FFAR 2026 New Innovator in Food and Agriculture Research Award
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A. Favela (Plant Science)
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Institutions may submit one nominee to the New Innovator Award program.
Eligibility
- FFAR welcomes applications from all applicants who meet the following eligibility criteria:
- The nominated faculty member must have been hired on or after August 1, 2022, for a tenure-track or equivalent position and may work in any discipline or any department within the institution.
Preference will be given to individuals near the onset of their independent research career and who are within eight (8) years of receiving a Ph.D. or equivalent degree. - Individuals with significant research experience prior to obtaining their faculty position will not be considered for this award. For this funding opportunity, significant research experience is defined as a nominee that has been awarded a substantial research grant (three to five years of support) or has received project funding totaling over $1M within the time of their tenure position or has been awarded similar career development awards with similar budgetary scopes.
- The proposed research application must directly benefit U.S. agricultural interests.
FFAR recognizes that agriculture and food sciences are highly complex, requiring individuals from a variety of disciplines to realize the potential in each field or research area. Particularly for early-stage investigators, collaborators are often essential for success. While this award is given to an outstanding early-career investigator, applicants should include information regarding any essential collaborators and include letters of support from those collaborators. In these letters, the collaborators should comment on the potential of the individual to achieve success.
Research must align with one of the following priority areas:
- Cultivating thriving production systems
- Sustaining vibrant agroecosystems
- Bolstering healthy food systems
- Strengthening the scientific workforce