C
Web-Based Questionnaire
Web-Based Solicitation of Input for the
National Research Council Committee
on a Review of the USDA Agriculture
and Food Research Initiative
Welcome
Purpose of this Solicitation
The National Research Council has appointed the Committee on a Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) to perform an independent assessment, including the quality and value of research funded by the program and the prospects for its success in meeting established goals and outcomes. The study also will examine AFRI’s role in advancing science in relation to other research and grant programs inside of USDA as well as how complementary it is to other federal R&D programs. The study committee will prepare a report of its assessment. (Please visit http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49505 for a complete study description and committee membership.)
The committee would like to solicit your input on the AFRI program whether you are familiar with or have not heard of the program. The committee is soliciting the broadest input in its review from researchers, academic and extension leaders, reviewers, and users and beneficiaries of AFRI. The committee would like input from industry about the role of public-sector agricultural research and from producers and related professional associations about the type of research the federal agencies should be supporting. Please complete the questionnaire to provide the committee with your input. This questionnaire will take approximately 10-20 minutes.
About the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative
AFRI is a competitive grant program charged with “funding research, education, and extension grants and integrated research, extension, and education grants that address key problems of national, regional, and multistate importance in sustaining all components of agriculture, including farm efficiency and profitability, ranching, renewable energy, forestry (both urban and agroforestry), aquaculture, rural communities and entrepreneurship, human nutrition, food safety, biotechnology, and conventional breeding. Providing this support requires that AFRI advances fundamental sciences in support of agriculture and coordinates opportunities to build on these discoveries. This will necessitate efforts in education and extension that deliver science-based knowledge to people, allowing them to make informed practical decisions.” (For a synopsis of the program, please visit http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/afri/afri_synopsis.html.)
Treatment of Collected Comments and Information
The information you provide in response to this questionnaire will become part of the formal input submitted to the committee for its consideration. In accordance to Section 15 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/leadership/governing-documents/federal-advisory-committee.html), any information you provide to the committee will be placed in the project’s public access record and will be made available to the public upon request. Your response will appear in the public access record the way it is submitted, including your name, affiliation and any other identifying information included in your submission.
I have read and understood the information provided above about the treatment of any information I provide in this web-based solicitation of input.*
Yes
No
Please provide the following information:*
Name: 
Affiliation:
Email:
Qualifying Question
Please select one of the following options that best describes you:*
Research performer, educator, extension leader, or grant seeker (researcher from academic, government, non-profit, or other institutions)
Research user from government or industry
Agricultural or forest producer and related professional society
Research Performer
Please provide information about yourself.
Title/Position:
Type of Institution
1862 Land Grant University
1890 Land Grant University
1994 Land Grant University
Public Non-Land Grant
Private University/College
Private Research
Federal
Other
Area of Research
Agronomy
Animal science
Crop science
Economics
Food science
Nutrition
Plant Science
Renewable energy, natural resources and environment
Sociology
Soil science
Veterinary science
Weed science
Other
Principal agencies/organizations (including federal and state agencies, charitable or non-profit organizations, and private corporations) that have supported your research
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Charitable Foundation
Private Sector
Other
Are you a new investigator (less than 5 years of experience on faculty)?
Yes
No
Specify number of years since your PhD was received.
Were you familiar with the USDA National Research Initiative Program, the predecessor of AFRI?
Yes, very familiar
Somewhat familiar
Not familiar at all
Are you familiar with the AFRI Program?
Yes, very familiar
Somewhat familiar
Not familiar at all
Was there an AFRI request for applications directly related to your area of research, extension, or academic program in the following years? Please answer “yes”, “no”, or “not sure”.
2008:
2009:
2010:
2011:
2012:
If not, please describe topic areas of research interest to you that are not covered.:
Do you believe the AFRI request for application is fair to all different types of institutions? If not, why?
Yes
No
No opinion
Comments:
Have you applied to the AFRI program?
Yes
No
Please provide reasons for why you have not applied to AFRI, check the ones that apply.
I am not familiar/aware of the AFRI program
Size of grants are too small compared to grants from other agencies
Effort required to prepare application is large relative to grant size
Effort required to prepare application is large relative to the success rate
Overhead/indirect costs provided by AFRI are smaller than other grant programs
No RFAs are provided in my area of research
Other
(AFRI Grant Applicants only) How easy or difficult was the grant application process compared to other grant-funding programs? Please indicate your response on a scale from 1 to 5, with “1” being very easy and “5” being very difficult. If you marked 4 or 5, please provide comments.
1 2 3 4 5
Comments:
(AFRI Grant Applicants only) Do you believe the AFRI panel review process is fair to all different types of institutions? If you indicated “somewhat unfair” or “extremely unfair”, please provide comments.
