Research

The AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program supports grants in six AFRI priority areas to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture.

The AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program supports grants in six AFRI priority areas to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture. The six priority areas are: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities.

Research-only, extension-only, and integrated research, education and/or extension projects are solicited in this Request for Applications (RFA).

See Foundational and Applied Science RFA for specific detail.

Applications this year must be submitted through the website Unified Grant Management for Viticulture and Enology (UGMVE) linked above. This is the same web-based grant platform used by the program until two years ago, which also hosts several other grape research grant programs. Returning applicants who have used the UGMVE website in the past can log in with their past information. Applicants who have not used this website before will need to create an account. Note that account information associated with the AmpliFund system that was used the past two years has not been transferred to the UGMVE website.

Request for Proposals (RFP) Released December 1, 2024
Proposals Due January 31, 2025
Award Notifications Approximately May 15, 2025
Start Date for Grants July 1, 2025

The Pierce's Disease and Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Board (PD/GWSS Board) provides funding support to research and outreach projects focused on protecting vineyards, preventing the spread of pests and diseases, and delivering practical and sustainable solutions. The PD/GWSS Board accepts proposals for research and outreach projects on the following serious pests and diseases of winegrapes:

Pierce’s disease and its vectors, especially the glassy-winged sharpshooter
Brown marmorated stink bug
Grapevine fanleaf disease
Grapevine leafroll disease
Grapevine red blotch disease
Mealybug pests of winegrapes
Spotted lanternfly

The PD/GWSS Board’s Research and Outreach Program is funded by a special assessment paid by the California winegrape industry. Prior awards have ranged from $4,300 per year to $383,000 per year, with projects ranging from one to three years in duration.

Any individual or group with expertise in winegrape pest and disease research and/or outreach and has affiliation with a non-profit institution is eligible and encouraged to submit proposals. Funding preference will be given to projects deemed likely to lead to practical solutions to winegrape pest and disease problems in California. Multi-disciplinary team projects are encouraged. For more information about the program, see PD/GWSS Board’s Research & Outreach at Work for You. For questions about this grant program, contact pdresearch@cdfa.ca.gov.

The Hydrologic Sciences Program is a disciplinary program within the Division of Earth Sciences. Hydrologic science has a distinct focus on continental water processes at all scales, and the program supports research with a primary focus on these processes. The program supports fundamental research about water on and beneath the Earth's surface, as well as relationships of water with material and living components of the environment. A major focus is the study of hydrologic processes (e.g., rainfall and runoff; infiltration and subsurface flow; evaporation and transpiration), as well as fluxes of water (e.g. in soils, aquifers, and streams). Many projects involve the study of hydrologic transport (e.g., of dissolved solutes, sediment), coupling of hydrological processes with other systems (e.g., ecosystem processes, geochemical cycles, food and energy systems, socio-ecological systems), or hydrologic responses to change (e.g., changes in land use, climate, or watershed management). Observational, experimental, theoretical, and modeling approaches are supported.

The Hydrological Sciences Program focuses on linking the fluxes of water and the components carried by water across boundaries between interacting components of the terrestrial system, as well as the mechanisms by which these fluxes co-organize over a variety of temporal and spatial scales. The program supports the study of hydrologic processes (e.g., rainfall and runoff; infiltration and subsurface flow; evaporation and transpiration), as well as fluxes of water (e.g. in soils, aquifers, and streams). Many projects involve the study of hydrologic transport (e.g., of dissolved solutes, sediment), coupling of hydrological processes with other systems (e.g., ecosystem processes, geochemical cycles, food and energy systems, socio-ecological systems), or hydrologic responses to change (e.g., changes in land use, climate, or watershed management). The program is interested in how hydrological processes couple to and interact with the geosphere, the critical zone, the landscape, and ecosystems, as well as how the water cycle and its coupled processes are altered by land use and climate. Observational, experimental, theoretical, and modeling approaches are supported.

The Hydrologic Sciences Program is committed to supporting the most meritorious research in any relevant area, including but not limited to: current and future changes to the water cycle in response to global change; how hydrologic processes, water availability, and water quality are altered in human-impacted waterscapes; advancing our capabilities in integrated and realistic modeling of hydrologic systems from pore to continental scales using the full model continuum (from data-driven to process-based); applications of data fusion and assimilation to advance hydrologic sciences; and applications of new technologies to inform understanding of fundamental hydrological processes across scales (e.g. geophysical methods, remote sensing). The Hydrologic Sciences Program is also interested in developing collaborative research with federal agency partners and leveraging capabilities of NSF-supported facilities. Additional information on current research needs in Hydrologic Sciences can be found in the following reports:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. A Vision for NSF Earth Sciences 2020-2030: Earth in Time. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25761.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26042.
National Research Council. 2012. Challenges and Opportunities in the Hydrologic Sciences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13293.
Hydrologic science has a distinct focus on continental water processes at all scales, and the program supports research with a primary focus on these processes. Hydrologic science is also linked to ocean, atmospheric, and solid Earth sciences. Further, hydrological processes are crucial for society and ecosystems, and solutions to water issues are often at the interface of disciplines (e.g., environmental science, environmental engineering, or social science). Therefore, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary proposals submitted to the Hydrologic Sciences program may require joint review with related disciplinary or integrated programs and may be considered for joint support. Before submission of a proposal that may cross disciplinary boundaries, principal investigators are strongly encouraged to contact the cognizant Program Officers in all relevant programs.

A broad portfolio of Broader Impacts activities is supported by the Hydrologic Sciences program, as described below in Section VI.A. Successful projects will include creative, well-integrated, and effective broader impact activities developed within the context of the mission, goals, and resources of the organizations and people involved. The expertise of collaborators, the proposal budget, and budget justification should reflect this integration. Example activities might include but are not limited to those that create effective methods of engagement with local communities or the public at large; develop infrastructure in the lab or the field; translate research to benefit broader societal needs; involve early career researchers and students with diverse experiences and backgrounds; and/or foster new partnerships (e.g., with Minority Serving Institutions, two-year colleges, or internationally). Plans for undergraduate and graduate student mentoring should include evidence-based strategies for effective recruitment, retention and/or training to be provided. We welcome innovative efforts that advance belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion or identify and remove barriers that have historically excluded some groups from the geosciences.

Other types of NSF proposals, such as Research Coordination Networks (RCN), Rapid Response Research (RAPID), and conference proposals, must be discussed with a Program Officer prior to submission. Additional guidance on RAPID proposals can be found in the Proposal Preparation Instructions section below.

Projects currently and previously supported by the program can be found by using the NSF Award Search (Program Information) engine and entering Element Code 1579.