[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 15]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR3411.2]

[Page 392-393]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
  CHAPTER XXXIV--COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND EXTENSION 
                   SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 3411_NATIONAL RESEARCH INITIATIVE COMPETITIVE GRANTS PROGRAM
--Table of Contents
 
                            Subpart A_General
 
Sec. 3411.2  Definitions.

    As used in this part and in annual program solicitations issued 
pursuant to this part:
    (a) Administrator means the Administrator of the Cooperative State 
Research Service (CSRS) and any other officer or employee of the 
Department of Agriculture to whom the authority involved may be 
delegated.
    (b) Department means the Department of Agriculture.
    (c) Principal investigator means a single individual who is 
responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the project, 
as designated by the grantee in the grant application and approved by 
the Administrator.
    (d) Grantee means the entity designated in the grant award document 
as the responsible legal entity to whom a grant is awarded under this 
part.
    (e) Grant means the award by the Administrator of funds to a grantee 
to assist in meeting the costs of conducting, for the benefit of the 
public, an identified project which is intended and designed to 
establish, discover, elucidate, or confirm information or the underlying 
mechanisms relating to a research program area identified in the program 
solicitation; it also means the award by the Administrator of funds to a 
grantee to strengthen its research capabilities relating to a research 
program area identified in the program solicitation;
    (f) Project means the particular activity within the scope of one or 
more of the research program areas or the categories to improve research 
capabilities identified in the program solicitation that is supported by 
a grant under this part.
    (g) Project period means the total time approved by the 
Administrator for conducting the proposed project as outlined in an 
approved grant application.
    (h) Budget period means the interval of time (usually 12 months) 
into which the project period is divided for budgetary and reporting 
purposes.
    (i) Awarding official means the Administrator and any other officer 
or employee of the Department to whom the authority to issue or modify 
grant instruments has been delegated.
    (j) Peer review group means an assembled group of experts or 
consultants qualified by training and experience to give expert advice 
on the scientific and technical merit of grant applications or the 
relevance of those applications to one or more of the research purposes 
as contained in Sec. 3411.15 of this part.
    (k) Ad hoc reviewers means experts or consultant qualified by 
training and experience to render special expert advice, through written 
evaluations, on the scientific and technical merit of grant applications 
or the relevance of those applications to one or more of the research 
purposes contained in Sec. 3411.15 of this part.
    (l) Research means any systematic study directed toward new or 
fuller knowledge and understanding of the subject studied.
    (1) Fundamental research, as referred to annually in the program 
solicitation, means research that tests scientific hypotheses and 
provides basic knowledge which allows advances in applied research and 
from which major conceptual breakthroughs are expected to occur.
    (2) Mission-linked research, as referred to annually in the program 
solicitation, means research on specifically identified agricultural 
problems which, through a continuum of efforts, provides information and 
technology that may be transferred to users and may relate to a product, 
practice, or process.
    (3) Multidisciplinary research, as referred to annually in the 
program solicitation, means research in which investigators from two or 
more disciplines are collaborating closely. These collaborations, where 
appropriate, may integrate the biological, physical, chemical, or social 
sciences.
    (m) Methodology means the project approach to be followed and the 
resources needed to carry out the project.
    (n) Small and mid-sized institution means an academic institution 
with a total enrollment of 15,000 or less. An institution in this 
instance is an organization that possesses a significant degree of 
academic and administrative autonomy, as specified in the annual program 
solicitation.

[[Page 393]]

    (o) USDA-EPSCoR States (Experimental Program for Stimulating 
Competitive Research) means States which have had a funding level from 
the USDA NRICGP no higher than the 38th percentile of all States, based 
on a three-year rolling average, and all United States territories and 
possessions. A list of eligible States is published annually in the 
program solicitation.

[56 FR 57952, Nov. 14, 1991. Redesignated and amended at 60 FR 63368, 
63369, Dec. 8, 1995; 61 FR 45319, Aug. 29, 1996]