The Food Systems Research Institute (FSRI) invites proposals for the Sustainability Metrics project to advance interdisciplinary, data-driven research that supports the development and application of sustainability metrics across food systems. This funding opportunity will provide support for projects focused on production, human health, and social systems research that contributes to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable food system.

Each proposal may request up to $654,000 for the full project duration, inclusive of two years of postdoctoral fellowship support. Projects should include clear objectives, measurable outcomes, and strong potential for translational or stakeholder impact.

Proposals are due January 2, 2026, 11:59 PM ET. Awards are expected to be announced in March 2026.

Detailed instructions and templates are included in the RFP Guidelines PDF.

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The Food Systems Research Institute (FSRI) is providing funding to maximize our scientific impact through open access publication charges, allowing the research results from FSRI work to be publicly available.

Eligibility and Conditions:

• Previously or currently funded FSRI projects and people are eligible. Applicants must be currently employed by UVM.
• Open access charges will be available for fully open access journals (i.e. where the entire journal is open access). An exemption may be requested for open access charge for hybrid journals, but require additional information (see below).
• The FSRI will fund a maximum amount of three thousand dollars ($3,000) per request. An individual cannot request more than six thousand dollars ($6,000) total from the fund, as first or corresponding author.
• Any funding received should be acknowledged in the funding section of your publication. This information will be provided to you if your publication is funded.
• All funding is first come/first serve until the funds have been fully expended.

You will answer the following questions in the application. Please review the information needed to answer the questions prior to applying. 

1. Name of author(s)

2. Publication title

3. Journal and journal website indicating the open access nature of the journal. 

• Hybrid exception: If the journal is not gold open access (i.e. hybrid), please also submit a statement indicating why publication in this journal is necessary, instead of a fully open access journal. 

4. Which FSRI funded project or initiative is this publication affiliated with? 

5. Have you previously requested funding? If Yes, how much? 

6. Once the journal is published to the site, please provide a link to that journal for our records.

Apply for the Open Access Fund on InfoReady