Emphasis Areas | Research Types | Researchers | Program Development/Management | More

Through grants offered by CSREES, the USDA enables researchers throughout the United States to solve problems critical to our farmers, consumers, and communities. CSREES is the USDA's major extramural research agency, funding both individuals and institutions.

Research Emphasis Areas

CSREES-funded research spans problems and issues encompassed within 11 national emphasis areas

• Agricultural & Food Biosecurity
• Agricultural Systems
• Animals & Animal Products
• Biotechnology & Genomics
• Economics & Commerce
• Families, Youth & Communities
• Food, Nutrition & Health
• Natural Resources & Environment
• Pest Management
• Plants & Plant Products
• Technology & Engineering

Each of these national emphasis areas includes one or more CSREES programs, each a compendium of related CSREES research, education, and extension activities.

Types of Research

CSREES-funded research may be basic or applied. Basic research discovers the underlying processes and systems that make a plant, animal, ecosystem, food system, community, or marketplace work. For example, basic research might seek to discover the genetic map of a plant or animal, or show how economic and human resources affect economic growth in rural areas.

Applied research expands on basic research findings to uncover practical ways in which new knowledge can be advanced to benefit individuals and society. Here, researchers might use a genetic map to develop gene therapies to treat human diseases or develop new programs to enhance community capital and stability in rural communities.

CSREES-sponsored research may involve traditional, self-contained laboratory or field projects, or a combination of a traditional research project with education and extension activities. Such a so-called integrated project might have as a goal the reduction of diabetes in children through a community-based program that includes research, extension, and education components. Integrated projects are expected to generate new knowledge and/or apply existing knowledge quickly through the dissemination of information on specific issues where results may be visible in the short term.

Who Does the Research

CSREES funds researchers at land-grant institutions, at other institutions of higher learning, in federal agencies, or in the private sector.

CSREES has a unique relationship with the nation's land-grant universities and colleges, most of which came into being in the 1860s through federal land grants aimed at promoting agricultural research and education. Today, more than 100 land-grant institutions are scattered throughout the United States and its territories.

Much CSREES-sponsored research within the land-grant system is carried out by individual researchers. But because several states or regions may share climate, soil, market outlets, and other conditions, much research is also carried out by teams from several universities or other institutions through so-called multistate research committees. These committees provide cooperative, coordinated attacks on problems of regional and national interest and may include specialists from several land-grant institutions, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and one or more of the agricultural experiment stations located in every state. A CSREES staffer sits on each of the several hundred regional research committees.

Research Program Development and Management

Research opportunities are initiated by Congressional legislation, with the level of funding then determined by Congressional appropriations passed into law.

The legislation may be shaped by CSREES, which informs Congress of emerging research trends and needs through the publication of white papers and other documents and reports. CSREES provides feedback to Congress on the impact of funded research upon request and as they craft new legislation. CSREES also publishes information throughout this Web site on results and impacts of completed and ongoing research.

Once the legislation is passed, CSREES' scientific staff translates the legislation into a comprehensive, high-priority research program. National program leaders from across CSREES work together in teams to share insights they gain from stakeholder input and from their individual pursuit of knowledge and information. This ensures the broadest perspective in developing or enhancing a CSREES research program that is focused on national research priorities that are in line with the Congressional mandates. Based on this information, CSREES scientific staff drafts a request for applications (RFA), which is reviewed by policy and legislative experts for compliance with Congressional intent and, upon approval, is released publicly.

Each RFA may generate from 2 to more than 600 applications, which then undergo a rigorous review process. That review is conducted by a panel of 3 to 12 individuals with international-level expertise in the field in question. These panels review each application, evaluating it based on its scientific merits and how well it addresses the research priorities determined by Congress and the CSREES stakeholder input process, and the quality of the facilities and researchers who would conduct the project. A summary of the panel review for each eligible application is recorded, and the panel recommends whether or not it should be funded.

Learn More About CSREES Funded-Research

The Current Research Information System (CRIS) is CSREES' documentation and reporting system for ongoing and recently completed research projects in agriculture, food and nutrition, and forestry.

The Science and Education Impact database catalogs the impact of the Land-Grant/USDA partnership in research, teaching, and extension programs.

The Funding Opportunities page, on our Web site, allows detailed exploration of our various grant programs. It includes search and sort features.

National Emphasis Areas, also on our Web site, includes a list of our 11 national emphasis areas under which are arrayed our almost 60 programs, each of which includes one or more associated research-related funding opportunity.