Letter of Intent Instructions

Letter of Intent Instructions

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The Letter of Intent (LOI) is a prerequisite for the submission of an application to the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Center of Excellence for Bison Studies Competitive Grant Program. The LOI is considered an initial screening document to ensure that all proposals align with the priorities outlined in the RFP, and is also used to estimate the review workload and plan the review process. Principal investigators will be notified about the status of their LOI, and those with an acceptable LOI will be invited to submit a full proposal. The LOI itself does not enter into the formal review process with the full proposal.

Projects should address challenges and knowledge gaps faced by the bison industry, private and tribal bison producers, NGOs, and public herds. Broad examples include, but are not limited to, animal health and nutrition, end-products and marketing, cultural aspects, educational outreach and ecological impacts. A project can be up to three years in duration but will be reviewed and approved on an annual basis. The project budget should not exceed $70,000 annually; the annual funding cycle is July 1 - June 30. Research results are expected to be published with open-access.

Past Funded Projects

The LOI must adhere to the following guidelines for successful submission:

1. Formatting
   1. Font size must be at least 11 point
   2. All margins must be at least 1”
   3. Line spacing must not exceed six lines of text per vertical inch (single-spaced)
   4. Page size must be letter (8.5” x 11”)
2. Content
   Limited to three (3) pages, and must adhere to the following guidelines:
   1. Page 1, provide only:
      1. Descriptive title
      2. Name, professional title, department, institution, and email address of the Principle Investigator (PI)
      3. Name, professional title, department, and institution of all other investigators
   2. Page 2, provide:
      1. Rationale
      2. Overall hypothesis/goal
      3. Specific objective(s)
      4. Approach
      5. Potential impact and expected outcomes
      6. Results dissemination plan
   3. Page 3, complete the attached projected budget table for each year of the project. No additional text or justification beyond this table should be included at this time. Annual budgets are limited to $70,000 per year, with faculty salary compensation limited to 10% of the total annual budget requested. No indirect is allowed.

All LOI must be submitted as a single PDF. Submissions should be emailed directly to Dr. Kristi Cammack by October 28, 2022 (5 p.m. Mountain Time Zone). Please include “Bison Center of Excellence – Letter of Intent” in the email subject line. You should receive a confirmation of LOI receipt by November 4. Notification of request for full proposal will be via email by December 23; deadline for full proposal submission will be February 28. Submission of more than one LOI by a PI/collaborative team is discouraged.

Page 3 Budget Template example:

Year 1 Budget

Year 2 Budget (if required)

Year 3 Budget (if required)