[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 217 (Thursday, November 9, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56928-56930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27818]




[[Page 56927]]

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Part VI





Department of Agriculture





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Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service



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Grants and Cooperative Agreements; Availability, etc.: Food and 
Agricultural Sciences and National Needs Graduate Fellowship Grants 
Program; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 217 / Thursday, November 9, 1995 / 
Notices  

[[Page 56928]]


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service


Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate Fellowship 
Grants Program; Solicitation of Proposals for Fiscal Year 1996; 
Supplemental Grants for Special International Study or Thesis/
Dissertation Research Travel Allowances

    Applications are invited for competitive grant awards to colleges 
and universities for doctoral fellowships to meet national needs for 
the development of professional and scientific expertise in the food 
and agricultural sciences for Fiscal Year (FY) 1996. Additionally, the 
Cooperative State Research, Education, and extension Service (CSREES) 
seeks applications from recipients of presently active national needs 
fellowship grants for supplemental grants to support special 
international study or thesis/dissertation research experiences for 
current Fellows:

I. Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate 
Fellowship Grants

Authority

    The authority for this program is contained in Section 1417(b)(6) 
of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy 
Act of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(6)). Under this program, 
subject to the availability of funds, the Secretary may make 
competitive grants, for periods not to exceed five years, to land-grant 
colleges and universities, colleges and universities having significant 
minority enrollments and a demonstrable capacity to carry out the 
teaching of food and agricultural sciences, and to other colleges and 
universities having a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching 
of food and agricultural sciences, to administer and conduct graduate 
fellowship programs to help meet the Nation's needs for development of 
scientific and professional expertise in the food and agricultural 
sciences. Please note that the authorizing legislation for the National 
Needs Graduate Fellowship Grants Program allows the award of grants to 
colleges and universities only; awards cannot be made to research 
foundations established by the college or university.

Targeted Areas

    Food and agricultural sciences areas appropriate for fellowship 
applications are those in which shortages of expertise have been 
determined and targeted by CSREES for national needs doctoral 
fellowship support. In FY 1996, only the doctoral level of study will 
be supported. CSREES supports six national needs areas on a rotating 
basis of three needs areas per fiscal year. The targeted national needs 
areas to be supported in FY 1996 are: Animal Biotechnology; Human 
Nutrition and/or Food Science; and Food, Forest Products, or 
Agribusiness Marketing or Management. Approximately one-third of the 
available funds will be allocated to each of the three national needs 
areas. CSREES plans to support the remaining three national needs areas 
(Plant Biotechnology; Food, Forest, Biological, or Agricultural 
Engineering; and Water Science) in FY 1997. Although this procedure 
limits the participation of an applicant interested in a specific 
targeted national needs area to alternating years, it increases the 
likelihood that the applicant will obtain funding under the program 
each time a grant application is submitted.

Proposal Limitations

    For the FY 1996 program, a proposal may request funding in only one 
national needs area. A proposal may request a minimum of two 
fellowships and a maximum of four fellowships in the national needs 
area for which funding is requested. No limitation is placed on the 
number of proposals an institution may submit. However, the same 
college or equivalent administrative unit within an institution may 
only submit a maximum of three proposals, but no more than one proposal 
may be submitted in any one national needs area by the same college or 
equivalent administrative unit within an institution. While proposals 
must document institution willingness to recruit and train at least two 
but not more than four fellows in a national needs area, CSREES may 
fund fewer fellows than requested in a proposal.

Available Funding

    CSREES anticipates that approximately $3,395,000 will be available 
for this program in FY 1996. This program is highly competitive, and it 
is anticipated that available funding will support approximately 63 
doctoral fellows through approximately ten grants in each of the three 
targeted areas. However, no-year funds drawn from expired fellowship 
grants with unspent funds remaining may be used to fund more than the 
approximately 63 fellows supported by the FY 1996 appropriations.
    Each institution funded will receive $54,000 for each doctoral 
fellowship awarded. However, it is anticipated that total program funds 
available will not be evenly divisible by $54,000. Therefore, one 
fellowship may be supported on a partial basis with a lesser amount of 
funds, or one fellowship may be supported fully by a combination of FY 
1996 funds and unspent funds remaining from expired fellowship grants. 
Except in the case of a partially funded fellowship, fellowship monies 
must be used to (1) support the same doctoral fellow for three years at 
$17,000 per year; and (2) provide for an institution annual cost-of-
education allowance of $1,000, not to exceed a total of $3,000 over the 
duration of the grant. Total funds awarded to an institution under the 
program in FY 1996 shall not exceed $324,000.

