2024 Graduate Student Research Call for Proposals Question and Answer Sessions

We do our best to provide strong feedback to all our applicants. If you do not recieve funding this year, you can use the feedback you recieve to reapply for funding in the following year. Please note that each year, your project will be reviewed by a new group of reviewers, so addressing past feedback does not guarantee project funding in the following year.

Proposals for the Graduate Student Grant are due April 16th. Proposals for the Partnership Grant are due April 9th. 

You do not have to work with cooperative Extension. Any accredited college or university is acceptable. Projects do require a plan to share your results through outreach.

Your project must address issues that are important to farmers in the Northeast, although direct collaboration with farmers is not required. We also encourage projects to consider engaging with diverse farming communities, from farm size and location to production practices or cultural diversity. 

We do not have full example applications. We provide a lot of resources, including the youtube channel, an example completed budget available here https://northeast.sare.org/samplebudget, and funded projects available at https://projects.sare.org/search-projects/?q&search_action=Search&reg=18&st=0&g=6&yl=2020&yh=2024. Applications are confidential, and each year's reviewers may have different feedback for each project, so an example application may not be a helpful resource. 

Projects that are exploratory or looking to address new ideas where little data is available are elligble. Reviewers look for projects to have a direct connection to the Northeast farmers and to Northeast SARE's outcome statement, so it is suggested you anchor your responses in the Northeast, framing global impact secondary to that.

Generally yes, although budget expenses must be specific to the project. If additional personnel time would address an accommodation need, that would likely be considered a specific request. You can also budget for translation, closed captioning, etc as participant support costs for individuals who will be participating in your research or outreach. Finally, most budgets can also include a 10% indirect rate that could support these costs. 

All proposal decisions will be announced at the end of July or Early August. The contract start date for all awarded projects will be August 1st. 

If a project is awarded, the project team will be notified at the end of July. The next step will be contracting, which usually takes about 1 month to complete. All projects will have an August 1st start date, but the contract may not be completed until September. Each college or university has its own policy about when funds can begin being spent. Some may allow you to spend funds as soon as you recieve notice about the award, while others may require the completed contract to be in place first. All funds are provided through reimbursement, and annual reporting is required to recieve reimbursement. 

If you want to purchase equipment that will have a useful lifetime beyond your project, you may need to pro-rate the equipment in your budget. Two alternatives are to consider renting or fabricating the equipment. If the equipment will be owned by the University/College and will be used in perpetuity only for research and education, it may be eligible without the need for pro-rating. Any piece of equipment that is clearly specific to the project is likely fundable in full. In general, capital infrastructure (such as high tunnels) are not elligible expenses, but you may pay for rental of these spaces from the university. Please get in touch with our grant administrator for project specific budget questions: northeast-gs@sare.org

We recognize that $15,000 is a low cap and may not cover the full costs of a project. As long as an expense is eligible, you are certainly welcome to ask for the funding. Further, there is a new question in the proposal that lets you explain how else you are funding your work. Tuition is generally an allowable expense only if it is part of an assistantship. Otherwise, you will need to make a strong case that the tuition funding is to allow you to complete your project. 

No, we don't provide guidance for how much to spend in each category. Instead, we ask that the budget is clearly linked to project outcomes and the project timeline. Reviewers should understand how your funding request is linked to your project needs. 

You can apply for both! If you are funded for specific work by us, it cannot be duplicated by NIFA. So, you would end your contract with us to start your work with NIFA. Or, you can apply for both grants to fund different parts of your research. 

Yes, your project can take a year and a half, but it is always okay to finish a project earlier than your end date. It usually easier to pick an end date that is farther away than you think you will need. 

You cannot use federal funding from two different sources to fund the exact same project. However, your proposal can fund a smaller part of a larger project, as long as that small part is not federally funded. In your timeline, you should make clear what has already been done and what will be specific to this project.

The graduate student project does NOT require a farmer partner, although we think collaboration with farmers often leads to strong projects. If you do choose to work with farmer partners, you can include them as a key individual with a collaborator letter of support, or if they are less involved, that can go under the farming community question.

We consider the graduate student applicant to be the project leader, so you should request your wages under Project Leader. If other students are assisting you, they can be included in student wages. Often, Universities consider the professor to the project leader, but we will direct our communications toward you

It is okay that the larger facility/partner organization uses federal funds, as long as you aren't requesting funding for the same materials. For example, if the partner organization used federal funds to purchase trees, you cannot also request funding to cover the costs of the same trees. 

A college farm or farmer can definitely be included as part of the project team. 

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.  

Your unit should be however you are being paid--hourly, weekly, by academic semester, or as a percentage of your salary (called full time equivalency or FTE). The quantity should be the number of units (ex how many hours will you work in total? or what percentage of your salary will be covered by this project? Every college or university handles this differently, so your faculty advisor may also be able to help. 

You should be as clear as possible about your project proposal and what you are seeking funds for. That may require "setting the stage" of your larger dissertation and/or hypothesis. Be clear in stating what activities are to be completed with this funding and only list the objectives that the research covered in this proposal will address, while providing clarity about the overall goal of your larger research/dissertation. 

Your project leader must be an enrolled graduate student for the graduate program grant. However, you could apply to a variety of our other grant programs, based on your audience and project plans. 

