Nominations open for New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award 2025 (US)

Deadline: 19 February 2025

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) seeks nominations for its 2025 New Innovator in Food and Agriculture Research Award (NIA).

The New Innovator Award seeks to promote career advancement of highly creative and promising new scientists who intend to make a long-term career commitment to research in food and agriculture and bring innovative, ground-breaking research initiatives and thinking to bear on problems facing food and agriculture.

Award Information

Amount per Award: Up to $150,000/year for up to three years (36 months). Matching funds are optional for this funding opportunity.
Anticipated Award Duration: Up to 36 months

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible Institutions:
- U.S. Institutions of Higher Education o Public/State controlled institutions o Private institutions
- U.S. Nonprofit Research Institutions
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
The following types of higher education institutions are highly encouraged to apply for FFAR programs:
- Hispanic-serving Institutions
- 1890s Land Grant Institutions and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities
- Tribal Colleges and Universities
- Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
- Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions
Eligible Individuals:
- The nominated faculty member must have been hired on or after August 1, 2021, for a tenure-track or equivalent position and may work in any discipline or any department within the institution.
- Preference will be given to individuals near the onset of their independent research career and who are within eight (8) years of receiving a Ph.D. or equivalent degree.
- Individuals with significant research experience prior to obtaining their faculty position will not be considered for this award. For the purpose of this funding opportunity, significant research experience is defined as a nominee that has been awarded a substantial research grant (three to five years of support) or has received project funding totaling over $1M within the time of their tenure position or has been awarded similar career development awards with similar budgetary scopes.
- This research concept must directly benefit U.S. agricultural interests.