Inside this Issue
- Impacts on Research Funding, a message from Dr. Gary Pierzynski, Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Education
- FY24 Internal Grants Program RFP Now Available for New Researcher Incentive & Immediate Needs Programs
- Congratulations to Dr. Gary Pierzynski, the 2023 recipient of the American Society of Agronomy Distinguished Service Award!
- 14 Interns Complete the 2023 OSU Research Internship Program (ORIP) on the CFAES Wooster Campus and present their research findings
Funding Opportunties
As funding opportunities are announced we will compile a full list on our website. The web page will be updated periodically as new opportunities are discovered.
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NIH Director’s Transformative Research
This Award supports individual scientists or groups of scientists proposing groundbreaking, exceptionally innovative, original, or unconventional research with the potential to create new scientific paradigms, establish new and improved clinical approaches, or develop transformative technologies.
Deadline: September 1, 2023 -
Centers for Ag Safety and Health
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) within the CDC invites apps for the Centers for Ag Safety & Health. These centers will conduct high quality research and disseminate their findings and recommendations to improve the safety and health of ag, forestry, & fishing workers.
Deadline: October 24, 2023
View All Funding Opportunities
Impacts on Research Funding
Gary Pierzynski, Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Education
Despite the warm temperatures, summer is drawing to a close and the students will be back on campus in less than one month. Hopefully, you have checked off everything on your summer “to do” list. If not, you still have a few weeks left.
Several updates are in order. In May, I wrote about pending legislation at both the state and federal levels that could impact research funding. On the federal side, the debt limit legislation passed without a government default on the national debt. Part of that deal involves reductions in federal spending for FY24 and only small increases in FY25. The federal FY24 budget is still in the works but no doubt we will be faced with flat to decreased funding for our federal capacity funds, and small increases at best for USDA-NIFA funding. Talks on the Farm Bill have stalled but efforts that would result in significant increases to the USDA programs that provide our funding seem unlikely.
Within Ohio we fared quite well with the passage of the biennial budget in June. The state budget line for CFAES Research received a 3% increase over the previous year. OSU Extension and the Sea Grant program also received a 3% increase. We have preliminary data on the close out of FY23 for CFAES and, for the second year in a row, we are on track for a significant increase in research expenditures compared to the previous year. Research expenditures are just one metric to judge our impact and success.
Overall, both increased research expenditures and state funding reflect the excellent work you do to obtain that funding and to convince the state legislature that we provide valuable services to the citizens of Ohio and beyond. Keep up the good work!
Spotlight
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Crash Course in NIH Grants Fundamentals
NIH has curated playlists of their YouTube videos designed to provide an overview of the grants process, different funding programs available, key tools to use as you develop your application, and grant writing advice straight from NIH staff. -
Paper and Bytes Training
This instructor-led virtual workshop will help participants become more knowledgeable about OSU policies, legal requirements and best practices concerning the retention, management and disposition of records in their care.
FY24 Internal grants program RFP Now Available!
Alex Maddox, CFAES IGP Coordinator
The CFAES Office for Research & Graduate Education is pleased to announce the FY2024 Internal Grants Program Request for Proposals. Keep an eye out for more information in the next week and be sure to review the RFP and application templates for the full list of proposal requirements. We are excited to announce the competition award level has increased for FY24. Student competitions will be released later in the summer.
New Researcher Incentive Program (maximum of $75,000 per award)
- Objective: CFAES recognizes that many new researchers have the interest and ability to develop innovative and robust research programs that can generate preliminary data needed to secure externally funded sponsored projects. The New Researcher Incentive Program aims to fund new, innovative research to generate that preliminary data.
- Eligibility: Principal Investigators must be in a tenure-eligible position, research scientists, or postdoctoral researchers in an academic unit or program within CFAES. New Researchers must also have been employed at OSU for less than six years in their current position and have PI status approval from the Office of Research. Adjunct or Emeritus faculty are not eligible. Positions designated as limited or Co-PI status by the Office of Research are not eligible.
Immediate Needs Program (maximum of $75,000 per award)
- Objective: CFAES recognizes the high potential to address immediate needs areas that are critical to our stakeholders and society. The Immediate Needs program provides funding to address critical needs by exploring new areas of research that CFAES does not currently address and/or applied research that directly supports CFAES stakeholders. The program will also consider funding projects that provide researchers and teams the resources to learn or develop new techniques or approaches that will position CFAES to better serve stakeholders or make faculty more competitive for future funding opportunities. Proposals must be submitted by a group (2 or more) of investigators. Investigators (both lead and Co-PI) may be from the same academic unit, but not the same lab.