Application Information

    An application package is available that provides the forms, 
instructions, and other relevant information needed by institutions to 
apply to the Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate 
Fellowship Grants Program described herein. Copies of the application 
package may be requested from Proposal Services Branch; Awards 
Management Division; Cooperative State Research, Education, and 
Extension Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Room 303, Aerospace 
Center; Ag Box 2245; Washington, D.C. 20250-2245. The telephone number 
is (202) 401-5048. To request, via e-mail, that a copy of the 
application package be sent to you through U.S. mail, send your request 
including your name and mailing address to [email protected].

    Reminder: The proposal narrative must be typed on one side of 
the page only, using a font no smaller than 12 point, and double-
spaced. All margins must be at least one inch. The proposal should 
be paginated and a Table of Contents should be included preceding 
the proposal narrative. Applicants are cautioned to comply with the 
20-page limitation for the narrative section of the proposal. 
Applicants also are cautioned to include summary faculty vitae 
through the use of Form CSREES-708.

When and Where to Submit Proposals

    An original plus six copies of a proposal and one copy of the 
institution's latest graduate catalog must be submitted. Proposals 
submitted through the U.S. mail must be postmarked by February 9, 1996, 
and should be sent to the following address: Proposal Services Branch; 
Awards Management Division; Cooperative State Research, Education, and 
Extension Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Room 303, Aerospace 
Center; Ag Box 

[[Page 56929]]
2245; Washington, D.C. 20250-2245. Hand-delivered proposals must be 
submitted by February 9, 1996, to an express mail or a courier service 
or brought to the following address by 4:30 p.m. eastern standard time: 
Proposal Services Branch; Awards Management Division; Cooperative State 
Research, Education, and Extension Service; U.S. Department of 
Agriculture; Room 303, Aerospace Center; 901 D Street, S.W.; 
Washington, D.C. 20024. Proposals transmitted via a facsimile (FAX) 
machine will not be accepted.
    Submission of an Intent a Submit a Proposal form (Form CSREES-706) 
is neither required nor requested in FY 1996.

II. Special International Study or Thesis/Dissertation Research 
Travel Allowances

Authority

    Under the authority contained in Section 1417(b)(6) of the National 
Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, as 
amended (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(6)), and in accordance with the 
Administrative Provisions for the Food and Agricultural Sciences 
National Needs Graduate Fellowship Grants Program (7 CFR Part 
3402.5(e)), CSREES will award supplemental grants, on a competitive 
basis, for special international study or thesis/dissertation research 
travel allowances. Institutions eligible to receive supplemental grants 
are those that have active National Needs Graduate Fellowship Grants 
(awarded in FY 1995 or eralier). These supplemental grants may be 
awarded to colleges and universities only; awards cannot be made to 
research foundations established by a college or university.

Eligibility

    Eligibility for this opportunity is limited to any current Fellow 
with sufficient time to complete the international experience before 
the termination date of the fellowship grant under which he/she is 
supported. Before the international study or thesis/dissertation 
research travel may commence, a Fellow must have completed one academic 
year of full-time study, as defined by the institution, under the 
fellowship appointment and arrangements must have been formalized for 
the Fellow to study and/or conduct research in the foreign location(s). 
All national needs areas previously supported under the Food and 
Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate Fellowships Grants 
Program are eligible for the supplementary grants for special 
international study or these/dissertation research travel world.

