1. NIFA - Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Agricultural Economics and Rural Communities (AERC) and Socioeconomics of Bioenergy and Bioproducts (BNRE) 2016 RFA Informational Webinar June 7, 2016 Conference Call # 888-844-9904 Access code: 964 9398 Link to recorded webinar: tbd

2. Welcome to the AFRI AERC and BNRE Request for Applications Informational Webinar Program Leaders –Robbin Shoemaker –Fen Hunt –Denis Ebodaghe Program Specialists –Jason Boim –Lelan Dixon

3. Webinar Outline Brief overview of AERC and BNRE programs Grant types and eligibility Overview of specific AERC and BNRE program areas Please take note Points of contact Questions – please ask your question in the chat box –Please mute your phone and computer microphone during presentation! –Please use only your phone OR computer speakers—not both

4. Letter of Intent (LOI)—NOT used this year. Proposal/Application Deadline – date varies by program; 5:00 p.m. ET Program Funds – Approximately $17 million (AERC) Project types – (1) Research Only and (2) Integrated (multi-function) Five AERC Programs and two Project types Research Projects (research only) –Economics, Markets and Trade –Environmental and Natural Resource Economics –Behavioral and Experimental Economic Applications for Agri-Environmental Policy (BE for AgrEnv) –Innovation for Rural Entrepreneurs and Communities Integrated Projects (research, extension, and/or education) –Small and Medium-Sized Farms –Innovation for Rural Entrepreneurs and Communities (IREC) NOTE: IREC projects can be either Research only or Integrated 2016 AFRI Foundational Program RFA Agricultural Economics & Rural Communities: Overview

5. Grant Types and Eligibility Standard Grants—support original scientific research or integrated projects $500,000 max (including indirect costs) for up to 4 years. BE for AgrEnv, $250,000 max (including indirect costs) for up to 2 years Conference Grants—support scientific meetings. $50,000 max; does not support salaries or indirect costs. Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants (a) New Investigator—available to early career individuals (<5yrs), any institution (same proposal as standard grant, just flag that you are NI) (b) Strengthening Grants--subject to institutional eligibility conditions - Types of Strengthening Grants Sabbatical Grants—one year salary, travel and supplies Seed Grants—collect preliminary data or perform preliminary research in support of potential future proposals. - Strengthening grant eligibility: EPSCoR states, small and mid-sized or minority-serving institutions, (see RFA). NIFA strongly encourages partnerships with strengthening grant eligible institutions Strengthen research, education or extension capacity Please read RFA—it’s all in there!.

6. 2016 AERC and BNRE Program Information Summary Program Area Program Code Proposal due date Max Project Budget Max Project Time Frame Project Type Economics, Markets and TradeA164111-Aug $500,0004 yrsResearch Innovation for Rural Entrepreneurs and Communities A166131-Aug $500,0004 yrs Research or Integrated Behavioral and Experimental Economic Applications for Agri-Environmental Policy Design A165214-Jul $250,0002 yrsResearch Environmental and Natural Resource Economics A165118-Aug $500,0004 yrsResearch Small and Medium-Sized FarmsA160125-Aug $500,0004 yrsIntegrated Socioeconomic Implications and Public Policy Challenges of Bioenergy and Bioproducts Market Development and Expansion A141321-Jul $500,0004 yrsResearch

7. AERC Programs and Project Types Economics, Markets and Trade – Research only –Applied micro - structure, function & performance of agricultural sector; producer & consumer behavior; domestic & trade policy Innovation for Rural Entrepreneurs and Communities – Research or Integrated –Design, analysis and implementation of strategies to enhance economic opportunities and well-being of rural business and communities Small & Medium-Sized Farms – Integrated only –Design, analysis and implementation of strategies to enhance economic opportunities and well-being of Small & Medium-Sized farms

8. AERC Programs and Project Types, cont. Environmental and Natural Resources Economics – Research only –Advances economic theories/tools/analyses in ecosystem valuation, nonmarket benefit valuation; NRE/conservation policy; agro- environmental interaction Behavioral and Experimental (BE) Economic Applications for Agri-Environmental Policy Design – Research only –Novel applications BE to agri-environmental concerns, and the enhancement and determination of “best practices” of BE for use with conservation policy design and implementation. (Joint NIFA-ERS Pilot program)

9. Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment (BNRE): Socioeconomic Implications and Public Policy Challenges of Bioenergy and Bioproducts Market Development and Expansion Assess socioeconomic impacts and policy challenges of bioenergy and bioproducts (B&B) industries for rural communities –Identify best practices contributing to economic and environmental sustainability of emerging B&B markets; –address various policy or socio-economic dimensions of B&B systems; –explore policy or socioeconomic implications of the bioeconomy; –examine the forces or barriers to the expansion of B&B production; –evaluate policy instruments to stimulate efficient market expansion and development; –assess other socioeconomic issues and public policy challenges BNRE is located a different part of AFRI Foundation Program RFA (not AERC)

10. -- Must include Research and one or two other functions: Research: –develop new knowledge Education: –formal classroom/laboratory instruction and practicum experience Extension: –delivers science-based knowledge and informal educational programs to people, enabling them to make practical decisions. –Eligibility: Project Director must come from public or private college or university, collaborators may be otherwise. –Additional requirements—see RFA Integrated Programs

11. New and Improved for 2016 - I Behavioral and Experimental Economic Applications for Agri- Environmental Policy Design –Joint pilot program between NIFA and ERS –Anticipate 4 awards, $250,000, 2 years –Research will apply behavioral and experimental (BE) techniques to agri- environmental issues involving laboratory or field experiments. –This program area priority is intended to advance the application of BE to conservation policy design and implementation. –Program emphasis is on the creation and development of new and novel means of applying BE to agri-environmental concerns, and the enhancement and determination of “best practices” of BE for use with conservation policy design and implementation. –Research projects should employ experiments 11

12. New and Improved for 2016 - II Pilot Peer Review process for Economic Markets and Trade – only! Distributed Peer Review (DPR) Background –Distributed peer-review process is based on game theory and mechanism design –Approach: designing a mechanism that reflects human behavior and structures choices and decisions making such that individuals will behave optimally The basic design of DPR –Applicants are the reviewers –Proposals are distributed among applicants –Incentives are structured to achieve objectivity and honest assessments Piloted by NSF engineering program –Application numbers increased –Quality and length of written reviews increased –Distributions of ratings similar to traditional peer review

13. New and Improved for 2016 – II, cont. DPR process in a nutshell –Key feature: Applicants are the reviewers Applicants must agree to participate in DPR Conflicts of interests assessed and addressed Reviewers are randomly assigned 7 proposals Each proposal receives 7 reviews (2x traditional number of reviews) Reviewers rank the proposals from best to worse –according to what they think is the global ranking –not personal ranking –Incentives – Key design feature Stick - if PD/R does not review, their proposal is pulled from consideration Carrot - if their ranking of reviews mirrors global ranking, their proposal’s rank is increased 13

14. Please take note… Letter of Intent—Not used in 2016 Application Deadline is absolute: date varies by program, 5:00 p.m. ET –Submit proposal early to grants.gov to avoid missing deadline Ensure that your organization is registered with: –grants.gov –System for Award Management (SAM), –Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number Budget narrative—Be transparent Letters of support—do not use “form letters”, letters of support should be current, specify the role of the individual or group supporting your endeavor –Letters cannot be from project team members IRB approval for projects involving human subjects Submit in PDF format—MS Word documents will not be accepted Refer to RFA, most questions are addressed there

15. Points of Contact Robbin Shoemaker rshoemaker@nifa.usda.gov 202-720-5468 Fen Hunt fhunt@nifa.usda.gov 202-720-4114 Denis Ebodaghe debodaghe@nifa.usda.gov 202-401-4385 Links to abstracts of funded projects: AERC Projects -- http://tinyurl.com/AERC-Projects BNRE Project -- http://1.usa.gov/1rZeiU0 Program Specialists Jason Boim | jboim@nifa.usda.gov | 202-401-6188jboim@nifa.usda.gov Lelan Dixon | lelan.D.Dixon@nifa.usda.gov | 202-401-6950lelan.D.Dixon@nifa.usda.gov