- Eligibility: All CFAES researchers with Principal Investigator status are eligible to submit a proposal (except adjunct and emeritus faculty).
Deadline
Due 10/11/23 by 5:00 p.m. Please submit online via the CFAES-R&GE Internal Grants Submission Portal.
*Please note that the Intellectual Property Accelerator Program has been discontinued due to lack of interest and applications. Similar funding opportunities are available through the Nationwide AgTech Innovation Hub program, the Ohio State Accelerator Awards, and the OSU Presidents Research Excellence (PRE) Program.
Learn More
Interested in learning more about IGP? Please direct all questions to CFAES-IGP@osu.edu or visit go.osu.edu/fy24-igp for more information. You can also join us for an info session on:
- Tuesday, September 19 from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. – Register
- Wednesday, September 20 from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. – Register
- Thursday, September 21 from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. – Register
In the News
NSF News
- Friday, October 20, 2023 (5:00 PM submitter’s local time) is the last day to submit the NSF fillable PDF format for the biographical sketch and current and pending (other) support.
- Proposers currently may prepare the biographical sketch and current and pending (other) support using either SciENcv or the fillable PDFs.
- Please see the NSF biographical sketch and current and pending (other) support websites for more information.
NIFA’S FY 2022 Annual Report Now Available
The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provides real-world solutions for real-world problems. The agency improves the lives of people in the United States and across the globe by facilitating the advancement and application of science and technological tools.
In Fiscal Year 2022, NIFA awarded more than 2,500 grants totaling $2.2 billion to a diverse and inclusive stakeholder community. In addition to their traditional funding opportunities, NIFA also managed more than $512 million in new funds through the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. These new funds equaled nearly one-third of their total NIFA appropriations.
Research Development & Grant Writing News
We invite you to access the current issue of Research Development and Grant Writing News. The Enterprise for Research, Innovation, and Knowledge | Research Development Office provides access to this subscription-based newsletter for the entire campus community.
- Support Opportunities for Post-Docs & Junior Faculty in the Humanities
- Engineering Research Initiation: What Is It, For Who?
- Last-Minute NSF CAREER Checklist – NSF CAREER proposals are due July 26th
- NSF Dear Colleague Letters & Funding Mechanisms
- Narrative Space Is Limited ̶ Use It Wisely
- Strategies for Proposal Resubmissions
Update: CFAES SPO Assignments
As of August 1, 2023 the list of CFAES Sponsored Program Officers (SPOs) has been updated to reflect their new assignments. Please take a moment to check out the updated list and find the SPO for your department.
National Agricultural Library Support for NIFA Grant Applicants
NIFA is partnering with National Agricultural Library (NAL) for a webinar highlighting NAL resources available to NIFA grantees and potential grant applicants.
NAL is one of five national libraries of the US. Part of the USDA, NAL is the premiere ag research library in the world and houses one of the largest collections devoted to food and ag and its related sciences. NAL serves USDA customers by providing access to physical and digital collections, as well as a range of research tools and services to support agricultural research and policy making. Registration is required for attending. The event will be recorded, and the video will be available on the registration link page without registering.
Date: August 17, 2023 | Time: 1 PM-2:30PM CST | Venue: Zoom
USDA Unveils New Tool to Track Federally Funded Investments
USDA has released two new data dashboards that allow users the unprecedented ability to access high-level data about NIFA’s agricultural research funding investments and track the status of their grant applications.
Join our team!
CFAES R&GE has an exciting opening for a Grants and Contracts Management Analyst. We are currently operating under a remote hybrid operation and seek candidates with various levels of experience. This position can be located on either the Columbus or Wooster campus.
This position is part of the Grant Development Support Unit, supporting pre-award and proposal development activities.
Dr. Gary Pierzynski Receives 2023 American Society of Agronomy Distinguished Service Award!
Congratulations to Dr. Gary Pierzynski, the 2023 recipient of the American Society of Agronomy Distinguished Service Award!
Gary is the CFAES Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education & Director of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station.
The American Society of Agronomy Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual or team who has made a transformational contribution to the profession of agronomy. This award recognizes development of agronomic service programs, practices, and products for acceptance by the public. The focus is on agronomic service with associated educational, public relations, administrative contributions, and efforts as member(s) of the American Society of Agronomy.
