How to Successfully apply for a BARD Grant
BARD The U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund
We have recently released our call for proposals for 2025. BARD is a competitive and agriculturally focused fund, which invests in binational (Israel and US) research. Our programs offer funding for research scientists, graduate students and postdocs. ?
To prepare for the deadlines, we have prepared several tips, and explanations that can guide you through the application process, and hopefully improve your proposals.
The proposal selection process initially begins with a peer review. Each project is assigned for review by 5-7 peers. Afterwards the review is forwarded to panels (an American panel, and an Israeli) which provide independent recommendations for each proposal, based on urgency and priority to the country of origin. Both lists of recommendations are submitted to the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) made of five senior scientists from each country, who create an interdisciplinary portfolio, which is then submitted for approval to the Board of Directors, who only then approve the funding.
Additionally, the selection process is based on four criteria: Scientific merit, feasibility of objectives, anticipated benefits to agriculture of both countries, proposed collaborative arrangements (how is the collaboration jointly conducted by both countries).
We suggest paying attention to the technical components of your proposals with these criteria in mind. It is important to acknowledge the strategies procedures, experimental details and potential pitfalls, expected results and the anticipated contribution to agriculture or the environment.
·???????? The Abstract should offer concise information to those in the evaluation process who will not see the full proposal. Prepare a well-thought-of abstract referring to all four topics listed under "The Proposal"/"Abstract" (above).
·???????? The most important aspects of a proposal are scientific merit, its innovation, relevance to a specific issue or problem in agriculture and quality of collaboration. The review process focuses on the evaluation of these aspects. Argue them well and present them thoroughly.
·???????? Present clear objectives well founded hypotheses and work plans that address the stated objectives.
·???????? The most common criticisms are 'vague', 'overly ambitious', 'lacking preliminary results' or 'unfocused'.
·???????? Remember that BARD is a mission-oriented funding agency: its aim is to solve a specific agricultural or related environmental problem, within a reasonable time frame.
·???????? Emphasize the collaborative aspect of the proposal including the plan to jointly publish the results.
·???????? Careful proof reading is essential for professional evaluation of the proposal. A proposal with many typos and grammatical errors will make a poor impression on the reviewers and panel members.? Give careful attention to correct citations of the literature, spelling and quality of pictures and graphs.
·???????? If you have an innovative idea, but are lacking a proof of concept for the preliminary stage of the proposal, consider applying for a one year feasibility study.? The objective would be to provide a proof of concept for a full proposal would be subsequently written.? These proposals are judged on the same criteria as the full proposal so even in the feasibility it is important to define the cooperation between the teams, have a clear and focused objective and a vision for what is the research direction if the feasibility is successful.?
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Helpful links:
List of programs. All the funding opportunities BARD offers, with guidelines and relevant forms.
Application webinar. A webinar that thoroughly explains the application process as well as helpful tips.
Frequently asked questions. Questions that are commonly asked about BARD.
Funded research from the beginning of BARD until today.
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