Applicants for the program must meet all the requirements discussed in this NOFO. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or preclude NIFA from making an award. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s Grants Overview provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process.As contained in Section 7204 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) (Pub. L. 110-246 which amends Section 1672 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925)), applications may only be submitted by the following eligible applicants: (a) State agricultural experiment stations (b) Colleges and universities (c) University research foundations (d) Other research institutions and organizations (e) Federal agencies (f) National laboratories (g) Private organizations or corporations (h) Individuals or any group consisting of two or more of the entities described in subparagraphs (a) through (h). USDA will not accept competitive applications for grants and cooperative agreements submitted for dangerous gain-of-function research, as defined in Section 8 of E.O. 14292.Duplicate or Multiple Submissions. Submissions of duplicate (other than revisions) or predominantly overlapping applications are not allowed. An eligible applicant may submit up to two applications whereas they are not essentially duplications of the same project or portions of the same project to multiple programs. NIFA will disqualify both applications if an applicant submits duplicate submissions. For additional information or clarification, please contact the NIFA point of contact (POC) listed in this NOFO.

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