Grant Budgeting
Effective 8-1-23: When budgeting tuition into your grant budget, you will need to increase to 3.8% in year one and a 3% increase in future years. This is a lower amount than we have applied in the past (6%). Contact the CFAES Grant Development Support Unit (GDSU) at gdsu@osu.edu to obtain an updated budget template.
Grant Monitoring
The PI Portal and Workday allow you to monitor all aspects of your award including appointments, expenditures, human subject protocols, and other commitments. It is incredibly important to check each month to see if all expenditures and appointments are correct. Refer to these handy help sheets when navigating the system > PI Portal and Workday Grant Management.
Controlled Substances Training
The Office of Research Compliance has created an online training for investigators using controlled substances in their non-therapeutic research. The training is now live on Buckeyelearn. You can use this go-link to direct people to the training: go.osu.edu/consub. Alternatively, you can find the course by logging into Buckeyelearn and searching for “Use of Controlled Substances in Non-Therapeutic Research.”
Impact of NIFA-Funded Research and Outreach
Label Date, Not Phrasing, Drives Consumer Decisions to Toss Food
Up to half of consumers may decide to pour perfectly good milk down the drain based solely on their glance at the date label on the carton, a new study suggests.
Ohio State University researchers using eye-tracking technology found that 50% of study participants declared their intent to throw away milk based on the date stamped on the container – without ever even looking at the label phrasing in front of the date.
14 Interns Complete the 2023 OSU Research Internship Program
From Avi- and Roca-Hepeviruses to Beech Leaf Disease to Twospotted Spider Mites, the work that the 2023 OSU Research Internship Program (ORIP) cohort got to be a part of represented the diverse collection of research that takes place on the CFAES Wooster Campus and showcased the students' hard work and passion for their fields of study.
Throughout the duration of the 10-week program, interns worked with their mentors and the faculty advisor to write a report detailing their research topic, methods, and findings, due at the end of the program. Stay tuned to the R&GE social media accounts for highlights of the ORIP interns and their summer research projects.
Read More R&GE FB R&GE Twitter
Recent Awards
- Nicole Arnold - OSU Extension/FST, $142,694: Food Safety Training and Technical Assistance for Cottage Food and Home Bakery Operations in Ohio, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Soledad Benitez-Ponce - Plant Path, $19,950: Identification of plant pathogen threats to endemic species in the Galapagos Archipelago, Conservation, Food and Health Foundation
- Josh Blakeslee - HCS, $24,391: Addressing auxinic herbicide drift through sprayable "pre-protectants" and advancement of detection methods, OH Grape Industries Committee
- Jessica Cooperstone - HCS/FST, $647,000: An apple a day: Interrogating apple for crop nutritional quality improvement, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Darren Drewry - FABE, $219,543: CAREER: Land-atmosphere coupling and feedback in the context of climate change, National Science Foundation Div of Atmospheric Sciences
- Gary Gao - OSU Extension, $153,600: Viticulture Extension FY24, OH Grape Industries Committee
- S. Dee Jepsen - FABE, $171,824: Expanding the SAY R.E.A.C.H. with Resources for Education and Adoption into Classrooms and Outreach Programs, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Tammy Jones - OSU Extension, $30,000: Pike County career technology center
- Carolyn Lee - CFAH, $60,000: Real Pork Scholars Program, National Pork Board
- Hannah Scheppler - HCS, $117,837: Genome-wide association to identify resistance to Phytophthora capsici root rot in landrace chile peppers, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Todd Steiner - HCS, $113,750: Enology Extension FY24, OH Grape Industries Committee
- Robyn Wilson - SENR, $120,398: Increasing motivation and promoting persistence in farmer conservation, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research
- Shaohui Wu - ENT, $748,185: Pest management using novel bacterial toxins with pecan as a model crop system, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Anastasia Vlasova - CFAH, $196,875: Rotavirus reverse genetics system to study viral pathogenesis and receptor interactions, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease
Events & Opportunities
- NIFA Follow-Up Q&A Session
Professional Development for Agricultural Literacy FY 2023 Request for Applications
August 9 from 8:00-9:00 PM - National Agricultural Library Support for NIFA Grant Applicants
NAL resources available to NIFA grantees and potential grant applicants
August 17 from 2:00-3:00 PM - NIFA Transdisciplinary Approaches
Opportunities and challenges of transdisciplinary approaches in agricultural research
August 30 from 12:00-1:00 PM