National Research Initiative : a vital competitive grants program in food, fiber, and natural-resources research / Committee on an Evaluation of the US Department of Agriculture National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program ; Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources ; National Research Council.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

National Research Council (U.S.). Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Series:

Compass series (Washington, D.C.)

Compass series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program (United States. Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service).

Food--Research grants--United States.

Food.

Agriculture--Research grants--United States.

Agriculture.

Natural resources--Research grants--United States.

Natural resources.

Fiber plants--Research grants--United States.

Fiber plants.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (211 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Vital competitive grants program in food, fiber, and natural-resources research

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press, c2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Our nation faces daunting challenges to its food and fiber system and to the condition of our natural resources in the coming decades. Rapid increases in world population and the pressure on resources generated by increasing per capita consumption as a result of increasing per capita income challenge the very basis of our standard of living-our food, fiber, and natural-resource base. As the nation faces the challenges, new technologies and new information systems are changing the face of biologic research. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has traditionally been the nation's primary public research engine in food, fiber, and natural resources. The National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program (NRI) is a small part of that USDA research effort, but it accounts for a substantial portion of the nation's merit-based peer-reviewed fundamental research efforts in food, fiber, and natural resources. In 1997, USDA asked the National Research Council Board on Agriculture (now the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources) to conduct an independent assessment of the NRI program. Specifically, USDA asked the Research Council to: perform a retrospective assessment of the quality and value of research funded by the program; determine whether the science and technology priorities in the major NRI programs are defined appropriately; assess how NRI activities complement other USDA programs, those of other federal agencies, and state programs in the private sector; and recommend the nature and content of changes for the future. This report summarizes the results of the committee's analysis. Chapter 2 summarizes the value of food, fiber, and natural resources-research to the United States, focusing on economic contributions and rates of return of food and fiber research. The committee's analysis of the quality, value, fairness, relevance, and responsiveness of the NRI competitive grants program is presented in chapter 3. Chapter 4 presents the committee's analysis of the role and scope of the NRI, including its scientific objectives, its value in training and education, and its complementarity with other research activities. The committee's analysis of NRI's priority-setting process and its research priorities is given in chapter 5. The committee's analysis of organizational and funding issues is given in chapter 6. Chapter 7 presents the committee's recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the NRI program. Additional supporting materials are found in appendixes A through I.

Contents:

NATIONAL RESEARCH INITIATIVE

Copyright

Preface

Acknowledgments

Contents

Executive Summary

HISTORY OF COMPETITIVE RESEARCH AT USDA

ORGANIZATION

STUDY PROCESS

STATUS OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH INITIATIVE

THE NRI'S MISSION

RESEARCH ACCOUNTABILITY

PRIORITY SETTING AND ORGANIZATION

FUNDING

A NATIONAL FOOD, FIBER, AND NATURAL-RESOURCES RESEARCH COMPLEX

1 Introduction

BRIEF HISTORY OF COMPETITIVE RESEARCH AT USDA

NRI ORGANIZATION

PRIOR REVIEWS OF THE NRI

OVERVIEW OF REPORT

2 Value of Food, Fiber, and Natural-Resources Research

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS

RATES OF RETURN FROM FOOD AND FIBER RESEARCH

IMPACTS OF ADVANCES IN LIFE SCIENCES

PUBLIC-SECTOR AND PRIVATE-SECTOR RESEARCH FUNDING

3 The National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program

QUALITY AND VALUE

Measuring the Quality and Value of NRI-Supported Research

Novelty and Significance of Research

FAIRNESS

The NRI Peer-Review Process

Evaluation of the NRI Peer-Review Process

RELEVANCE AND RESPONSIVENESS

SUMMARY FINDINGS

4 Role and Scope of the NRI Program

SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES

Applied versus Fundamental Research

Multidisciplinary Research

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Developing Future Scientists

Strengthening Academic Institutions in the Food and Fiber System

Enhancing Public Understanding

COMPLEMENTARITY

Other USDA-Funded Research Programs

Intramural Research

Formula Funds: State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAESs) and Cooperative Extension Services.

Special Grants

Other Competitive Grants in USDA

Complementarity of NRI within USDA

Other Federal Programs

National Science Foundation

National Institutes of Health

Department of Energy

Interagency Programs

Complementarity of NRI with Other Federal Programs

Industry and the NRI.

