Graduate Student Research Grant Program

Northeast SARE offers grants to graduate students to conduct research on topics specific to sustainable agriculture under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Proposals should address issues of current or potential importance to Northeast farmers, agricultural researchers, and farm support professionals like NRCS personnel, Extension educators, and nonprofit staff.

Projects may address a range of topics including, but not limited to, cropping systems, pest management, livestock health, social sustainability, soil quality, farm energy production, farm labor, urban agriculture, and the marketing of local agricultural products. They must also explore one or more of the sustainable agriculture themes of environmental stewardship, profitability, and quality of life for farmers and the farm community. Projects must be consistent with our outcome statement and address the program’s review criteria.

To see examples of funded Graduate Student Research Grant projects, visit the national SARE database at: projects.sare.org/search-projects/.

Eligible Applicants

This grant program is open to any graduate student enrolled at an accredited college, university, or veterinary school who is proposing to conduct research in the Northeast region. Proposals are limited to one per graduate student per year. An individual student may receive only one Northeast SARE Graduate Student Grant over the course of their studies.

Northeast SARE encourages projects submitted from or in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ community and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). Additionally, we encourage projects submitted from or in collaboration with Minority Serving Institutions (including 1890 land grant institutions and other historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and tribal colleges and universities) and other organizations in the Northeast that work with historically underrepresented communities.

Proposals must be written by the graduate student applicant, in support of their individual research effort and not that of a group project or team of researchers. While collaboration is encouraged, the graduate student applicant will be the manager and contact for the project, if funded. As such, they are expected to lead all aspects of the application and subsequently to make sure the proposed work is completed, and project reports are filed in a timely fashion.

If the project is part of a larger project or thesis, the portion of work proposed for SARE funding must be clearly identified.

Applicants and host organizations may be located outside of the Northeast region if the project activities and the audience served are located within the Northeast region. Current SARE grant recipients who are behind in their reporting will not be awarded a new project.

Northeast SARE will not fund proposals that appear to duplicate work that has been approved for funding by another grant program within or external to SARE. It is the applicant’s responsibility to make clear to reviewers that any proposed work is unique, especially if it is similar to work proposed to another grant program. The proposed work may build on or complement another project, but it must be clearly differentiated. If a SARE proposal is approved for funding and a proposal to fund the same work is also approved by another grant program, only one source of funding can be accepted. Application deadline has passed.

We encourage you to reach out to us regarding any challenges you experience as you plan and submit your proposal. To do so or to specifically request a disability-related accommodation, please contact Northeast SARE as soon as possible at 802-651-8335 or northeastsare@uvm.edu. Depending on the type of request it may take our team two or more weeks to provide accommodations. We appreciate advance notice, so we have time to effectively address your request.

The Role of Faculty Advisors

Because universities typically do not allow students to manage institutional grant awards, the student applicant's faculty advisor will be named the principal investigator of the awarded grant. The faculty advisor must endorse the proposal and act as the official principal investigator; therefore, they must ensure the project and budgeted expenditures proposed are acceptable.

Timing & Funds Available

Grants are capped at $15,000 and projects can run up to two years. Proposals are typically due in the spring with a late summer start date.

Questions?

Please contact Northeast SARE with your questions.