[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 15]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR3400.15]

[Page 308]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
  CHAPTER XXXIV--COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND EXTENSION 
                   SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 3400_SPECIAL RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
     Subpart B_Scientific Peer Review of Research Grant Applications
 
Sec. 3400.15  Review criteria.

    (a) Subject to the varying conditions and needs of States, Federal 
funded agricultural research supported under these provisions shall be 
designed to, among other things, accomplish one or more of the following 
purposes:
    (1) Continue to satisfy human food and fiber needs;
    (2) Enhance the long-term viability and competitiveness of the food 
production and agricultural system of the United States within the 
global economy;
    (3) Expand economic opportunities in rural America and enhance the 
quality of life for farmers, rural citizens, and society as a whole;
    (4) Improve the productivity of the American agricultural system and 
develop new agricultural crops and new uses for agricultural 
commodities;
    (5) Develop information and systems to enhance the environment and 
the natural resource base upon which a sustainable agricultural economy 
depends; or
    (6) Enhance human health.

In carrying out its review under Sec. 3400.14, the peer review group 
will use the following form upon which the evaluation criteria to be 
used are enumerated, unless pursuant to Sec. 3400.5(a), different 
evaluation criteria are specified in the annual solicitation of 
proposals for a particular program.

                         Peer Panel Scoring Form

Proposal Identification No._____________________________________________

Institution and Project Title___________________________________________

                          I. Basic Requirement:

    Proposal falls within guidelines? ---------- Yes ---------- No. If 
no, explain why proposal does not meet guidelines under comment section 
of this form.

                         II. Selection Criteria:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Score X
                                       Score   Weight   weight  Comments
                                       1-10    factor   factor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Overall scientific and technical   ......       10  .......  ........
 quality of proposal................
2. Scientific and technical quality   ......       10  .......  ........
 of the approach....................
3. Relevance and importance of        ......        6  .......  ........
 proposed research to solution of
 specific areas of inquiry..........
4. Feasibility of attaining           ......        5  .......  ........
 objectives; adequacy of
 professional training and
 experience, facilities and
 equipment..........................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Score___________________________________________________________________

Summary Comments________________________________________________________

    (b) Proposals satisfactorily meeting the guidelines will be 
evaluated and scored by the peer review panel for each criterion 
utilizing a scale of 1 through 10. A score of one (1) will be considered 
low and a score of ten (10) will be considered high for each selection 
criterion. A weighted factor is used for each criterion.