Description
The Higher Education Challenge Grants Program aims to strengthen institutional capacities in the food and agricultural sciences by providing funding to eligible applicants. The program focuses on improving formal education in the food and agricultural sciences at the baccalaureate, master's, or first professional degree level. Eligible applicants include U.S. public or private nonprofit colleges and universities, land-grant colleges and universities, and other institutions with a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences. The program supports projects that address state, regional, national, or international educational needs in the food and agricultural sciences, and that promote innovative educational practices, leadership development, and social and behavioral sciences. Key aspects of the program include:
• Strengthening institutional capacities, including curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention
• Attracting and supporting undergraduate and graduate students in national need areas of the food and agricultural sciences
• Facilitating cooperative initiatives between institutions and organizations to maximize the development and use of resources
• Designing and implementing food and agricultural programs to build teaching, research, and extension capacity at colleges and universities with significant minority enrollments
• Conducting undergraduate scholarship programs and graduate and postdoctoral fellowship programs to attract highly promising individuals to research or teaching careers in the food and agricultural sciences