Faculty who have research appointments through the Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) must be on an AES project. One way to satisfy this requirement is to participate on a Multistate Research Committee/Project and on a related AES Project.
What is a Multistate Research Project?
What is the process to establish a Multistate Research Project?
Do I get any funding for participating on a Multistate Research Committee?
What is a Multistate Research Project?
A Multistate Research Project involves cooperative, jointly planned research employing multidisciplinary approaches to solve problems of concern to multiple states or across a region, through participation on a committee. Multistate Projects are are research plans made by committees of researchers from various Land Grant Universities, which are officially approved by a regional association of agricultural experiment station directors and by USDA. Multistate Projects/Committees also include National Research Projects/Committees involving multiple regions such as NRSP-1, NRSP-8, etc.
Paticipating on a Multistate Research Committee and it's associated Iowa Project can serve to meet a faculty member's requirement to be on an AES project. You may participate on other types of Multistate Projects/Committees, but only a Multistate RESEARCH Committee with an associated Iowa project will satisfy the requirement to be on a an AES project.
How can I become an official participant of a Multistate Research Project/Committee?
1) Obtain approval from your department chair, submit an Appendix E to aes_research@iastate.edu in the Research Programs Office. 2) If an associated Iowa AES project is already in place, aes_research@iastate.edu will add you to that project. You will be responsible to assist with the project director's annual Iowa reports. If you will be the official Iowa State University representative on the project, you will be the Iowa AES project director. If no Iowa AES project has been initiated, you will need to work with aes_research@iastate.edu to initiate the Iowa project, on which you will be the project director.
What is the process to establish a Multistate Research Project/Committee?
In most cases, a group of principal investigators representing multiple states identifies a research area that requires collaboration among many researchers across state lines. These researchers then initiate the process of establishing a Multistate Research Project/Committee by working with their respective experiment station directors.
A project proposal is prepared and the coordinating experiment station director presents the proposal to the regional experiment station directors association for discussion and approval. Once approved by the regional experiment station directors association, the project is filed with USDA for approval. During this process, a call for participation is sent out inviting scientists to participate in the project.
When new Multistate Research Projects are being established, or terminating projects are being revised, faculty will be invited to join. E-mails will be sent to department chairs and/or faculty informing them of new projects or revisions of projects. These e-mail notices include links to more information on particular projects.
- Information on Multistate Research Projects is available on the National Information Management and Support System (NIMSS) Web site: https://www.nimss.org/
- Experiment Station faculty who are interested in participating in a Multistate Research Project/Committee must complete an Appendix E form and submit it to aes_research@iastate.edu in the Research Programs Office. Involvement in any Multistate committee must be approved by the Experiment Station director.
- Upon the director’s approval of faculty involvement in a Multistate Research Project and USDA approval of the project, faculty must complete Project Initiation in REEport to establish an associated Iowa Experiment Station project.
I have a project collaborating with researchers in other states. Does this qualify as a Multistate Research Project?
Not necessarily. It depends on whether your project is an active, official Multistate Research Project listed in NIMSS (see FAQ #2, above). If not, then it does not fit the requirements.
Do I get any funding for participating on a Multistate Research Committee?
The Experiment Station will likely use federal Hatch Multistate dollars to fund part of your salary. In addition, the official Iowa representative to each committee is eligible to receive funding to help defray the costs of attending the committee's annual meeting. See the Experiment Station Multistate Travel Fund Policy for more details.
For more information about Multistate Research Projects, contact or aes_research@iastate.edu in the Research Programs Office.