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Research and IPM
Grants Programs: Pierce's Disease Research
Request for Pierce’s Disease Research Proposals
Deadline: January 16, 2009
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-winged
Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Board and the University of California (UC) Pierce's Disease Research Grants
Program are accepting proposals for Biological and Economic research projects on Pierce's disease and its
vectors.
- Biological Research Proposals: Projects are being sought that will contribute to finding solutions to
this serious disease of grapevines and that are relevant to California conditions. All proposals
received will be considered to be submitted to both programs. Thus, each proposal must have two
versions of the same budget, one under the format for each program. Proposals will be evaluated in
a unified process. However, the CDFA program and the UC program will separately identify those
projects that each program will support.
- Economic Research Proposals: Projects are being sought that will contribute to an understanding of
the economic impact of PD/GWSS on agriculture. All proposals received will be considered to be
submitted to CDFA only.
Proposals are due via electronic submission on Friday, January 16, 2009. Research contracts will be
awarded for one to three years, beginning with fiscal year 2009-10 (July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010). For
projects awarded two or three years of funding, receipt of a subsequent year of funding will be contingent
upon satisfactory progress being made during the prior year.
NEW FOR THE 2009-10 RFP
- A Letter of Intent to Submit a Proposal is no longer requested.
- The diagram and accompanying text in last year’s Appendix A (pp. 4-5) which were used to define proposed
targeted events have been removed.
- The research recommendations of the CDFA Research Scientific Advisory Panel (Attachment A) have been
updated and expanded.
General information
- Proposal submissions should be consistent with the research recommendations provided in the
report “PD/GWSS Research Scientific Review: Final Report” released in August 2007 by the
California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Pierce’s Disease Research Scientific Advisory
Panel, which have been updated for this RFP (see Attachment A).
- Funding preference will be given to projects deemed likely to yield results that expedite and/or
directly yield applicable industry solutions or provide insight into the economic impacts of PD/GWSS
and its possible solutions. Multi-disciplinary team projects are encouraged.
- Researchers are responsible for obtaining all required governmental permits for working with live
plant pests. For more information, please visit the following websites:
- Submitted proposals and progress reports will not be returned. Confidential information and
materials should not be submitted.
- Periodic progress reports and a final report will be required for each funded project. The research
sponsors are committed to providing public access to data in a timely fashion in order to maximize
progress and hasten the discovery of solutions to Pierce’s disease. Therefore, similar to federal grant
programs, funded researchers may be required to post project information, including progress reports
and certain types of data (e.g., gene sequences, expression data, etc.) on designated websites (see
Attachment B for more information). In addition, funded researchers are expected to attend and report
on their progress at the annual Pierce’s disease research symposium. The proceedings from prior
symposia are available at Pierce's disease research symposium).
- Information on past and current research is available at http://piercesdisease.org/research.
Researchers are encouraged to review this information to ensure proposed research represents new
ideas or approaches.
- This RFP document is available online at: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/pdcp/Research.html
Timeline
Request for Proposals Released |
November 10, 2008 |
Proposals Due |
January 16, 2009 |
Award Notification from CDFA and UC |
May 15, 2009 |
Start Date for Projects |
July 1, 2009 |
Eligibility and Conflict of Interest
- Any individual or group affiliated with a university or governmental agency that has appropriate
research capabilities is eligible and is encouraged to submit proposals. For the UC Program, the
organization must be able to meet CSREES certification requirements (see “Additional Forms
Required by the UC Program” on page 9 of the RFP).
Funding
- The CDFA Pierce’s Disease Research Program is funded by a special assessment paid by the
California winegrape industry.
- The UC Pierce's Disease Research Grants Program is funded by a special grant to the University of
California from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
(CSREES). Availability of funds is contingent on inclusion of the special grant in the federal fiscal
year 2009 budget for CSREES.
Format and Content of Research Proposals
See guidelines.
Definitions of Participant Responsibilities
- Principal Investigator (PI): The Principal Investigator is the person with overall responsibility for the
scientific conduct of the project and for expenditures of funds. Each project has only one PI.
- Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI): A Co-Principal Investigator is a person who receives research
support or material of significant value from the project. A project may have more than one Co-PI.