Extremely fair Somewhat fair Indifferent Somewhat unfair Extremely unfair
Comments:
Have you been a recipient of AFRI grant(s)?
Yes
No
(For AFRI grantees only) Was the pre-award and post-award process managed effectively compared to other grant-funding programs? If you indicated “somewhat ineffectively” or “extremely ineffectively”, please provide comments.
Extremely effectively Somewhat effectively Indifferent Somewhat ineffectively Extremely ineffectively
Comments:
(For AFRI Grantees only) Is the reporting requirement a fair and effective method to identify successful projects?
Yes
No
Comments:
(For AFRI grantees only) Please provide the number of students supported by the AFRI grant(s).
Ph.D.:
Masters:
Undergraduates:
Other:
Have you been a reviewer for any AFRI proposals?
Yes
No
Did you participate in:
Virtual grant review panel
Face-to-face panel
Do you believe the panel review process was effective? If you indicated “somewhat ineffective” or “extremely ineffective”, please provide comments on why it was ineffective.
Extremely effective Somewhat effective Indifferent Somewhat ineffective Extremely ineffective
Comments:
Do you believe that it is necessary to integrate agricultural research, extension, and education?
Yes
No
Comments:
In your opinion, how well does AFRI facilitate the integration of research, extension, and education? If you indicated “poorly” or “very poorly”, please provide comments on why AFRI was not facilitating the integration of research, extension, and education well.
Extremely well
Somewhat well
Satisfactory
Poorly
Very poorly
Comments:
Which one of the statements below best represents your opinion:
AFRI should fund fewer, high-dollar and longer-term grants
AFRI should fund more, lower-dollar grants
No opinion
Other:
How important is the AFRI program for you? Please indicate your response on a scale from 1 to 5, with “1” being very important and “5” being not important at all.
1 2 3 4 5
Other comments that you would like to provide that are not covered by this earlier in this questionnaire.
Research User
Please indicate your views of public-sector agricultural research. Please provide comments.
Very important Somewhat important No opinion Somewhat unimportant Very unimportant
Comments:
Are you familiar with the AFRI program?
Yes, very familiar
Somewhat familiar
Not familiar at all (please visit http://www.nifa.usda.gov/funding/afri/afri_synopsis.html to learn about the program.)
Are there research areas in the AFRI program that duplicate those pursued in your industry?
Yes - Please list the areas
No - Please describe why
No opinion
Comments:
Are there fundamental (basic) research areas that the industry or government needs and that are not covered by the AFRI program areas?
Yes - Please describe the program areas
No
No opinion
Comments:
Are there areas of applied research that the industry or government needs that are not covered by the AFRI program areas?
Yes - Please describe the program areas
No
No opinion
Comments:
Do you believe AFRI funded research is relevant to the industry and government’s needs? If you answered yes, please provide examples.
Yes
No - Please describe why
No opinion
Comments:
How important is the AFRI program for you? Please indicate your response on a scale from 1 to 5, with “1” being very important and “5” being not important at all.
1 2 3 4 5
Would it be valuable for your industry or government agency to know about AFRI’s grants and activities?
Yes
No
No opinion
For industry respondents, please indicate your type of work and field of interest.
Other comments that you would like to provide that are not covered by this earlier in this questionnaire.
Producers and Related
Please indicate your views of public sector agricultural research. Please provide comments.
Very important Somewhat important No opinion Somewhat unimportant Very unimportant
Comments:
Are you familiar with the AFRI program?
Yes, very familiar
Somewhat familiar
Not familiar at all (please visit http://www.nifa.usda.gov/funding/afri/afri_synopsis.html to learn about the program.)
Do you believe that AFRI-funded research is relevant to producers’ needs?
Yes - Please provide examples
No - Please describe why not
No opinion
Comments:
Has your farming or ranching operation benefited from any past research (not limited to AFRI)?
Yes- Please provide examples of areas where research has been helpful
No
Comments:
Do you believe that public (government-funded) research is necessary, or is private (industry-funded) research sufficient for your needs? Please select one of the following responses:
Both public-sector (government) and private-sector (industry) research are relevant for my needs
Public-sector (government) research is more relevant for my needs than private-sector (industry) research
Private-sector (industry) research is more relevant for my needs than public-sector (government) research
Neither public nor private sector research has been relevant for my needs.
Please describe areas of future research topics and areas that can be helpful for addressing your current concerns.
Given that agriculture will continue changing, what are some of the greatest challenges that you believe you will face 10-20 years from now? How can science or technology help you handle these challenges?
Thank You!
Thank you for taking our survey. Your response is very important to us.