Yes, as long as travel is intended for sharing results, we can fund the travel. It is an important part of the outreach plan.

You do not need to include "no cost" materials in the budget spreadsheet. However, it is important for reviewers to feel confident that you have access to all the materials you need to complete the research. So, you can explain this information in the optional "other funding sources" section. 

The grant needs to add something new to the existing project. It cannot just be further collection or duplication of the same type of data, but if there is an element of new-ness, it is acceptable. 

We know that $15,000 is not a lot, and sometimes it is better to submit a clear, smaller project proposal that seems feasible with this amount of funding, understanding that later research will use other funding. However, you must clearly link your project to the outcome statement and to a benefit for farmers. Foundational research can be funded, but reviewers will look for a clear link to potential importance to Northeast farmers. 

We are legislated to serve farmers, and we use this definition of a farm: https://www.sare.org/wp-content/uploads/Northeast-SAREs-Definition-of-a-Farm.pdf We cannot provide funding directly to capital infrastructure for building a new farm. However, if you can identify a specific research question, it may be fundable. 

Conferences, poster presentations, on-farm site visits, field walks, partnering with other organizations, creation of materials (worksheets, videos, webpages, etc.) For outreach, the number of participants and knowledge gained by participants are both meaningful measures of impact. However, we recognize that the grant applicant has the best understanding of potential impacts for the specific farming community or area of knowledge. For additional examples, check out: https://projects.sare.org/benefits-and-impacts/

No, you can do lab work or social science work that may not take place directly on a farm, for example. Regarding a 'new' farm, we cannot fund capital investments, which would include costs for purchasing land, buildings, greenhouses, etc. In general, project expenses must be clearly linked to the project, not to general farm improvements. 

Both the Graduate Student and the Faculty Advisor (FA) will need to make accounts. The graduate student will be the one applying*. The graduate student will, within the application, link the submission to their FA and the FA will need an account to get them to link up properly. 

From Northeast SARE's perspective, the graduate student is welcome to submit the proposal. You will need to identify a faculty advisor, and you will also need to provide a grant commitment form that is signed by a university official. All of these elements must be provided in your application by the due date. Do note, that both the faculty advisor and graduate student need to have accounts with the Grant Management System to complete the proposal.

You can use any citation method. Please be consistent and ensure that all of the required information is provided for reviewers. 

Include in your proposal narrative that you will be receiving additional funds, and include in your budget only the funding that you are requesting from Northeast SARE. In the timeline, clearly delineate any project work that is separate from what is being supported by SARE funds. From the reviewers' perspective, you want to make sure it's clear that the funding and materials you are asking for demonstrate you have what you need for a successful project. If  work done with other funding is essential to the foundation of a projects' success - include that in the narrative.

In general, most expenses can be justified in 1 to 2 sentences. Provide enough information that reviewers will feel confident that the expense is eligible, as well as information that helps reviewers understand why the item is needed. 

Yes, the budget must be specific. Each item should get its own line on the budget (ex cost of soil test, cost of soil collection probe, cost of labor for collecting soil) would all be separate line items under the appropriate category. 

You can include the full cost of the item (including shipping) as one line item in the budget. 

You will want to set the stage for reviewers so that reviewers understand the context for your project. You can include this in the narrative portions of the application (previous work or materials and methods), and/or in the timeline, being very clear what work will be funded by SARE and what work will be funded from other sources. 

You do not need a letter of support for standard laboratory testing expenses. 

We would recommend submitting a full budget that represents your ideal project. You may want to include a note in the materials and methods section that explains your backup plan, or simply that you have one. If your project is funded, and you need to adjust your methods to reach your objectives, we will be able to modify your budget.

If you are not  able to provide letters of commitment directly from the farmers, you can instead provide a letter of commitment from the organization that represents them. 

Graduate students often present at conferences or farmer events. You could also look at creating a YouTube video, podcast, flyer or worksheet. Think about the farmers that would benefit from your study and try to present the information in the way that is easiest for them to access. You can view existing, national SARE, resources for inspiration at: https://northeastsare.org/resources/

The project description is only 300 characters (about 70 words). This is mostly used for search results. The project abstract is a longer summary (250 words) that can more fully capture the details of your project, like an executive summary.

If a project is awarded, our finance team will review the budget to ensure that all the line items are eligible and clear. We reimburse your spending based on the expenses that are included on your budget. If you need to change your budget as your project progresses, we are able to do that.

Include in your proposal narrative that you will be receiving additional funds, and include in your budget only the funding that you are requesting from Northeast SARE. In the timeline, clearly delineate any project work that is separate from what is being supported by SARE funds. From the reviewers' perspective, you want to make sure it's clear that the funding and materials you are asking for demonstrate you have what you need for a successful project. If  work done with other funding is essential to the foundation of a projects' success - include that in the narrative.

In general, most expenses can be justified in 1 to 2 sentences. Provide enough information that reviewers will feel confident that the expense is eligible, as well as information that helps reviewers understand why the item is needed. 

You have a 750-word limit for the Outreach section. The Grant Management System has the correct, 750-word limit indicated. *This document has since been updated with the correct limit

This question is only a checkbox. You may be inclined to expand on it within other sections of the narrative application, but it is not required. Note: There was a typo in the prep doc causing this confusion which has been corrected.