2013 AFRI Foundational Request For Applications

October 31, 2012 — 

USDA-NIFA is announcing funding opportunities for animal health, animal welfare, food safety and nanotechnology research applications. Application information is available online.

Programs related to Animal Agriculture include:

Program Area: Animal Health and Production and Animal Products
Letter of Intent Deadline - November 15, 2012 (5:00 p.m. ET);
(Letters of Intent are required in order to send a full proposal.)
Application Deadline - January 9, 2013 (5:00 p.m. ET);
Priorities:

• Animal Reproduction
• Animal Nutrition, Growth, and Lactation
• Animal Health and Disease
• Tools and Resources for Animal Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics

Program Area: Agriculture Systems and Technology
Letter of Intent Deadline - November 20, 2012 (5:00 p.m. ET);
(Letters of Intent are required in order to send a full proposal.)
Application Deadline - February 13, 2013 (5:00 p.m. ET);
Priorities:

• Engineering, Products, and Processes
  • Contribute to improved animal welfare and production systems as the relate to handling, containment, feeding, housing, and harvesting practices and technologies;)
  • Enable engineering, computing, and information systems for forestry and natural resources or for plant and animal production, processing, and distribution
• Nanotechnology for Agricultural and Food Systems:
  • Nanoscale-based sensing mechanisms and smart sensors for reliable and cost-effective early detection of insects, diseases, pathogens, chemicals, and contaminants;
  • Monitoring physiological biomarkers for optimal crop or animal productivity;

Program Area: Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health
Letter of Intent Deadline - November 19, 2012 (5:00 p.m. ET); (Letters of Intent are required in order to send a full proposal.)
Application Deadline - February 6, 2013 (5:00 p.m. ET);
Priorities:

• Physical and Molecular Mechanisms of Food Contamination
  • Develop and validate novel concentration and purification methods for the rapid, low-cost, and efficient isolation of human pathogens from foods. Projects that include the development and validation of methods which are effective in multiple food matrices and for multiple pathogens are preferred.
• Improving Food Quality
  • Understanding the physical, chemical, and biological properties of foods and food ingredients and applying engineering principles, and advanced processing and packaging technologies to improve the nutrition, health, safety, shelf-life, convenience, economic and/or sensory attributes of foods.

For questions about specific programs, please contact the respective program contacts listed in the RFA.