{"data":{"id":"us/7-cfr-3430.2","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"7 CFR 3430.2","heading":"Definitions.","body":"As used in this part:\n1862 Land-Grant Institution means an institution eligible to receive funds under the Act of July 2, 1862, as amended (7 U.S.C. 301, et seq.). Unless otherwise stated for a specific program, this term includes a research foundation maintained by such an institution.\n1890 Land-Grant Institution means one of those institutions eligible to receive funds under the Act of August 30, 1890, as amended (7 U.S.C. 321, et seq.), including Tuskegee University and West Virginia State University. Unless otherwise stated for a specific program, this term includes a research foundation maintained by such an institution.\n1994 Land-Grant Institution means one of those institutions as defined in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994, as amended (7 U.S.C. 301 note). These institutions are commonly referred to as Tribal Colleges or Universities.\nAdvisory Board means the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board (as established under section 1408 of NARETPA (7 U.S.C. 3123).\nAgricultural research means research in the food and agricultural sciences.\nApplied research means research that includes expansion of the findings of fundamental research to uncover practical ways in which new knowledge can be advanced to benefit individuals and society.\nAuthorized Departmental Officer or ADO means the Secretary or any employee of the Department with delegated authority to issue or modify award instruments on behalf of the Secretary.\nAuthorized Representative or AR means the President or Chief Executive Officer of the applicant organization or the official, designated by the President or Chief Executive Officer of the applicant organization, who has the authority to commit the resources of the organization to the project.\nAward means financial assistance that provides support or stimulation to accomplish a public purpose. Awards may be grants or cooperative agreements.\nBudget period means the interval of time (usually 12 months) into which the project period is divided for budgetary and reporting purposes.\nCash contributions means the recipient's cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the recipient by non-Federal third parties.\nCenter of Excellence in food and agricultural research, extension, and education is a grantee whose application was not only found to be highly meritorious by a peer panel, but met additional criteria (see § 3430.17(c)) to receive the designation. This designation is specific to a grant application.\nCertification of Non-Land-Grant College of Agriculture status means an institution that followed NIFA's Process for Non-Land Grant College of Agriculture (NLGCA) Designation and received a certification of NLGCA designation from NIFA (see § 3430.16(c)).\nCollege or university means, unless defined in a separate subpart, an educational institution in any State which:\n(1) Admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate;\n(2) Is legally authorized within such State to provide a program of education beyond secondary education;\n(3) Provides an educational program for which a bachelor's degree or any other higher degree is awarded;\n(4) Is a public or other nonprofit institution; and\n(5) Is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association. Unless otherwise stated for a specific program, this term includes a research foundation maintained by such an institution.\nCooperative agreement means the award by the Authorized Departmental Officer of funds to an eligible awardee to assist in meeting the costs of conducting for the benefit of the public, an identified project which is intended and designed to accomplish the purpose of the program as identified in the program solicitation or RFA, and where substantial involvement is expected between NIFA and the awardee when carrying out the activity contemplated in the agreement.\nDepartment means the United States Department of Agriculture.\nDirector means the Director of NIFA and any other officer or employee of NIFA to whom the authority involved is delegated.\nEducation activity or teaching activity means formal classroom instruction, laboratory instruction, and practicum experience in the food and agricultural sciences and other related matters such as faculty development, student recruitment and services, curriculum development, instructional materials and equipment, and innovative teaching methodologies.\nEstablished and demonstrated capacity means that an organization has met the following criteria:\n(1) Conducts any systematic study directed toward new or fuller knowledge and understanding of the subject studied; or,\n(2) Systematically relates or applies the findings of research or scientific experimentation to the application of new approaches to problem solving, technologies, or management practices; and\n(3) Has facilities, qualified personnel, independent funding, and prior projects and accomplishments in research or technology transfer.\nExtension means informal education programs conducted in the States in cooperation with the Department.\nExtension activity means an act or process that delivers science-based knowledge and informal educational programs to people, enabling them to make practical decisions.\nFood and agricultural sciences means basic, applied, and developmental research, extension, and teaching activities in food and fiber, agricultural, renewable energy and natural resources, forestry, and physical and social sciences, including activities relating to the following:\n(1) Animal health, production, and well-being.\n(2) Plant health and production.\n(3) Animal and plant germ plasm collection and preservation.\n(4) Aquaculture.\n(5) Food safety.\n(6) Soil, water, and related resource conservation and improvement.\n(7) Forestry, horticulture, and range management.\n(8) Nutritional sciences and promotion.\n(9) Farm enhancement, including financial management, input efficiency, and profitability.\n(10) Home economics.\n(11) Rural human ecology.\n(12) Youth development and agricultural education, including 4-H clubs.