Preproposal deadline is midnight of May 31, 2008
The preproposal concept
Northeast SARE requires preproposals for its research and education grants and its professional development grants, and preproposals are submitted electronically using a web-based template. Preproposals allow SARE to review projects or concepts in their early stages to see if the performance targets, design, budget, and overall thrust are consistent with the Northeast SARE outcome statement. The Northeast SARE outcome statement says that agriculture in the Northeast will be diversified and profitable, providing healthful products to its customers; it will be conducted by farmers who manage resources wisely, who are satisfied with their lifestyles, and have a positive influence on their communities and the environment. This outcome statement describes an ideal situation that Northeast SARE is working toward, and all projects must address the priorities implicit in this outcome statement.
Types of grants
There are two distinct program components in this call for preproposals—we fund Research and Education projects, which lead to measurable change in farm practices and improved sustainability, and Professional Development grants, which specifically target Cooperative Extension educators and other agricultural professionals who support farmers as they move toward more sustainable practices.
Both programs are receptive to a wide range of project ideas within sustainable agriculture, including (but not limited to) diversification, marketing, adding value, soil health, environmental quality, energy management, farm labor, aquaculture, ornamentals, nursery crop production, and livestock.
We also offer long-term research funding in agroecosystems. This special offering uses different criteria and a separate preproposal submission template.
If you want to see what kinds of projects SARE has funded in the past, go to the SARE national projects database, set your search criteria for the grant program that interests you, and then enter a keyword that will bring up the projects in your interest area.
Preproposal format A preproposal is very brief, and the content is driven by the principles of outcome funding. We ask for performance targets, a short project narrative, a projected budget, and a general statement of likely collaborators.
If you are unfamiliar with the themes and strategies of outcome funding, we suggest you download a copy of the Guide for Applicants, which covers material specific to developing performance targets and milestones. There is also some good material about writing a preproposal that you can access here. We also have descriptions of the full proposal format for both the Research and Education grants and the Professional Development grants. Research and Education grants in agroecosystems research will follow a different format for full proposals.
Please notice again that preproposals must be brief and clear. The electronic template will only accept a limited number of characters, and we strongly advise applicants to gather their materials, read the workbook, talk with their collaborators, and then write, revise, and refine their preproposals in a word-processing program before posting it to the template. Instructions for each question are in the template; please follow these instructions carefully. Please keep in mind that we are actively seeking innovative projects that speak to the Northeast SARE outcome statement and will likely deliver measurable, positive change to Cooperative Extension and other agricultural professionals (professional development grants), as well as to farmers and farming in the Northeast (research and education grants).
The application time line
Preproposals must be posted on line by midnight of May 31, 2008.
You will be notified by August 1 if your application will proceed to the next stage. Only selected applicants will be offered the materials for a full proposal, and full proposal deadlines for are normally in late October. After a multi-stage review process that may include face-to-face interviews, final decisions on which projects will be funded are usually made in March.
Preproposal template
Agroecosystems research
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