Forward Ag Use-Inspired R&D - July 2025

I. Background: 

Wisconsin Forward Agriculture (Forward Ag) is working to build a regional innovation ecosystem for resilient agriculture. The Request for Proposals (RFP) is responsive to the NSF Engines Program and has funding for Use-Inspired Research & Development (Projects. This funding opportunity is being used to advance collaborative use-inspired R&D on priority topics identified in our region based on the outcomes of the NSF Engines Development Award and input from key industry partners. Any institutions of higher education, non-profits, or small businesses headquartered in Wisconsin are eligible to apply.

Definition and Purpose of Use-Inspired Research & Development

The success of Forward Ag depends on its focus on use-inspired research and development—that is, R&D driven by real-world challenges and opportunities. This includes creating new technologies, solutions, and knowledge that can lead to meaningful economic and societal benefits for Wisconsin.

Projects should be aligned with current market needs and future industry trends. Early-stage R&D efforts (Technology Readiness Levels, TRLs 1–5) are eligible, with the goal of progressing toward commercialization or deployment. The aim of this grant program is to support ideas with potential to bring new products, services, practices or technologies to market.

Teams are encouraged to propose bold, high-impact ideas—regardless of their current maturity—that could transform their field or region within a 10-year horizon.

To ensure long-term success, Forward Ag must build a pipeline of innovative ideas and technologies that can evolve and thrive beyond the initial funding period. Competitive proposals will look ahead to anticipate future regional needs and explore breakthrough technologies.
 

II. Priority Topic(s): 

The Forward Ag initiative aims to create a circular agricultural bioeconomy in Wisconsin. To this end, we are focused on leveraging cross-sector partnerships and novel technologies/practices to convert ag waste and by-products into value-added products/practices that create new revenue streams for farmers and food processors. Specifically within the theme of circular agriculture, we are looking for proposals that address at least one of the following topics:

1. On-site collection and pre-processing: Solutions to facilitate geographically distributed and diverse waste, byproducts, and biomass conversion. These solutions can include, but are not limited to, technologies and practices that support on-site pre-processing or conversion of waste/byproducts that enable diversified income streams from circular systems at the farm or community level; incorporating diverse sources of biomass (e.g. plant and animal waste) in conversion to optimize resource/biomass availability; 

2. Waste-to-worth: Proof-of-concept work for creating added value from agricultural or food processing waste with the goal of achieving a circular bioeconomy based on bio-based products like animal/human food supplements, natural dyes, bio-based fuels, bio-plastics, etc. Approaches could include discoveries of novel products; more efficient methodologies for extraction/production of bio-based products; new business and market models for making bio-based products more economically viable, including standards for classifying and assigning value to residues; etc.

3. Optimized supply chain logistics: Innovation in supply chain management at the local, national, or global scale that address Wisconsin's regional opportunities for optimization of agricultural, food, and biomass resources. Projects can focus on solutions that build resilience to fluctuations in weather, costs, or transportation disruptions; data-driven models for optimizing biomass availability and collection across larger regions; analysis of multifaceted data to inform the locations of processing/biomanufacturing plants and other infrastructure needed for a thriving circular bioeconomy; etc.
 

III. Timeline:

RFP Published: July 14, 2025

Application due date: 5 pm, August 20, 2025

Award Announcement: Early September, 2025

Project start date: October 1, 2025

Project end date: June 30, 2026

Final Report due: August 1, 2026

IV. Budget Guidelines: The total proposal budget should not exceed $80,000 over the nine-month period of performance. Unallowable costs include:

- Indirect costs

- Publication costs

- International travel

V. Proposal Submission:

Forward Ag will only accept full proposals through our online submission portal.

Applicants should not exceed the page or word counts specified for each section. 1-inch page margins, single spacing, font size of 12, and Arial, Aptos or open sans fonts should be used for all sections. Not adhering to these guidelines may result in your proposal not being evaluated. The following sections are required as part of the full proposal submission.

