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NIFA Peer Review Process for Competitive Grant Applications

NIFA reviews all applications accepted into the individual competitive programs through the peer review process. The following description of that process portrays general concepts that are shared among NIFA competitive grants programs. However, specific details on the panel meeting, review format, and evaluation criteria may vary among programs. Processes and procedures specific to the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) are noted.

Guidance Resources Moved to USDA.gov

To comply with Executive Order 13891, NIFA is reviewing all online resources to identify guidance documents and webpages. The content on this page may have moved and may now be accessible on the new USDA Guidance Portal. If the content was moved, you can access the content directly on the portal by clicking the button link below.

Page last updated: March 16, 2026

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