1. 2011 Systems Science Grantsmanship Workshop USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture in cooperation with University of Tennessee AgResearch

4. Prior Workshops

6. The Grant Process: Application, Review, and Award Daniel Schmoldt

7. The Application Process If Grants.gov doesn’t find any validation errors, another email will be sent saying the application has been accepted This part of the process also takes time If you get this email with a time stamp that is prior to the deadline, you’ve made it into the review process. After you have submitted, you will get an email notifying you that the application package has been received Most other federal departments use Grants.gov Most deadlines are 5 PM eastern Start the process well ahead of time All applications for USDA grants must be submitted through Grants.gov

8. Application e-Correspondence #1 – Grants.gov Submission Receipt Number—this should be received within minutes of submission #2 – Grants.gov Submission Validation Receipt for Application Number—this should be received within 48 hrs of submission #3 – Grants.gov Grantor Agency Retrieval Receipt for Application Number—this should be received 2-3 days after validation #4 – Receipt of Grant Application Number for Review at USDA—this should be received within 2 wks of closing date After an application package is submitted, the AR will receive a series of four e-mails. The titles of the four e-mails are:

9. Application e-Correspondence If accepted for peer review, the application will be assigned a NIFA application number (e.g., YEAR-XXXXX). This number should be cited on all future correspondence. And, there’s one more…

10. The Review Process The first part of the process is the administrative review –A main focus of the administrative review is to facilitate the peer review The second part of the process is a peer review

11. Administrative Review Applicant eligibility Application pertains to program All essential elements of application present Documents in PDF format COI lists C&PS forms Page and budget limits Evidence of matching funds If these criteria are met, the application is accepted for peer review and a notification email sent with a CSREES application number

12. The Peer-Review Process Reviewers for a particular year are selected based on the types of applications that are submitted –All panelists are considered experts in their fields –Panelists can include: academia, federal labs, NGOs, industry, technology providers –Around 30 % of the panelists are from the previous year –A number of diversity criteria are applied before invitations are sent

13. The Peer-Review Process Each application must be reviewed by at least 3 external reviewers –Panelists are generally assigned 10 to 20 applications to review –Reviewers are provided with the RFA and the evaluation criteria –Applications that don’t adhere to the guidelines and criteria are not likely to be funded

14. The Peer-Review Process During panel discussion, reviewers may change their impression of an application Even though they scored it high, they may not rate it high The ranking process compares each application with all others in their rating category Applications are given a number starting at one

15. The Award Process Program Director(s) and PM propose a set of recommended awards, based on: Program funds available Panel rankings Legal mandates USDA policies Recommen- dations are reviewed with AD of sub-Institute Program Director(s) make the recommend- ed award calls to PDs Declination and award emails are sent to applicants

16. The Award Process Official award notification sent to institution from ADO Awards Management Division conducts further checks and prepares contractual documents Completed application sent from program office to contracting office Updated, missing, or incomplete forms/documents requested by program staff (including CRIS forms)