Research Facilities Act Program
This program funds construction, renovation, modernization, alteration, acquisition, or remodeling of agricultural research facilities for eligible institutions conducting food and agricultural sciences research.
⚑ Eligibility is limited to specified institution classes, including land-grant institutions, state agricultural experiment stations, accredited veterinary schools/animal health research stations, HSI agricultural colleges/universities, NLGCA, insular area institutions, McIntire-Stennis eligible institutions, and certain other capacity/infrastructure-eligible entities. · Funds are for facilities/capital projects, not operating costs or research project expenses. · Award ceiling is very large ($30M).
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 40 partial | technical depth: substantial; funds construction equipment (capped) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 30 weak | prototyping/demonstration stage; deep-tech content |
| IPPRA | 27 weak | peripheral portfolio topic: environment; social/behavioral work is none; funds construction equipment — not a research fit; biomedical core — IPPRA health lane is communication/crisis/policy (capped) |
Description
The RFAP is listed in the Assistance Listings under number 10.246. RFAP is designed to provide financial assistance to qualifying institutions for the construction, alteration, acquisition, modernization, renovation, or remodeling of agricultural research facilities to conduct research in the fields of food and agricultural sciences (as defined in 7 U.S.C. 3103 , see Appendix III for definition).
Eligibility
Applicants for the RFAP must meet all the requirements discussed in this NOFO. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or preclude NIFA from making an award. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s About Grants provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process.Applications may be submitted by:1. 1994 Land-Grant Institutions2. State Agricultural Experiment Stations3. 1862 Land-Grant Institutions4. Accredited school or college of veterinary medicine or State Agricultural Experiment Station that conducts animal health and disease research in accordance with section 1433(c) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3195)5. 1890 Land-Grant Institutions6. Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (HSACU) as defined in 7 U.S.C. 31037. Non-Land-Grant Colleges of Agriculture (NLGCA) - Institutions satisfying the eligibility requirements for NLGCA designation.8. Insular Area Institutions-Institution of higher education, as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1995 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a).9. Institutions eligible for "McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act" (16 U.S.C. 582a et seq.)10. Other entities eligible to receive funds under a capacity and infrastructure program (as defined in section 6971(f)(1)(C)). See Appendix IV under capacity and infrastructure programs.USDA will not accept competitive applications for grants and cooperative agreements submitted for dangerous gain-of-function research, as defined in Section 8 of E.O. 14292.Duplicate or Multiple Submissions – An eligible institution may not submit more than one application to this program as a lead institution. This includes applications from subordinate units under a parent institution. Additionally, eligible recipients may only receive funds for one award at a time. Recipients with active RFAP awards are not eligible to receive additional RFAP awards. Prospective applicants are advised to contact their institutional sponsored projects office regarding processes used to select proposals for submission.Institutions that have received congressionally directed funding for research facility projects are not excluded from participation in this program. Such institutions may submit applications and compete for additional projects under this competitive funding opportunity.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: Joseph Perez Lead Policy Analyst <grantapplicationquestions@usda.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · USDA NIFA conventions SEE A USDA EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — USDA NIFA's document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.