Background & Requirement

AgBioResearch (ABR) is a recipient of USDA-NIFA federal capacity funds that support agricultural research programs in State Agricultural Experiment Stations at land-grant institutions. A capacity project serves as a broad framework for organizing and guiding research efforts, regardless of the specific funding source. The project plan outlines long-term (up to five-year) research goals, objectives, anticipated outcomes, and potential stakeholder impacts. It is designed to be adaptable, evolving alongside the researcher’s developing areas of interest and expertise. The USDA-NIFA capacity funds are provided to ABR, rather than directly to individual researchers, to strengthen the University’s overall research capacity - for example, by supporting personnel and initiatives that advance Michigan State University’s research agenda.

Every faculty with a partial appointment in ABR is required to maintain an approved active 5-year project that broadly describes their research activities, contributions and impacts to meet the research mission of ABR. The required 5-year project proposals (a new faculty has 9 months from their appointment starting date to prepare for a proposal) can be submitted in the following three federal funded USDA Capacity programs – Hatch, McIntire-Stennis, and Animal Health and Disease.  AgBioResearch (ABR) awards and administers these three programs and the Hatch Multistate Research Project program, all of which are described below. Participation in Hatch Multistate Research project(s) is not required, but highly beneficial for faculty. (see page 2 for project proposal submission steps)

As a recipient of these capacity funds, ABR is required by USDA to demonstrate impact and value through annual written financial and technical reports. Once a project is initiated, faculty are responsible for completing an annual progress report between December 1st to February 15th of each reporting year (reporting period: October 1 20xx to September 30 20xx+1) and a final report. Faculty with delinquent annual/final project reports and without an approved active 5-year project in Hatch, McIntire-Stennis, or Animal Health and Disease will not be eligible for internal funding opportunities through AgBioResearch (i.e. graduate student support, equipment, seed grant, internal RFP’s, grant matches, etc).