Available Funding

    CREES has determined that no FY 1996 appropriations will be 
targeted to supplemental grants supporting special international study 
or thesis/dissertation research travel allowances; rather, no-year 
funds drawn from expired fellowup grants with unspent funds remaining 
will be used to support such supplemental grants.
    For each travel allowance, the institution may request up to 
$3,000. Travel allowance monies may be used only to pay travel and 
living expenses for the Fellow while the Fellow is on the specific 
international assignment as proposed in the application for the special 
international study or thesis/dissertation research travel allowance. 
No limitation is placed on the number of applications an institution 
may submit. Awards will be made to the extent possible based on 
availability of funds. Estimated funds for supplemental grants in FY 
1996 are approximately $60,000. To the extent possible, all 
applications associated with one CSREES grant number should be 
submitted at the same time in order to facilitate the award of these 
supplemental grants and minimize accounting activity at the grantee 
institution.

Application Information

    A separate application must be submitted by a fellowship grant 
project director at an eligible institution on behalf of each Fellow 
for which a special international study or thesis/dissertation research 
travel allowance is requested. Applications for the special 
international study or thesis/dissertation research travel allowance 
supplemental awards may be submitted at any time prior to July 1, 1996. 
However, to allow time for CSREES to process the applications, 
proposals should be submitted at least three months prior to the 
proposed beginning date of the international travel experience. 
Applicants are urged to submit their proposals early.

    Note: Proposals for these special supplemental awards should not 
be submitted as part of the application for a FY 1996 Graduate 
Fellowship grant.)

    Each application must include an ``Application for Funding,'' Form 
CSREES-661, and a ``Budget,'' Form CSREES-55. To provide HEP with 
sufficient information upon which to evaluate the merits of the 
requests for a special international study or thesis/dissertation 
research travel allowance, each application for a supplemental grant 
must contain a narrative which provides the following: (1) The specific 
destination(s) and duration of the travel; (2) the specific study or 
thesis/dissertation research activities in which the Fellow will be 
engaged; (3) how the international experience will contribute to the 
Fellow's program of study; (4) a budget narrative specifying and 
justifying the dollar amount requested for the travel; (5) summary 
credentials of both the U.S. and international faculty or other 
professionals with whom the Fellow will be working during the 
international experience (summary credentials must not exceed three 
pages per person; ``Summary Vita--Teaching Proposal,'' Form CSREES-708, 
may be used for this purpose); (6) a letter for the dean of the 
Fellow's college or equivalent administrative unit supporting the 
Fellow's travel request and certifying that the travel experience will 
not jeopardize the Fellow's satisfactory progress toward degree 
completion; and (7) a letter from the fellowship grant project director 
certifying the Fellow's eligibility, the accuracy of the Fellow's 
travel request, and the relevance of the travel to the Fellow's 
advanced degree objectives.
    The narrative portion of the application must not exceed 10 pages, 
excluding the summary vita/vitae. The narrative should be typed on one 
side of the page only, using a font no smaller than 12 point, and 
double-spaced. All margins must be at least one inch.
    An application package containing the forms, instructions, and 
other relevant information needed by institutions to apply for the 
special international study or thesis/dissertation research travel 
allowances may be requested from Proposal Services Branch; Awards 
Management Division; Cooperative State Research, Education, and 
Extension Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Room 303, Aerospace 
Center; Ag Box 2245; Washington, DC 20250-2245. The telephone number is 
(202) 401-5048. To request, via e-mail, that a copy of the application 
package be sent to you through U.S. mail, send your request including 
your name and mailing address to [email protected].

Evaluation of Applications

    Applications for the special international travel allowances will 
be evaluated as they are received until available funds for the 
supplemental grants are exhausted. Upon receipt of an application, 
CSREES staff will first determine the eligibility of the Fellow, for 
whom the application was 