• The project lead (Principal Investigator, PI) and co-leads of the project (Co-PIs)
• Organizational information
• Cover Letter signed by an authorized representative
• Executive Summary (350-word limit)

Provide an abstract that succinctly describes your project in layperson’s terms. How does this project align with use-inspired R&D for creating resilient and circular agricultural systems? The executive summary will need to be entered into a text box on the online submission form.

• Proposal Narrative (5 pages)

The proposal narrative should not exceed 5 pages and utilize the formatting guidelines outlined above. It should contain the following five sub-sections and should be uploaded as a pdf to the submission form. Figures and tables are allowed and should use the same formatting guidelines.

1. Project Deliverables (short-term and long-term aims): List technical milestones and extramural deliverables. Include prototype development, key proof of concept tests, anticipated submissions of extramural funding applications, partnerships, and potential intellectual property development. 
2. Approach/Methods: Provide a short narrative of the proposed work. Clearly state how the approach will enable the project deliverables. Provide analysis of the technical or market feasibility of the proposed work and any steps to mitigate risks.
3. Partnerships: Describe how this work involves cross-sector partnerships. Proposals must demonstrate meaningful and significant collaboration between partners from different sectors in the regional ecosystem. Examples include, but are not limited to: Industry or non-profits involved in providing resources through cash, in-kind support, or access to equipment; between-campus collaborations that cross multiple disciplines or areas of expertise; farm businesses or technology startups working with higher education or larger businesses for R&D support. 
4. Return on Investment: List sources of extramural funding (including agency title/type, total dollar amount, anticipated submission date) that will be enabled by this research.  Include any corporate sponsorship. Describe how the project will advance a technology toward commercialization or practice toward implementation– through a key proof of concept, prototype development, or cooperative research effort with a company or other means.  Commercialization may be measured by completion of a license agreement, launch of a startup company, ability to secure outside investment, or generate revenue.
5. Timeline and Milestones: Include the timeline and key milestones for the project. You may use Gantt charts or similar project mapping tools. 

• Budget

The budget should include the following categories and will be filled out in the online application form: Salaries, Fringe, Travel, Equipment, Supplies/Other. The total budget should not exceed $80,000 and should not include any unallowable costs as outlined in the Uniform Guidance for federal grants and the additional unallowable costs listed above in this RFP.

• Budget Justification (2 pages): 

The Budget Justification should elaborate on the expected costs for the project for each budget category. Please explain how the funds will be used to meet the milestones and objectives outlined in the Project Narrative.

• Letters of collaboration (maximum of 5):

Letters of 'support' demonstrating an interest in the project with no significant resource or intellectual contribution from the partner will not be considered proof of collaboration. The letters must explicitly state the role that the partner will play in the project and state any in-kind or cash contributions to the project. Proposals without any letters of collaboration will not be accepted.

• Other documents: 

References and CVs of key personnel will need to be uploaded as pdfs to the submission form.

VI. Expectations/Requirements for grantees:

• Awarded teams must participate in customer discovery programs facilitated by Forward Ag (examples include facilitated convenings on relevant topics, I-Corp program, WiSys VentureHome’s LaunchPad or Level Up! programs, etc.)
• The project should continue to collect and demonstrate “Use-Inspired” data/feedback.
• The project partners should fulfill the cross-sector collaborations outlined in the proposal and committed in the letters of collaboration.
• The PI will provide a final report at the end of the project, including reporting on the work done by collaborators.
• The team will present at or engage with Forward Ag events to share their work with partners and stakeholders.
• The award spending must comply with federal budget guidelines laid out in the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200).
• Any substantial changes to the team, budget, or scope of the project should be immediately communicated to Forward Ag by emailing grants@wisys.org.

VII. Review criteria:

• Addresses thematic priorities and requirements
• Demonstration of Use-Inspired/market need 
• Evidence of technical feasibility
• Milestones/key objectives
• Novelty and Intellectual Property (IP) potential
• Strength of Cross-sector partnerships 

   Acknowledgement: Thank you to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) for funding support for this program through a Key Strategic Partner grant to WiSys.

Contact grants@wisys.org with any questions.