Impacts of COVID-19 on Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Systems

Changes were made to this RFP and released on April 14, 2020. The changes are noted in italics below.

Overview

The Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES) requests proposals from researchers in the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) to initiate discussions and stimulate research activity as a rapid response to the emerging and potential impacts of COVID-19 on agricultural, food, and environmental systems. Investigating the vulnerabilities of these complex and interconnected systems requires the coordination of teams able to integrate natural and social science disciplines with technological advancements, human behavior, economics, and policy among other factors.

SAFES is creating a novel environment to accelerate holistic inquiries and comprehensive solutions by connecting our researchers into the diverse landscape of resources provided at Penn State. The current coronavirus pandemic presents especially sweeping, interconnected challenges facing the nation and the world, including but not limited to the following:

• agricultural production practices
• ecosystem services
• supply chains
• food security
• labor
• environmental impacts

The CAS Office for Research and Graduate Education will administer these short-term grants of up to $25,000 to support the formation of research initiatives addressing these impacts and to competitively position the teams to pursue large-scale extramural grant submissions. Awarded teams may request supplemental funds for projects that demonstrate promise for broadening the scope, expanding the work, and/or to support the preparation of a proposal for extramural funding. Proposals for data-driven projects that can be largely performed in a remote working environment are strongly encouraged.

Submissions will be accepted and administratively reviewed on a rolling basis every two weeks until allocated funds are obligated. The second round to be reviewed must be submitted by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, April 22, with subsequent due dates every other Wednesday thereafter.

Rolling Due Dates:
April 8
April 22
May 6

Download the RFP

Proposal Requirements

• Project narrative (2-page maximum)
  • Describe the critical research need and the significance of the problem being addressed;
  • Outline research goals, proposed activities to pursue them, and timeline of activities;
  • Summarize the expected outcomes of the project, including potential for the team to pursue external funding to continue the research.
• Project Team (2-page maximum, individuals can participate in multiple proposals)
  • List all team members with their departmental affiliations and describe the role and responsibilities of each project team member, including how the expertise of each is required to address the proposed research problem.
• Budget and Justification (constructed for up to one year maximum)
• Include a detailed budget justification, providing a brief description and explanation of need for costs associated with project activities, including personnel (must include fringe), direct costs, data storage and computational capacity, etc.
• Funds cannot be used for faculty salaries, travel to professional meetings, or the support of personnel NOT in CAS.

Submit a Proposal

For questions, please contact Gretta Tritch Roman, Research Initiatives Associate (gst118@psu.edu)

Awarded Proposals

Visit the SAFES website to view abstracts of the awarded projects