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submitted, for an international travel experience. Eligible and 
complete requests then will be reviewed, using the criteria and weights 
indicated below, by professional staff from USDA or other Federal 
agencies, as appropriate. Proposals judged to be worthy of funding will 
be eligible for supplemental awards. Since awards for supplemental 
grants will be made as reviews are completed, there is no assurance 
funds will be available late in the Federal fiscal year (which runs 
from October 1 through September 30) for every acceptable proposal.
    The evaluation criteria for special international study or thesis/
dissertation research travel allowance applications are indicated 
below. The points are provided as a guide to the relative importance of 
each criterion, but all criteria must be addressed satisfactorily.
    a. Destination and duration--the degree to which the destination 
and duration of the travel experience is appropriate for enhancing the 
Fellow's academic program--10 points.
    b. Travel experience activities--the degree to which the specific 
international experiences contribute to the Fellow's program of study--
30 points.
    c. Advance preparations--the degree to which the proposed study or 
research activities are well-planned, including the likelihood that 
these activities will come to fruition and that the participation of 
identified personnel will materialize--20 points.
    d. Budget--the degree to which the budget for the international 
experience is justified--10 points.
    e. Personnel--the degree to which the personnel, both U.S. and 
international, involved with the travel experience have the appropriate 
credentials and experience to direct the Fellow's international 
experience, and the likelihood that their participation as mentor, 
trainers, advisors, or teachers will contribute to the educational 
value of the travel experiences--20 points.
    f. Supporting documentation--the degree to which letters from the 
dean of the college (or equivalent administrative unit) and the 
fellowship grant project director support the application--10 points.

When and Where to Submit Applications

    An original plus six copies of each application must be submitted. 
Each copy of the application should be stapled securely in the upper 
left-hand corner. Please do not bind the original or the copies of the 
application. All copies of the application must be mailed in one 
package. Applications transmitted via a facsimile (FAX) machine will 
not be accepted. Applications submitted through the U.S. mail should be 
sent to the following address: Proposal Services Branch; Awards 
Management Division; Cooperative State Research, Education, and 
Extension Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Room 303, Aerospace 
Center; Ag Box 2245; Washington, DC 20250-2245. Hand-delivered 
proposals, including those submitted to an express mail or a courier 
service, should be brought to the following address: Proposal Services 
Branch; Awards Management Division; Cooperative State Research, 
Education, and Extension Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Room 
303, Aerospace Center; 901 D Street, SW.; Washington, DC 20024. The 
telephone number is (202) 401-5048. Applications may be submitted at 
any time prior to July 1, 1996.

III. Applicable Regulations

    This program is subject to the administrative provisions found at 7 
CFR Part 3402. A Final Rule amending the administrative provisions for 
the Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate Fellowship 
Grants Program was published in the Federal Register on December 30, 
1994 [59 FR 68072].
    In addition, the USDA Uniform Administrative Requirements for 
Grants and Agreements With Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, 
and Other Nonprofit Organizations, 7 CFR Part 3019 (60 FR 44,122 
(August 24, 1995)); the USDA Uniform Federal Assistance Regulations, 7 
CFR Part 3015, as amended; the Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension 
(Nonprocurement) and Governmentwide Requirements for Drug-Free 
Workplace (Grants), 7 CFR Part 3017; the Restrictions on Lobbying, 7 
CFR Part 3018; and the regulations regarding Audits of Institutions of 
Higher Education and Other Nonprofit Institutions, 7 CFR Part 3051, 
apply to this program. Other Federal statutes and regulations that 
apply to this program are identified in the administrative provisions.

IV. Supplementary Information

    This program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance under No. 10.210. For the reasons set forth in the Final 
Rule-related notice to 7 CFR part 3015, Subpart V, 48 FR 29115, June 
24, 1983, when the authority to administer this program resided in the 
Agricultural Research Service, this program is excluded from the scope 
of Executive Order 12372 which requires intergovernmental consultation 
with State and local officials.
    Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 
U.S.C. Chapter 35), the collection of information requirements for this 
program have been approved under OMB Document Nos. 0524-0022 and 0524-
0024.

V. Program Contact

    If you have questions concerning the submission of Food and 
Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate Fellowship Grants Program 
proposals, please contact Dr. Wm. Jay Jackman, Higher Education 
Programs, Science and Education Resources Development, CSREES, USDA, at 
(202) 720-1973 (voice), (202) 720-2030 (fax), or [email protected] 
(Internet).

    Done at Washington, D.C., this 3rd day of November 1995.
Colien Hefferan,
Acting Administrator, Cooperative State Research, Education, and 
Extension Service.
[FR Doc. 95-27818 Filed 11-8-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-22-M