agInnovation North Central
A Regional Land-grant University Agricultural Experiment Station Network

All deadlines listed here are one year in advance of project expiration:

1. 9/15: Request to renew/submit a new 5-year proposal due - contact chamilton@wisc.edu to initiate.

2. Between 9/15 and 10/15, upload the Issues and Justifications section.

3. 10/15: Final project Objectives and Issues and Justification section due in NIMSS.

4. 12/1: Full proposal due in NIMSS. This deadline is FIRM, with no extensions allowed. Any proposal submitted as final after the 12/1 due date will be returned to Draft status and will not be accepted until the next submission cycle.

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For details on what each proposal section should contain, refer to either AppA (NC-research type projects) or AppB (ERAs and CCs) of the Multistate Research Activities document at https://escop.info/resources/ (item #3). Review each section carefully, please! Proposals will be reviewed based on these criteria.

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Proposal Submission Instructions
 

1. For projects brand new to the region and not renewals of existing committees, please contact the agInnovation NC (agNC) office first (chamilton@wisc.edu).

   • We request prospective proposal writing teams form an NC Development Committee (NCDC; a 2-year writing committee that receives AES travel funds). Guidance on NCDCs is here.

   • Once the NCDC has been approved fully, you may start a full, five-year project proposal (NC-type, ERA, CC) by following the instructions and deadlines below. 
      

2. Request to Write a Proposal: For NC renewals, start with requesting to write the renewal proposal. This is due by 9/15 the year before expiration.

   • Contact the agInnovation North Central region multistate portfolio manager (chamilton@wisc.edu) and let us know your project wishes to renew, then we will set up the proper proposal template in NIMSS and give you a “temp” number that will stay with the proposal until it’s approved.

   • We’ll also need to know who your AA will be and the names of anyone needing upload access to get started.
      

3. NEW Requirements as of 2026 for all new and renewing multistate projects:

   • Please include a brief statement (1–2 sentences) describing how this project aligns with the new USDA science priorities released by the Secretary in December 2025. The most appropriate place to include this information is in the “Statement of Issues and Justification” section. The sentence should clearly explain how the project’s research focus supports or advances one or more of the Secretary’s priority areas.

   • In addition, please include a brief reference to this alignment in the Non-Technical Summary to highlight how the project contributes to USDA’s current research priorities.  
      

4. Issues and Justifications Section: Upload your Issues & Justifications section between 9/15 and 10/15. Those listed with editing access to the proposal should log into NIMSS and under Action Items, select My Project Proposals and click on the Draft Proposals tab. Click Edit next to the proposal, go to Outline, then navigate to that section using the Project Menu on the left. We recommend including a list of proposed participating stations and other project members here. Enter and format the text in the text box, then click Save.
    

5. Upload Project Objectives: Objectives are due in NIMSS by 10/15 and the Issues and Justifications section should be up and final by this time, as well. Again, log into NIMSS, and under Action Items, select My Project Proposals and click on the Draft Proposals tab. Click Edit next to the proposal, go to Outline, then navigate to Objectives using the Project Menu on the left. Enter each Objective into the text box, clicking Add Objective to add more. No numbers or bullets are needed, NIMSS adds these automatically. Objectives should be clear and concise. As of 11/18/2025: Avoid using the comments boxes for Objectives; these will be deleted in the near future. Include any additional details on each Objective elsewhere in the proposal, please. When done with this section, Save.
    

6. Adding Project Participants: When your Objectives are final, contact the agNC office and we will send out a participation request to participants on the expiring version and the national AES lists. Anyone wishing to continue must work with their AES office to be added via submission of an Appendix E form in NIMSS - membership in an expiring project or NCDC will not roll over to a new/renewal one. Non-AES participants should contact the agNC office to be added. As participants are added/join in NIMSS, via submission of the AppE form, they are automatically added to the official participants list for projects and proposals. 
    

7. Submitting Proposal as Final: Continue uploading the remaining proposal sections by the firm deadline of 12/1. When your proposal is final, contact the agNC  office or log into NIMSS, and under Action Items, select My Project Proposals and click on the Draft Proposals tab. Click Edit next to the proposal. From the main project homepage, you'll see a Submit as Final button on the right hand side, just under the Contact AAs and Editors button. If you can't find it, don't fret, you can just email the agNC office for help.
    

8. NC Review Process: Once you’ve submitted the proposal as final, it will go through our agNC review, which includes an AA review, peer reviews/expert review by our NC Advisory Committees (NCACs), and then a final review by our Multistate Research Committee (MRC). We’ll be back in touch in early April with revision requests, approval, etc. See #9 here for more information and what the review forms look like.
    

9. If you have any questions throughout the process, please reach out to the agNC office at any time.

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COMMONLY REQUESTED PROPOSAL REVISIONS:

• As of 10/1/2011, the NCRA approved reductions to the size of all NC multistate project proposals. For more specific information on the proposal size limits and sections affected, please see our revised Appendix A and B forms at the end of the NC Multistate Guidelines. Currently, these changes ONLY affect NC regional projects; projects from other regions remain the same.

• As you complete your Objectives and Methods/Activities sections, please be clear as to who will be working on each project objective.

• When available, we strongly recommend adding a section on how your Hatch funds will be leveraged with outside sources.

• When in doubt, please refer to our Project Expectations guide.