Updated July 2023

Welcome to the Funding Process

It is our goal to help you successfully submit proposals that will be funded. To ensure your proposal is aligned with industry priorities, and to support you as a researcher, we encourage and welcome your questions at any time throughout the process. If you are new to the process, the Commission’s administrative officer will be happy to set up a time to meet with you in person or via phone. Contact information is below.

Important Contacts

For scientific technical questions, please contact the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission’s executive director Dr. Ines Hanrahan at hanrahan@treefruitresearch.com. For general questions, please contact the Commission’s administrative officer Paige Beuhler at paigeb@treefruitresearch.com. For questions on presentation guidelines during the reviews, please contact our technology support specialist Mackenzie Perrault at mackenziep@treefruitresearch.com.

Important Dates

Cherry Deadlines

  • 8-23-24  Preproposals
  • 10-14-24  New Proposals, Continuing and Final Reports
  • 10-25-24  Continuing and Final Presentations
  • 11-06-24   Research Review

Technology Deadlines

  • 9-18-24  Preproposals
  • 11-08-24  New Proposals, Continuing and Final Reports
  • 11-22-24  Continuing and Final Presentations
  • 12-5-24   Research Review

Apple Deadlines

  • 10-24-24  Preproposals
  • 12-20-24  New Proposals
  • 1-3-25  Continuing and Final Reports
  • 1-17-25  Continuing and Final Presentations
  • 1-29-25   ACP Research Review
  • 1-30-25   AHP Research Review

Your Proposal’s Audience & Funding Tips

While as a scientist you may be accustomed to writing for a scientific audience, your proposals here should directly target the audience who will fund your work— tree fruit growers and industry stakeholders! Growers and industry stakeholders have a few major concerns you will want to address: 1) Does this proposal address industry priorities and concerns? (https://treefruitresearch.org/requests-for-proposals/)  2) How will this research benefit my business or company? Your proposal should be straightforward and readable to a layperson. Your awareness, attunement to, and targeting of industry priorities as well as demonstrating how your work will benefit the industry, is critical to successfully receiving funding.

Advisory Committees

The Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission is comprised of a board of commissioners. When considering funding, the Board consults with industry experts from the 4 major advisory committees: Apple Horticulture and Postharvest (AHP), Apple Crop Protection (ACP), Cherry and Stone Fruit, and Technology. In addition, the WTFRC staff works closely with the Pear Research Subcommittee (PRSC), a subcommittee to the Processed Pear and Fresh Pear Committees, to oversee PRSC funding administrative tasks.

Advisory committees are dedicated volunteers comprised of interested growers, packers, fieldpersons, R&D managers and technical consultants.  To ensure that industry concerns are covered in the widest possible manner, WTFRC personnel assist by helping to select committee membership covering the entire geographical region, various operation sizes, conventional and organic production, multilingual industry members, new growers, seasoned industry professionals, etc. Advisory committees are reviewed each summer. Complete lists of current advisory committee members are located at https://treefruitresearch.org/about-us/committees/.

The ACP, AHP, Cherry and Stone fruit, and Technology advisory committees are chaired by one or more WTFRC board members. With careful consideration of advisory committee input, the WTFRC Board of Commissioners make the final determination on proposal and project funding.

For pear proposals and projects, the Fresh Pear (FPC) and Processed Pear (PPC) Committees work together, and carefully consider input from the PRSC, to determine funding.

This section offers a brief overview of the processes for ACP and AHP funding, requirements, and where to access information.

 

Research Priorities: These are determined by the advisory committee and posted annually at: https://treefruitresearch.org/requests-for-proposals/.

Proposal and Reporting Templates: You are required to use a template for preproposals, proposals (preproposals that were invited for a full proposal submission), funded continuing and final project report submissions.

Preproposal Selection: Following preproposal submissions, to reduce ranking biases, PI and Co-PI identifiers are removed from the submissions before they are forwarded to the advisory committee members. The ACP and AHP committee chairs with input from their committees, determine which preproposals merit a full proposal submission. Researchers are then notified about their submission status, receive comments, and are given instructions if they are invited to submit a full proposal.

New Proposals: While there may be in-person presentations for continuing and final reports on funded projects, there are no in-person presentations required for new proposals.

Life of a Proposal: Once proposals are received, they are sorted into content panel categories. Individual advisory committee members are asked to complete detailed scoring of proposals within their assigned category/ies of expertise. Each proposal will be reviewed by multiple reviewers.  Scorecards are used. To avoid conflicts of interest, reviewers who have a personal stake in the outcome (such as being a cooperator on a project) recuse themselves from scoring projects they would be involved in. A sample of a scorecard is posted at: https://treefruitresearch.org/proposals-reports/new-proposal/scoring-details/

When reviewers have questions about a proposal, they forward those to the WTFRC administrative officer (AO). The AO forwards the questions to the PI. PIs responses to the AO, as well as questions that were asked, will be shared with all advisory committee members in advance of the committees’ discussion of proposals.

Following advisory panelist scoring, a committee meeting is held (late January or early February) for a discussion of the results of the panelists’ scoring of proposals. The group is invited to comment on their scoring of the proposals they reviewed. After the discussion, an anonymous polling system is used. Proposals are then ranked in order from highest to lowest scores. These scores are forwarded to the WTFRC Board of Commissioners, who will use this information to discuss and determine funding.

Scientists will be notified of the funding decision and given feedback received during the review process.

This section offers a brief overview of the processes for Cherry and Stone fruit funding, requirements, and where to access information. It is important to note that in addition to the WA Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC), the Oregon Sweet Cherry Commission (OSCC) also reviews and approves cherry proposals.

