AFRI Project and Grant Types | FAQ

Not all program area priorities allow conference grant applications, please consult Part I, C of the RFA to determine if a particular program allows them. Letters of Intent are required for all Conference Grants prior to submission of applications. The conference grant LOI must be submitted to the program area priority contact(s) a minimum of 195 days before the conference begins. Applications should be submitted after receiving an LOI decision response and must be submitted a minimum of 150 days before the conference begins. Please see AFRI Requests for Applications and AFRI RFA Resources (“AFRI Grant Types” and “AFRI Letter of Intent Instructions in the Attachment list) for more information. Additionally, there may be instructions for conference grants included in the grant application instructions and conference grant evaluation criteria listed in the AFRI Review Criteria (found in the Attachment list on AFRI RFA Resources).

The purpose of AFRI Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) grants is to strengthen science capabilities in research, education, and/or extension programs. FASE grants are designed to help institutions or states, that have been less successful receiving AFRI grants, and to attract new scientists, pre- and post-doctoral fellows, and educators into careers in high-priority areas of national need in agriculture, food, and environmental sciences.

The FASE grant types are:

• Fellowship grants:
  • Pre-doctoral Fellowship grants
  • Post-doctoral Fellowship grants 
• New Investigator grants:
  • New Investigator Standard Grants
  • New Investigator Seed grants
• Strengthening Grants:
  • Strengthening Seed grants, 
  • Sabbatical grants, 
  • Equipment grants, 
  • Strengthening standard grants, 
  • Strengthening Coordinated Agricultural Project grants, and 
  • Strengthening Conference grants.

The applicant must have advanced to candidacy, (as determined by the applicant’s institutional requirements) by the application deadline. Applicants are expected to provide documentation from his or her institution (usually the applicant’s advisor, department, or the institution’s graduate programs office) by the application deadline. Check the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative – Education and Workforce Development RFA for more information.

The applicant’s doctoral degree must have been conferred no earlier than the date specified in the RFA (based upon the application deadline), and no later than the date specified in the  Postdoctoral Fellowships Program in the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative –Education and Workforce Development (AFRI-EWD) RFA. Please visit the AFRI-EWD Program for additional information.

FASE grant applications are solicited under the program area priorities of each AFRI Request for Applications (RFA). It is important to read each AFRI RFA to identify the appropriate program area priority description that is relevant to the focus of your application. Each RFA includes information on the types of FASE grants that are being solicited, the eligibility requirements, and instructions for the preparation and submission of a FASE application.

Yes, there are dedicated funds (FASE set-aside) for all the FASE grant types except the New Investigator grant types:

• 3.75% of the AFRI funds available for grants each year is allocated to Pre-and Post –doctoral fellowship grants.
• 11.25% of the AFRI funds available for grants each year is allocated to strengthening grants.

Strengthening grants are limited to institutions that qualify as a 1) small and mid-sized or minority-serving institution that has had limited institutional success for receiving Federal funds or (2) State Agricultural Experiment Stations or degree-granting institutions eligible for USDA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) funding. Please see the FAQs below for explanations of small and mid-sized institution, minority-serving institution, limited institutional success, and EPSCoR. 

A New Investigator from one of these strengthening-eligible types of institutions can have their application considered as both a New Investigator application and a Strengthening application.

A flow chart is available to help determine eligibility for a FASE Strengthening grant

Yes, a flow chart is available to help determine eligibility for a FASE Strengthening grant.

A small and mid-sized institution is an academic institution with a current total enrollment of 17,500 or less including graduate and undergraduate and full- and part-time students. The institution must possess a significant degree of autonomy. Significant degree of autonomy is defined by being independently accredited as determined by reference to the current version of the Higher Education Directory, published by Higher Education Publications, Inc., 6400 Arlington Boulevard, Suite 648, Falls Church, Virginia 22042. Eligible small or mid-sized institutions must also have limited institutional success.

For the AFRI Program, minority-serving institution is defined by enrollment of minority group or combination of minority groups exceeds 50%, including graduate and undergraduate and full and part-time students. An institution in this instance is an organization that is independently accredited as determined by reference to the current version of the Higher Education Directory, published by Higher Education Publications, Inc., 6400 Arlington Boulevard, Suite 648, Falls Church, Virginia 22042 (703-532-2300)of total enrollment. Eligible minority-serving institutions must also have limited institutional success.

Limited institutional success means institutions that are not among the 100 most successful universities and colleges for receiving Federal funds for science and engineering research. A list of the top 100 most successful institutions is provided in Table 1 in each AFRI RFA.

Yes, only the lead PD’s institution must meet the eligibility criteria for Strengthening grants.

The FASE program is considered an “EPSCoR-like program” because it aims to improve the research infrastructure and competitiveness of universities and colleges or state agricultural experiment stations in states that have historically received less AFRI research funding in order to spread the agricultural sciences and engineering efforts geographically. However, State Agricultural Experiment Stations or degree-granting institutions in an EPSCoR state are only one of the eligibility categories for FASE program.