doc) format that addresses the following:

  • OSC Goal the project would address – please choose from the three OSC Goals in the OSC Strategic Plan;
  • Budget – provide a detailed line-item budget – preference will be given to projects that do not contain capital spending and can be completed within 12 months;
  • Project Purpose – describe what the project is designed to accomplish and how it would enhance profit opportunities for Ohio Soybean farmers;
  • Project Relation to OSC Objectives – describe how this project will assist OSC in accomplishing one or more of the objectives listed in the OSC Strategic Plan;
  • Project Work Plan – describe how you propose to accomplish the work outlined in the proposal;
  • Measureable Project Milestones – describe project milestones (not less than quarterly), and describe how progress and success will be measured for the project;
  • Project Team Members – provide relevant information regarding the background and capabilities of the applicant that would allow OSC to judge the ability of the applicant to successfully complete the project;
  • Project Partnerships – identify any support from third parties on the budget summary form; also list each collaborator and whether the support is in-kind, financial, or both.

Please note: Plant Research proposals should include a list of other research projects in which the principal investigator is participating. This should include the title and brief description of the project, the funding source, time period of research and the amount funded.

Contact Info:
Kirk B. Merritt
Executive Director, Ohio Soybean Council
Office: (614) 476-3100 | Email: kmerritt@soyohio.org

Innovative research to understand long term breeding effects on corn hybrids
Corteva Agriscience is looking for proposals that describe novel ideas and concepts to be investigated using ERA hybrids. These proposals should present a plan to answer new questions about indirect breeding effects and their implications. We are open to partnering with scientists and institutions with expertise in plant breeding, agronomy, ecology, crop physiology, plant biology, climate change, molecular biology, food science, or any related discipline. They are especially interested in expanding beyond ideas previously tested.

Solutions of interest include:

  • Unexplored physiological traits
  • Novel phenotyping tools
  • Sustainability implications
  • Management effects
  • Environmental response
  • Climate change adaptations

Deadline: September 30, 2024

North Central Region SARE
The North Central Region SARE (NCR-SARE) Research and Education (R&E) Grant Program is a competitive grant program for researchers and educators involved in projects that explore and promote environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially responsible food and/or fiber systems.

Research and Education projects include a strong outreach component and significant farmer/rancher or other end-user involvement from the inception of the idea through the implementation of the project.

On September 4, 2024 at 3:00 PM, join Beth Nelson to learn more about NCR-SARE's 2025 Research and Education grant program and the call for proposals. Get registered
Deadline: October 10, 2024

Core Research Grants, Russell Sage Foundation
RSF funds social science research that extends the methods, data, and theories of the social sciences as a means of better documenting and understanding the nation’s most pressing social, political, and economic problems. RSF will accept letters of inquiry (LOIs) under all of its core programs and special initiatives: Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context; Future of Work; Immigration and Immigrant Integration; Race, Ethnicity and Immigration; Social, Political, and Economic Inequality and will also accept LOIs relevant to its core programs that address the effects of the 2023 Supreme Court decision on race-conscious admissions policies and the relative merits of different models to promote diversity and the educational attainment and economic mobility of underrepresented and lower-income students.
Deadline: October 29, 2024

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

Internal Funding Opportunities

Clinical and Translational Science Research Program
Clinical and Translational Science Research Program Awards are based on a new framework, Clinical and Translational Data Science Equity, which include representation equity, feature equity, access equity and outcome equity.                                                  

This Clinical and Translational Data Science Equity framework comprehensively conveys the challenges of ensuring diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) in Clinical Translational Science (CTS), as well as the major translational barriers to effective dissemination, implementation and achievement of population health benefits. Most importantly, this framework, for the first time, allows us to systematically solicit, review, prioritize, select and disseminate CTS research projects addressing Data and AI Equity challenges.
Pre-Application Deadline: October 22, 2024

Accelerator Awards
The Accelerator Awards program provides grant funding to support the commercialization of Ohio State innovations. The goal is to advance the translation of university intellectual property to the marketplace, with a focus on Ohio-based startup companies. This program is funded by the Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund and The Ohio State University.
Deadline: November 1, 2024