Washington, DC, USA
March 11, 2016

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) joined with the National Science Foundation (NSF) today to announce the availability of $14.5 million in funding for the NIFA-NSF Joint Plant-Biotic Interactions (PBI) program.

PBI supports research on the processes that mediate beneficial and antagonistic interactions between plants and their viral, bacterial, oomycete, fungal, plant, and invertebrate symbionts, pathogens and pests. This joint program supports projects focused on current and emerging model and non-model systems, as well as agriculturally relevant plants.

The first competition, with a proposal submission deadline of June 6, will be supported by $6 million from NIFA and $8.5 million by NSF. Both estimates depend on availability of funds.

The program's scope extends from fundamental mechanisms to translational efforts, with the latter seeking to put into agricultural practice insights gained from basic research on the mechanisms that govern plant-biotic interactions. Projects must be strongly justified in terms of fundamental biological processes and/or relevance to agriculture and may be purely fundamental or applied, or include aspects of both perspectives.

Proposals are due June 6, 2016 for the joint competition managed by NIFA and NSF. Please see the the solicitation for more information.

Since 2009, NIFA has invested in and advanced innovative and transformative initiatives to solve societal challenges and ensure the long-term viability of agriculture. NIFA’s integrated research, education, and extension programs, supporting the best and brightest scientists and extension personnel, have resulted user-inspired, groundbreaking discoveries that are combating childhood obesity, improving and sustaining rural economic growth, controlling water availability, increasing food production, finding new sources of energy, mitigating climate variability, and ensuring food safety. 

Published: March 11, 2016