11764nam 2200757Ia 450 991096168850332120251017110110.00-309-18356-11-280-18545-797866101854500-309-59227-50-585-31689-9(CKB)110986584753566(OCoLC)45727370(CaPaEBR)ebrary10075712(SSID)ssj0000208360(PQKBManifestationID)12029315(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000208360(PQKBWorkID)10240507(PQKB)10593239(Au-PeEL)EBL3377878(CaPaEBR)ebr10075712(OCoLC)923273862(MiAaPQ)EBC3377878(DNLM)1639575(BIP)53855682(BIP)6569237(EXLCZ)9911098658475356620001019d2000 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrNational 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 Council1st ed.Washington, D.C. National Academy Pressc20001 online resource (211 p.) Compass seriesBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph0-309-07083-X Includes bibliographical references.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 -- STUDY PROCESS -- 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 -- SUMMARY FINDINGS -- 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 -- SUMMARY FINDINGS -- Organization -- Funding -- 7 Recommendations -- THE NRI'S MISSION -- RESEARCH ACCOUNTABILITY -- PRIORITY-SETTING AND ORGANIZATION -- FUNDING -- 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 -- Complementarity -- Internal Processes -- Funding -- 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 -- Publications -- Storage-Protein Modification in Potato: Tuber Quality and Vaccine Production -- Awards to Park -- Award to Mason -- Publications -- 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 -- Patent -- Publications -- Additional Information -- Dogs and Infectious Abortion in Cows: A Mystery Solved -- NRI Awards to McAllister -- Publications -- 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) -- Patent -- Publications (directly related to this research) -- Bioengineered Safe Resistance to Glyphosate Herbicide -- NRI Awards (directly related to this research) -- Publication (directly related to this research).Establishment of the Role of Steroid Hormones in Plant Growth and Development -- NRI Awards -- Patents -- Publications -- Additional Information -- Signal-Transduction Pathway of the Plant Hormone Ethylene -- NRI Awards -- Patents -- Publications -- Additional Information -- 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 -- Patent -- Publications -- A New BAC Library Vector for Transferring Large DNA Inserts to Plants -- NRI Award -- Patent -- Publications -- 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.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.Compass series (Washington, D.C.)Vital competitive grants program in food, fiber, and natural-resources researchFoodResearch grantsUnited StatesAgricultureResearch grantsUnited StatesNatural resourcesResearch grantsUnited StatesFiber plantsResearch grantsUnited StatesFoodResearch grantsAgricultureResearch grantsNatural resourcesResearch grantsFiber plantsResearch grants630/.7973National Research Council (U.S.).Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources.MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910961688503321National Research Initiative4446932UNINA