\n(13) Expansion of domestic and international markets for agricultural commodities and products, including agricultural trade barrier identification and analysis.\n(14) Information management and technology transfer related to agriculture.\n(15) Biotechnology related to agriculture.\n(16) The processing, distributing, marketing, and utilization of food and agricultural products.\nFundamental research means research that increases knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and has the potential for broad application, and has an effect on agriculture, food, nutrition, or the environment.\nGraduate degree means a Master's or doctoral degree.\nGrant means the award by the Authorized Departmental Officer of funds to an eligible grantee to assist in meeting the costs of conducting for the benefit of the public, an identified project which is intended and designed to accomplish the purpose of the program as identified in the program solicitation or RFA.\nGrantee means the organization designated in the grant award document as the responsible legal entity to which a grant is awarded.\nInsular area means the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Virgin Islands of the United States.\nIntegrated project means a project incorporating two or three components of the agricultural knowledge system (research, education, and extension) around a problem area or activity.\nLand-grant Institutions means the 1862 Land-Grant Institutions, 1890 Land-Grant Institutions, and 1994 Land-Grant Institutions.\nMatching or cost sharing means that portion of allowable project or program costs not borne by the Federal Government, including the value of in-kind contributions.\nMerit review means an evaluation of a proposed project or elements of a proposed program whereby the technical quality and relevance to regional or national goals are assessed.\nMerit reviewers means peers and other individuals with expertise appropriate to conduct merit review of a proposed project.\nMethodology means the project approach to be followed.\nMission-linked research means research on specifically identified agricultural problems which, through a continuum of efforts, provides information and technology that may be transferred to users and may relate to a product, practice, or process.\nNational laboratories include Federal laboratories that are government-owned contractor-operated or government-owned government-operated.\nNon-citizen national of the United States means the award by the Authorized Departmental Officer of funds to an eligible awardee to assist in meeting the costs of conducting for the benefit of the public, an identified project which is intended and designed to accomplish the purpose of the program as identified in the program solicitation or RFA, and where substantial involvement is expected between NIFA and the awardee when carrying out the activity contemplated in the agreement.\nPeer reviewers means experts or consultants qualified by training and experience to give expert advice on the scientific and technical merit of applications or the relevance of those applications to one or more of the application evaluation criteria. Peer reviewers may be adhoc or convened as a panel.\nPrior approval means written approval by an Authorized Departmental Officer evidencing prior consent.\nPrivate research organization means any non-governmental corporation, partnership, proprietorship, trust, or other organization.\nPrivate sector means all non-public entities, including for-profit and nonprofit commercial and non-commercial entities, and including private or independent educational associations.\nProgram announcement (PA) means a detailed description of the RFA without the associated application package(s). NIFA will not solicit or accept applications in response to a PA.\nProgram Officer means a NIFA individual (often referred to as a National Program Leader) who is responsible for the technical oversight of the award on behalf of the Department.\nProject means the particular activity within the scope of the program supported by an award.\nProject Director or PD means the single individual designated by the awardee in the application and approved by the Authorized Departmental Officer who is responsible for the direction and management of the project, also known as a Principal Investigator (PI) for research activities.\nProject period means the total length of time, as stated in the award document and modifications thereto, if any, during which Federal sponsorship begins and ends.\nResearch means any systematic study directed toward new or fuller knowledge and understanding of the subject studied.\nScientific peer review means an evaluation of the technical quality of a proposed project and its relevance to regional or national goals, performed by experts with the scientific knowledge and technical skills to conduct the proposed research work.\nSecretary means the Secretary of Agriculture and any other officer or employee of the Department to whom the authority involved is delegated.\nUnder Secretary means the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics.\nUnited States means the several States, the District of Columbia, and the insular areas.\nUnits of State government means all State institutions, including the formal divisions of State government (i.e., the official State agencies such as departments of transportation and education), local government agencies (e.g., a county human services office), and including State educational institutions (e.g., public colleges and universities).","path":["Title 7—Agriculture","Subtitle B—Regulations of the Department of Agriculture","CHAPTER XXXIV—NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE","PART 3430—COMPETITIVE AND NONCOMPETITIVE NON-FORMULA FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS—GENERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS","Subpart A—General Information"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-7.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:24:01Z","sha256":"4b7bcc4611aca34bd29c85f50f2cf310062c70b56a21fccfcb5647babd95a523","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/7-cfr-3430.1","next":"us/7-cfr-3430.3"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}