Layer Hen Keel Bone Health Request for Applications

The Layer Hen Keel Bone Health program welcomes applications from all domestic and international higher education institutions, nonprofit and for-profit organizations as well as government-affiliated research agencies.

• Pain sensation or mitigation.
• Development of welfare audit protocols, processes or systems.
• Individual behavioral monitoring without components that could significantly contribute to reducing the incidence of KBD.

All proposals will be screened for relevance, accuracy, completeness, and compliance with the guidelines stated in this RFA. Pre-proposal applications must demonstrate the potential to meet the evaluation criteria. Full proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Impacts and Outcomes (35%)

• Does the project have substantial potential to significantly reduce KBD in commercial settings?
• Does the proposal emphasize scalability of results and present a plan for disseminating the project outcomes?
• Do the approaches have a clear path to implementation in commercial settings (e.g. via an industry collaboration)

Partnerships (35%)

• Does the proposal include a description of partnership(s)?
• Will the partnerships improve the study design, methodology, conduct and/or analysis and increase the likelihood of successful completion of the research?
• Will the partnerships increase the likelihood for commercial implementation and positive “real world” impact?

Technical Merit and Feasibility (20%)

• Does the proposal clearly outline the aims and objectives?
• Does the proposal include appropriately thorough, tractable, and feasible methods?
• Has the principal investigator assembled a qualified research team with access to the appropriate field and laboratory facilities?
• Does the proposal present a tractable timeline and budget? 
• Does the proposal include adequate risk evaluation and a mitigation plan?
• Does the proposal include an adequate data management plan with a commitment to public access?
  

Novelty, Innovation, and Originality (10%)

• Does the proposed project address the issue of KBD in a new or novel way that promises to “move the needle” on this global challenge?

LOIs and invited full proposals must be submitted by the deadline date through FFAR’s online application Grant Management System. Applications submitted outside of this System will not be considered.

To start a new application, please click here. If you are a new user, register for an account by clicking “Create Account” button located under the email address field on the left side of the home page. Once you log in, you may begin working on your application. Please be sure to save your work often by clicking on “Save and Finish Later.” To access a saved application, please do so through your Grant Management Account.

Only LOIs and invited full proposals submitted by the deadline through FFAR’s Grant Management System will be accepted and considered eligible for evaluation. To be fair to all applicants, FFAR will not grant extensions to applicants who missed the deadlines posted in the Key Dates section.

Only applications submitted by the deadline through FFAR’s Grant Management System will be accepted and considered eligible for evaluation. To be fair to all our applicants, FFAR will not grant extensions to applicants who missed the deadlines posted in the Key Dates section.

Letter of Intent (LOI)

Applicants must submit the LOI using FFAR’S Grant Management System. All information provided will be treated as confidential. The most innovative and cutting-edge projects with significant potential for advancing FFAR’s mission will be invited to submit a full application. Applicants must submit an LOI to be invited to submit a full application.

Required Components

• Project title (up to 250 characters)
• Program Director or Principal Investigator (name, affiliation, contact information)
• Key project personnel – name(s), affiliation, expertise, project role
• Project description
  • How will the project address the stated challenge and advance understanding of an understudied research topic or information gap? (up to 250 words)
  • What innovative outcomes will the project generate? Describe how the project will measurably reduce the incidence of keel bone fractures or improve layer hen keel bone health. (up to 250 words)
  • Why is the research team and allied partners ideally positioned to address this challenge? (up to 250 words)
• Project timeline
  • Proposed project start date
  • Proposed project duration (in calendar months)
• Budget
  • Total funding request
  • Total existing matching contributions, if applicable

Only applicants with an approved LOI will be provided with an invitation to submit a full application.

Required Components

• Project title (up to 250 characters)
  • Program Director or Principal Investigator (name, affiliation, contact information)
  • Key project personnel – name(s), affiliation, expertise, project role
  • Geographic location (city, state, congressional district) of the applicant organization.
  • Geographic location (city, state, congressional district) where the proposed research will be conducted.
  • Project abstract (up to 250 words)
  • Why is FFAR ideally positioned to fund this project? (up to 250 words)
  • Goals and objectives (up to 250 words)
  • Project description and approach (up to 2500 words)
  • Anticipated outcomes or outputs (up to 500 words)
  • Data management plan (up to 250 words) (Noe: please see FFAR’s data management policies)
  • Barriers to adoption of the research outcome(s) (Note: FFAR strongly encourages applicants to address social and economic factors in the project design, evaluation processes, and outcomes, where applicable.) (up to 250 words)
  • Organization Assurances (if applicable)
  • Proposed budget (up to $3,000,000; FFAR limits indirect costs to 10% of total award)
    • Total proposed budget
    • Amount requested from FFAR
    • Amount and source(s) of matching contributions, if applicable
    • Budget justification: Provide a brief overview of the budget by task or objective, in parallel to the approach outlined in the project’s description. Address costs related to personnel, equipment, and facilities, and analytics. (up to 500 words)
  • Current and Pending Support Form: complete for everyone listed as P.I. or Key personnel on the project

Required Attachments

Failure to provide these attachments will result in the application’s disqualification.

• Figures, graphics, equations, and tables. (Captions may be up to 500 words total)
• References Cited
• Budget Form
• I. and Key Personnel Biosketch: five-page limit per individual listed as P.I. or key personnel in the project
• Project timeline (by year)
• Three-slide summary or description of the project
• Matching Fund Verification Letter(s), if applicable.

For questions related to the online submission system, please contact FFAR’s Grant Management team at grants@foundationfar.org.

For questions related to the Layer Hen Keel Bone Health Program, please email (tkurt@foundationfar.org). We only accept scientific or programmatic and grants inquiries by email.

FFAR strives to respond to inquiries within two business days, but our response time depends on the volume of questions received and the complexity of the questions asked. Please note that we do not monitor mailboxes on evenings, weekends, or federal holidays.