 

Research Priorities: Priorities determined by the WTFRC Cherry Advisory Committee and the OSCC are posted annually at: https://treefruitresearch.org/requests-for-proposals/.

Proposal Templates: You are required to use a template for preproposals, proposals (preproposals that were invited for a full proposal submission), funded continuing and final project report submissions. Templates are located at: https://treefruitresearch.org/proposals-reports/.

Preproposal Selection: While preproposals are submitted in the same manner as ACP and AHP preproposals, the WTFRC Cherry Advisory Committee and OSCC are separate entities and will review and score preproposals separately.

The WTFRC cherry chair and leaders of the Oregon Sweet Cherry Commission (OSCC) determine which preproposals will be asked to submit a full proposal. You will receive an email with a notification of acceptance or rejection of your preproposal, along with any feedback received in the ranking process. If your preproposal is accepted, you will be given further instructions for the full proposal process.

New Proposals: No in-person presentations are required for new proposals.

Life of a Proposal: Following the annual Cherry and Stone fruit Research Review, the WTFRC and the OSCC meet to discuss and rank new proposals. Each state’s advisory committee conducts a separate, anonymous polling to rank each proposal.

At the next WTFRC and OSCC board meetings, each board entity reviews project rankings, advisory committee recommendations, and determines project funding.

Scientists will be notified of the funding decision and given feedback received during the review process.

It is not unusual for a project to receive funding from the WTRFC and the OSCC. Your contract administrator will work with each funding entity separately to make contract and payment arrangements.

 

This section offers a brief overview of the processes for Technology funding, requirements, and where to access information.

 

Research Priorities: WTFRC recognizes that technology is a broad, all-encompassing category which may include novel research not otherwise considered. While there will be a list of technology-related apple specific priorities, all technology proposals are encouraged: https://treefruitresearch.org/requests-for-proposals/.

Proposal:  You are required to use a template for preproposals, proposals (preproposals that were invited for a full proposal submission), funded continuing and final project report submissions. Templates are located at: https://treefruitresearch.org/proposals-reports/.

Preproposal Selection: Following preproposal submissions, to reduce ranking biases, PI and Co-PI identifiers are removed from the submissions before they are forwarded to the advisory committee members. The Technology committee chair, with input from the committee, determines which preproposals merit a full proposal submission. Researchers are then notified about their submission status, receive comments, and are given instructions if they are invited to submit a full proposal.

New Proposals: No in-person presentations are required for new proposals.

Life of a Proposal: Following the research review, WTFRC technology advisory committee members meet to discuss and rank new proposals using an anonymous polling software.  Scientists will be notified of the funding decision and given feedback received during the review process.

This section provides a general overview for the funding of pear projects. It is important to note that while the WTRFC staff oversees pear funding administrative tasks, the Fresh Pear Committee (FPC) and Processed Pear Committee (PPC), with careful consideration of the Pear Research Sub-committee (PRSC) determine funding for pear projects.

 

Research Priorities: These are determined by the PRSC and posted annually at: https://treefruitresearch.org/requests-for-proposals/.

Proposal Templates: You are required to use a template for preproposals, proposals (preproposals that were invited for a full proposal submission), funded continuing and final project report submissions. Templates are located at: https://treefruitresearch.org/proposals-reports/.

Preproposal Selection: Following preproposal submissions, to reduce ranking biases, PI and Co-PI identifiers are removed from the submissions before they are forwarded to the advisory committee members. The PRSC committee co-chairs with input from their committee, determine which preproposals merit a full proposal submission. Researchers are then notified about their submission status, receive comments, and are given instructions if they are invited to submit a full proposal.

New Proposals: The PRSC reviews and ranks projects presented at the NW Pear Research Review based on relevance to industry priorities and merit of the proposal and makes recommendations on funding to the FPC/PPC. Scientists will be notified of the funding decision and given feedback received during the review process.

This section provides a general overview of all research review processes and requirements. To review new proposal research review processes, see information above on the funding you submitted to (i.e., Cherry and Stone fruit Funding).

 

Continuing Reports: Continuing reports will be grouped by areas of similar research to make it easy to follow along for the audience. The focus of your report and presentation is not to justify funding, but to present results from the past year and to explain/introduce the plan for the coming year. A question-and-answer time is allotted. Plan 7 minutes to present and 3 minutes to answer questions.

Final Reports: You will be asked to provide a final report and to give a presentation. Key findings and results should be highlighted. Plan 10 minutes to present and 5 minutes to answer questions.

No-Cost Extensions (NCE): If your final report is due, but you had valid delays in your research, you may submit a request for a no-cost extension (NCE).  The request for an NCE must be submitted in advance of the due date of your final report. If you miss the deadline, it is assumed that your work is complete, and no more funds or additional time will be spent on the project. All unexpended funds above $100 are to be returned to the WTFRC.  For full details, please review the No-Cost Extension policy on our website: https://treefruitresearch.org/proposals-reports/continuing-report/form-and-instructions/no-cost-extensions/.

Funding: If your project is approved for funding, you will receive an email notification. When you receive the email, ensure your contract administrator’s email is correct. You will receive feedback from the WTFRC commissioners and advisory committee members that may include unaddressed questions they have and/or requested project revisions. Please review feedback and reach out to WTFRC staff with any questions.

Funding Declined: If your proposal is not funded, you will receive notification with feedback from commissioners and advisory committee members. This is provided for your consideration on future proposal submissions.

Questions: If you have any general questions about the process, please contact Paige Beuhler at (509) 665-8271, ext. 2, or at paigeb@treefruitresearch.com