§ 3411.2 - Definitions.

As used in this part and in annual program solicitations issued pursuant to this part:

(a) Administrator means the Administrator of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) and any other officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture to whom the authority involved may be delegated.

(b) Department means the Department of Agriculture.

(c) Project Director means a single individual who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the project, as designated by the grantee in the grant application and approved by the Administrator.

(d) Grantee means the entity designated in the grant award document as the responsible legal entity to whom a grant is awarded under this part.

(e) Grant means the award by the Administrator of funds to a grantee to assist in meeting the costs of conducting, for the benefit of the public, an identified project which is intended and designed to establish, discover, elucidate, or confirm information or the underlying mechanisms relating to a research program area identified in the program solicitation; it also means the award by the Administrator of funds to a grantee to strengthen its research capabilities relating to a research program area identified in the program solicitation;

(f) Project means the particular activity within the scope of one or more of the research program areas or the categories to improve research capabilities identified in the program solicitation that is supported by a grant under this part.

(g) Project period means the total time approved by the Administrator for conducting the proposed project as outlined in an approved grant application.

(h) Budget period means the interval of time (usually 12 months) into which the project period is divided for budgetary and reporting purposes.

(i) Awarding official means the Administrator and any other officer or employee of the Department to whom the authority to issue or modify grant instruments has been delegated.

(j) Peer review group means an assembled group of experts or consultants qualified by training and experience to give expert advice on the scientific and technical merit of grant applications or the relevance of those applications to one or more of the research purposes as contained in § 3411.15 of this part.

(k) Ad hoc reviewers means experts or consultant qualified by training and experience to render special expert advice, through written evaluations, on the scientific and technical merit of grant applications or the relevance of those applications to one or more of the research purposes contained in § 3411.15 of this part.

(l) Research means any systematic study directed toward new or fuller knowledge and understanding of the subject studied.

(1) Fundamental research, as referred to annually in the program solicitation, means research that tests scientific hypotheses and provides basic knowledge which allows advances in applied research and from which major conceptual breakthroughs are expected to occur.

(2) Mission-linked research, as referred to annually in the program solicitation, 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.

(3) Multidisciplinary research, as referred to annually in the program solicitation, means research in which investigators from two or more disciplines are collaborating closely. These collaborations, where appropriate, may integrate the biological, physical, chemical, or social sciences.

(m) Methodology means the project approach to be followed and the resources needed to carry out the project.

(n) Small and mid-sized institution means an academic institution with a total enrollment of 15,000 or less. An institution in this instance is an organization that possesses a significant degree of academic and administrative autonomy, as specified in the annual program solicitation.

(o) USDA-EPSCoR States (Experimental Program for Stimulating Competitive Research) means States which have had a funding level from the USDA NRICGP no higher than the 38th percentile of all States, based on a three-year rolling average, and all United States territories and possessions. A list of eligible States is published annually in the program solicitation.