Published in Probe Volume 6 (Final): July 1996
In 1995, the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program (NRICGP) made available $9,507,886 for plant genome research, out of which 68 grants were awarded. The Plants Division of the NRICGP in USDAs Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service administered the grants.
The total grant amount is lower than in previous years, as is the number of awards given, largely because of Federal budget reductions. Despite these developments, the average amount per award and average number of years per award have increased from previous years, thus increasing the awards value to recipients (see table 1).
To be considered for the awards, scientists from the research community submitted mission-oriented proposals that addressed the goal of improving agronomic qualities of plants through genomic research.
Ed Kaleikau, acting division director of the Plants Division, and Steve Tanksley, panel manager, of the Plant Breeding and Biometry Department, Cornell University, selected peer panel members and ad hoc reviewers for the proposals in concurrence with the NRI Chief Scientist and USDA administration. The panel considered and discussed all the reviews, then ranked the proposals based on scientific merit, relevance to agriculture, and quality of research facilities and personnel.
Award recipients represented 37 research institutions (see next page) studying 30 species (see next page for number of awards per species and dollar amounts). According to Ed Kaleikau, comparative mapping and map-based cloning were hot topics among researchers across the board. He added that this trend underscores the importance of the Plant Genome Database, which centralizes such information for researchers to use.
The data for the tables was supplied by the NRICGP staff, and compiled into tables by Dr. Garry Smith, USDA-ARS, Fargo, North Dakota.