NCRA Guidelines for Starting New Projects

1. Before starting, please browse our current projects within the NC Regional Research Portfolio. Once you are certain your project/committee is not redundant, contact the NCRA Office and inform us of your intent to set up a proposal request.

2. Be sure you have registered with the NIMSS system and have your username and password handy.  If you are unsure if you are registered, contact the NCRA office for assistance.

3. Decide which option will best suit your committee:

NCDC projects - Development Committees (2-year projects designed for proposal/committee development)

• NCDCs follow the federal fiscal year (October to September), so all NCDCs, regardless of when they start, will expire on September 30 of their second year.

• Standard NCDC Requirements (see below for NCDC-Proposal Requirements):

  • Submission of a "Request to Write a Proposal" in NIMSS (Projects >> Request to Write a Proposal >> Create New select Appendix B)

  • Two letters of support from NC AES directors - one of these directors must be willing to serve as the project AA or assign someone to fill the role for them.  Preferably, these letters should be sent electronically to the NCRA office.

  • Electronic submission of a committee justification to NIMSS.  This is done during the "Request to Write" stage.

  • Members of the pending NCDC are requested to locate a project Administrative Advisor prior to submitting this request.  Qualified individuals within the NCRA are listed here.  Please be aware projects cannot form without an AA; since we must be sure the region will support a project, the NCRA will no longer assign AAs for you.

• These activities have two years from the date of initiation to convert to an association sanctioned activity (either an NC-type project, NCCC, or NCERA.  Please refer to the NCRA's regional guidelines for detailed descriptions of these projects), Thus, the technical committee has the option, at a later date, to obtain approval as a multistate research project or other multistate research activity, through normal procedures.

• NCDC-Proposal Committees: An NCDC-Proposal serves as a platform for development of a multi-state or regional competitive grant proposal for submission to AFRI, NSF, NIH or other programs. Establishment of the committee needs the concurrence of three or more SAES directors and has duration of not more than two years. Membership of the committee is comprised of an AA, preferably the director from the lead institution on the proposal team, and scientists who intend to collaborate on development of the competitive grant proposal. The committee must have representation from three or more states working collaboratively of the grant proposal. The expected outcome is a grant proposal submitted to a regional or national competitive program involving collaboration among three or more states with a minimum budget of $1M per year. Should the committee not reach consensus on the development of a regional proposal, a summary report of activities is expected in lieu of the proposal. The committee chair is expected to submit a copy of the submitted proposal or the summary of activities to the MRC within 30 days after the grant program due date. A proposal submission or summary report would terminate the committee. Committee activities could be extended beyond the normal two-year period if the submitted proposal was not funded but received good reviews and encouragement for resubmission. Grant proposals and their reviews should be submitted to the MRC for renewal consideration.

NC-500 - Rapid Response Projects

• The purpose of rapid response research (Series-500/ NC-500) activities is to provide a mechanism to assure responsiveness to acute crises, emergencies, and opportunities using the multistate research approach and MRF.

• Requirements:

  • Two letters of support from NC AES directors are required.  Preferably, these letters should be sent electronically to the NCRA office.

  • A report of intent is submitted to the regional association's chair (usually through the ED's office). The Chair of the regional association approves the project and serves as the AA to the project or assigns that responsibility to another director.

   To make the approval process move quickly, we strongly suggest the committee line up an AA prior to beginning the NC-500 series project request.

  • An Appendix F must be submitted to the NCRA Office (via NIMSS) ASAP (Projects >> Request to Write a Proposal >> Create New; select Appendix F).  

  • When all materials have been submitted appropriately, the NCRA office will notify NIFA of the project approval.

• Neither NIFA nor regional association approval is required. If NIFA does not respond within five working days, the project will be approved. NC-500 series projects not require review by either the appropriate North Central Administrative Committee (NCA) (committee of department heads/chairs) or the NCRA Multisate Research Committee (MRC).

• The technical committee for a Rapid Response Research activity is made up of an AA, NIFA representative, research scientists, and as applicable, extension specialists and/or extension agents.

• These activities have two years from the date of initiation to convert to an association sanctioned activity (either an NC-type project, NCCC, or NCERA.  Please refer to the NCRA's regional guidelines for detailed descriptions of these projects), Thus, the technical committee has the option, at a later date, to obtain approval as a multistate research project or other multistate research activity, through normal procedures.