- Cooperator: A Cooperator is a person who provides advice, materials, or data to the project, makes
arrangements for advancement of project activities, uses results developed in the project, and/or
carries out research in parallel to the project research and which is mutually beneficial. A
Cooperator does not receive research support or material of significant value from the project. A
project may have more than one Cooperator.
Review Process and Criteria
Proposals will be reviewed by ad hoc external reviewers and a review panel. In addition, the PD/GWSS
Board’s Research Screening Committee and the University of California’s Pierce’s Disease Research
Grants Program Guiding Committee will review and make recommendations for funding of proposals by
the respective programs. For the UC program, proposal budgets must be further reviewed and approved
by CSREES before funds can be awarded.
Biological Research Proposals will be reviewed and
evaluated in the following areas (100 points possible):
- Objectives of Proposed Research/Relevance - Are the objectives
clearly stated, justified, worthwhile, and reasonable and consistent
with priorities outlined in Attachment
A? Is the proposed
research likely to contribute significantly to Pierce’s
disease mitigation as envisioned by the investigator-assigned
numbering of Attachment A? Is the proposed project non-redundant
with other research? (25 points)
- Experimental Procedures to Accomplish
Objectives – Is
the work plan reasonable, feasible and capable of meeting the
stated goals and objectives? Is the work plan of good scientific
merit? (35 points)
- PI, Co-PI(s) & Cooperators – Do they have appropriate
backgrounds, expertise, experience and capabilities for the proposed
tasks? Is the team missing any critical capabilities? (10 points)
- Research Capacity & Likelihood of Accomplishing Objectives – Assuming
that requested PD program funds are awarded, will the investigators
have the resources, including facilities, to achieve the objectives?
(10 points)
- Research Timetable for Project – Are the milestones appropriate?
Are they achievable? (10 points)
- Budget – Is the budget reasonable and appropriate, including
support for collaborator activities? (10 points)
Economic Research Proposals will be reviewed and
evaluated in the following areas (100 points possible):
- Objectives of Proposed Research/Relevance - Are the objectives
clearly stated, justified, worthwhile, and reasonable and consistent
with priorities outlined in Attachment
A? Is
the proposed project non-redundant with other research? (25 points)
- Methodology and Procedures for Accomplishing
Objectives (Workplan) – Is
the workplan reasonable, feasible and capable of meeting the
stated goals and objectives? Is the workplan likely to yield
the targeted data and information (35 points)
- PI, Co-PI(s) & Cooperators –Do they have appropriate
backgrounds, expertise, experience and capabilities for the proposed
tasks? Is the team missing any critical capabilities? (10 points)
- Research Capacity & Likelihood of Accomplishing Objectives – Assuming
that requested PD program funds are awarded, will the investigators
have the resources, including facilities, to achieve the objectives?
(10 points)
- Research Timetable for Project – Are the milestones appropriate?
Are they achievable? (10 points)
- Budget – Is the budget
reasonable and appropriate, including support for collaborator
activities? (10 points)
Due Date for Submissions
Proposals should be submitted
electronically via the internet no later than Friday, January 16, 2009. Submit
proposals online.
Additionally, for Biological Research Proposals, please submit one paper copy to each funding
program.
For Economic Research Proposals, please submit one paper copy to the CDFA program only. Paper
copies should include all necessary institutional approvals and should be signed by all PIs, Co-PIs, and
Cooperators. The paper copies must be postmarked no later than Wednesday, January 21, 2009.
- For the UC Program: UC Statewide IPM Program, Attention
Melanie Caruso, Robbins Annex, University of California,
One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616-8621.
- For the CDFA Program: Pierce’s Disease Control
Program, Attention Doug West, California Department
of Food and Agriculture, 1220 N Street, Room 325, Sacramento,
CA 95814.
Proposals that are incomplete, late, or exceed the maximum page
length (10 pages + title page, budget, current, planned, pending,
and recent PD/GWSS research support, biographies, and citations;
11-point Arial font; one-inch margins) may be eliminated from consideration.
Questions
If you have questions about the research programs, please contact one of the following:
For submissions to UC |
For submissions to CDFA |
Melanie Caruso
Grants Assistant
UC Statewide IPM Program
mmcaruso@ucdavis.edu |
Doug West
Pierce’s Disease Control Program
Ph: 916-651-0267
dwest@cdfa.ca.gov |
For questions about submitting online, please contact Melanie Caruso.
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