This call is for: Faculty

Submission deadline: October 22, 2024 (CLOSED)

The offices of the UF/IFAS Dean for Research and the UF/IFAS Dean for Extension are pleased to announce a request for proposals to the Travel Awards for Research Grant EnhancemenT (TARGET) program.

The TARGET program supports faculty team visits to granting agencies, which can reap significant benefits. For junior faculty, it can increase participation on review panels, awareness of future calls for funding, and networking with agency staff. For senior faculty, it can create mentoring opportunities and bolster multidisciplinary teams to develop stronger grant proposals.

Guidelines for TARGET proposal development:

• Funding. TARGET grants provide $2,000/person for 5-10 teams of approximately 5-10 UF/IFAS faculty members each to travel together. Funds can be used for airfare, hotel, meals and incidentals for travel completed by June 2025. Each team member will be responsible for their own travel logistics and expected to engage in all scheduled group activities.
• Team themes and expected outcomes. Team themes are flexible and can be defined broadly but should align well with sponsor needs and expected funding opportunities. The travel must be directly tied to building awareness of funding opportunities and team-based grant proposal development. Team members are encouraged to share their biosketch with agency staff prior to the visit, and volunteer to provide ad hoc proposal reviews and serve on grant review panels.
• Team composition. Teams should include approximately 5-10 UF/IFAS faculty members each and feature strong integration of research and extension programs within the team. Both state and county faculty are eligible to apply. The PI team lead must be senior faculty (associate professor or higher, or equivalent for non-tenure track). PIs may lead on only one proposal, but faculty may be members of more than one TARGET team.
• Venues. Most teams will spend a few days interacting with program staff at one or more major funding agencies in Washington DC, but other venues will be considered. 
• Progress update. In lieu of a final report, we will ask teams to provide a brief update to the deans within a year of their trip, including their TARGET trip activities, outcomes, and next steps.

How to apply: please apply through https://ufresearch.infoready4.com/#ifas by October 22, 2024.

The information requested includes:

• Faculty team information (names, units, email addresses)

• Summary of the team theme, details of the planned agency visit(s), and expected outcomes (max. 1000 words)

If you have any questions, please contact Damian Adams (dcadams@ufl.edu) or Karla Shelnutt (kpagan@ufl.edu).