CATS: CALS Academy for Team Science

Overview

Pitch your idea! We’re looking for teams working on ag and life sciences research.  Two $40,000 internal grants and up to five $5,000 grants will be awarded.

Internal funding. (closes May 19, 2023)

  1. $40,000 is available to be spent over 1 year to convene your team, travel (if needed), hire grant writers, and more. 2 available.
  2. Flexible use funds to support teambuilding: $1,000 per team member up to $5,000 for the full team. 5 available.

Note well: Teams are anticipated to be across departments and colleges, but must include at least one designated CALS faculty member who will manage any funds awarded. CALS faculty member(s) involved must be on an active Hatch and/or Hatch Multistate project that is up-to-date with respect to reporting.

CATS: CALS Academy for Team Science

Have you noticed how those opportunities for millions of dollars often have quick turn-around deadlines and it’s nearly impossible to get your team and proposal together?  The CALS Academy for Team Science is your opportunity to build a team in advance so you’re poised to go after those requests for proposals as they appear. 

For those whose teams are selected for funding, additional supports will also be made available. These include:

  • travel to funding agencies to talk with program directors
  • involvement in team science training opportunities

What is a Hatch-funded Project?

The ISU Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) has addressed immediate and long-term needs of Iowans for more than 115 years. Established at Iowa State under the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) in 1888 (one year after the Hatch Act was enacted), the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station fulfilled a Congressional charge for land-grant universities to conduct agricultural research in response to the needs its citizens. AES/Hatch project research activities are broad and include research on all aspects of agriculture, including soil and water conservation and use; plant and animal production, protection, and health; processing, distribution, safety, marketing, and utilization of food and agricultural products; forestry, including range management and range products; multiple uses of forest rangelands, and urban forestry; aquaculture; home economics and family life; human nutrition; rural and community development; sustainable agriculture; molecular biology; and biotechnology. Research may be conducted on problems of local, state, regional, or national concern. Where projects span institutions, the projects are supported by Multistate Research Funds. The AES is a vital research program involving hundreds of people, hundreds of partners, and connections to extension reaching Iowans in every county.  

Hatch and Multistate funds are allocated to the AES by USDA/NIFA, and are used by CALS in a variety of ways, but primarily to fund salaries of faculty researchers in the college. Appropriate use of these public dollars must be documented through the initiation of Hatch Projects and annual reports. Hatch projects are initiated by faculty in several ways, peer-reviewed by faculty, approved by the AES Associate Director, and submitted to USDA for approval for up to five years. Only faculty with active Hatch or Multistate projects that are up-to-date with respect to reporting can apply for this grant opportunity. 

Applications

★ ☆ ★ Assembling a team and looking to find team members?  Add your expertise to this form, and it will show up on the report showing others that would like to join a team here. ★ ☆ ★

Before applying, consult with your department chair (and/or center director) about your intent to submit a proposal. 

Proposal format must be set to 1 inch margin on all sides using a 12 point, Times New Roman font, and include the following components:

  • Cover page:
    • Title: Provide a brief title (not to exceed 50 characters, including spaces).
    • Personnel: List names and titles of all personnel associated with the request for funding. Identify who will lead the project as the PI and who will serve as the CALS/AES budget manager.
    • Project Summary/Abstract: Provide a brief summary for the proposed project (up to 500 words, including spaces)
  • Project Description (no more than three pages) containing the following components:
    • Describe what your team will focus on and how that aligns with at least one existing Hatch/Multistate Project that the CALS faculty involved in the team belongs to. (If the work does not align with an existing Hatch/Multistate Project, it is an expectation that a new project will be created to match the team building work.)
    • Describe the complementary nature of expertise for team members and whether you anticipate to add more people to the team over time.
    • Describe how you will manage teambuilding and coordination of team members.
    • Describe expected outcomes and anticipated use of the $40,000 budget (in general terms; a fully articulated budget is not necessary).
    • Describe funding opportunities you anticipate to apply for.
  • Bibliography/References Cited
  • Copy of email from the PI’s chair describing their support for coordinating the team as the PI. If you will convene the team on behalf of a center, an email from the center director should be included instead.
  • USDA Biosketch for each PI/CoPI. Instructions here
  • USDA Conflict of Interest (COI) List for each PI/CoPI, limited to faculty, staff, and students currently at Iowa State University. This will limit COI issues during the review process. usda_conflict_of_interest.doc

Submit your application as a single PDF File via the CATS Smartsheet Submission Form. Please use the following naming convention for your submitted file: PILastName_PIFirstName_2023_CATS.

Smartsheet Form Required Fields

  • Contact Information: Include the name, department affiliation, and contact email for PI
  • Title of this proposal
  • Keywords: Please provide up to five keywords for your proposal. This will assist with identifying qualified reviewers for your application
  • AES Project: Title(s) and Number(s).
  • PDF upload per naming convention above

Review Process

The Associate Dean for Research and Discovery (ADRD) will lead the CATS Review Committee. The Committee will consist of up to 5 ISU personnel who are not members of any projects in competition for awards and who do not self-identify conflicts of interest with any of the members of teams under consideration. The ADRD will manage the review process, with rubric derived directly from the project description components of the application materials. The Committee will make recommendations for awards to the ADRD.  Up to two proposals will be selected for full funding (i.e., $40,000).  Up to five additional teams will be selected to receive $1,000 per team member, up to $5,000 for the full team.  

Report and Outcomes

Awardees are expected to report twice on project accomplishments: once at the 6-month mark and once at the end of the year of funding. Reporting will be limited to a 2-page document describing the research and team-building topic, activities to support team development, a list of proposals submitted for funding, research accomplishments and impacts, and use of funds.

Timeline

  • Call for Participation Released

                               April 3, 2023

  • Informational Q&A Session:                                     

                               April 14, 2023, 2:00 PM Central via ZOOM (Cybox mp4 recording) 

  • Optional- Learn Tools, Tips, and Tricks for putting Science of Team Science Research into Practice:

                               April 20, 2-4 PM (Register Here)                                                     

  • Deadline to receive proposals:                                   

                               May 19, 2023 (To be announced here May 29)