SUMMARY FINDINGS

Scientific Objectives

Training and Education

Complementarity

5 Priorities and Priority-Setting at the NRI

PROCESS

Overview of USD A Priority-Setting Process

NRI Priority-Setting Process

Analysis of NRI Priority-Setting Process

NRI RESEARCH PRIORITIES

Funding History of the NRFs Six Divisions

History of NRI Research Programs

Analysis

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Priority-Setting Process

Research Priorities

6 Organizational and Funding Issues

ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Location in USDA

NRI GOVERNANCE

Chief Scientist

Board of Directors

Organization

FUNDING ISSUES

Total NRI Funding

Size and Length of Grants

Overhead Rates

Funding

7 Recommendations

PRIORITY-SETTING AND ORGANIZATION

SUMMARY

Appendixes

Appendix A Section 1615 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990

Appendix B Survey on the US Department of Agriculture's National Research Initiative (NRI) Competitive Grants Program

Appendix C External Views of the NRI

SURVEY RESULTS

Response Rates and General Themes

Detailed Summary of Survey Data

INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER CHIEF SCIENTISTS

Major Issue

Role of the Chief Scientist

Program Areas

Fairness in Evaluation of Submitted Applications

Quality of NRI Research

USDA Administration and Management

Economic Evaluation of NRI Program Areas

Relationship with Congress

TESTIMONY

Quality and Value of Research

Priority-Setting

Stakeholders

Internal Processes

Changes for the Future

Appendix D Outline for Interviews (June 16, 1998) with USDA Professional Staff on Internal Workings of the NRI Program.

Appendix E Committee Members' Experience with the National Research Initiative, the National Institutes of Health, and the…

Appendix F NRI Applications Funded

Appendix G NRI Funded Contributions to Major Scientific Advances in Food, Fiber, and Natural Resources

NRI FUNDED RESEARCH THAT HAS LED TO MAJOR SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES

Biologically Safe Protection of Wheat from Take-all Disease by Using Soil Bacteria

CRGO and NRI Awards to Cook and colleagues

Patents

Publications

Decreasing Milk Fever In Dairy Cows: A Major Advance

NRI Award to Goff and Horst

Storage-Protein Modification in Potato: Tuber Quality and Vaccine Production

Awards to Park

Award to Mason

Establishing Nutritional Requirements for Vitamin B6 and Folate in Humans

CRGO and NRI Awards to Gregory

Production of Cattle and Swine Embryos in Vitro, a Prelude to Cloning

CRGO and NRI Awards to First

Patent

Corn from Cells, Not from Seeds

CRGO and NRI grant awards to Phillips

Cloning of Chitinase and Its Practical Application as a Biopesticide

CRGO and NRI Awards to Kramer

Additional Information

Dogs and Infectious Abortion in Cows: A Mystery Solved

NRI Awards to McAllister

NRI FUNDED RESEARCH WITH HIGH POTENTIAL FOR FUTURE SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES

A Step Closer to Bioengineering Cold-Tolerant Plants

NRI Awards (directly related to this research)

Publications (directly related to this research)

Reducing Processing Waste and Negative Environmental Impacts by Wood Modification

NRI Grants (directly related to this research)

Bioengineered Safe Resistance to Glyphosate Herbicide

Publication (directly related to this research).

Establishment of the Role of Steroid Hormones in Plant Growth and Development

NRI Awards

Signal-Transduction Pathway of the Plant Hormone Ethylene

Improvements in Plant Biotechnology by Manipulation of Gene Silencing

NRI Awards to Vicki Vance, University of South Carolina

NRI Awards to James Carrington, Texas A&amp

M University

A New BAC Library Vector for Transferring Large DNA Inserts to Plants

NRI Award

Additional Information:

Appendix H Research Needs in Food, Fiber, and Natural Resources

PLANTS

ANIMALS

NUTRITION, FOOD SAFETY, AND HEALTH

NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

ENHANCING VALUE AND USE OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST PRODUCTS

MARKETS, TRADE, AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Appendix I Grant Performance Follow-on for Quality Evaluation

References

About the Authors

RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE BOARD ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0-309-18356-1

1-280-18545-7

9786610185450

0-309-59227-5

0-585-31689-9

OCLC:

45727370