Faculty Exchange Program – African Veterinary Science | USDA FAS 10613 0700 10 21 0001

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FAS 10613 0700 10 21 0001

The Faculty Exchange Program - African Veterinary Science is a USDA-funded grant opportunity that supports the design and delivery of a one-semester, U.S.-based training program for early- to mid-career veterinary faculty from African universities. The central aim is to strengthen veterinary education, research capacity, and extension programming across Africa by giving participating professors structured exposure to U.S. Land Grant University systems, modern instructional practices, and current research approaches. A key requirement is that the training curriculum and deliverables meaningfully incorporate international trade topics, specifically science-based sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade (SPS/TBT), so that fellows can better understand and teach how animal health standards and regulatory systems connect to cross-border commerce. Although the program has historically included Ethiopia and has previously hosted veterinary faculty from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, this particular notice opens eligibility to all African nations except Ethiopia.

The program builds on a longer-running Faculty Exchange Program model that began in 1995, originally bringing junior and mid-level university professors from the Former Soviet Union to the United States to strengthen teaching capacity in agricultural economics, marketing, and agribusiness management. Over time, it expanded to include agricultural scientists and adapted its approach to emphasize updated course and curriculum development, improved teaching and student assessment methods, hands-on exposure to practical field experiences, and engagement with current research techniques. That same framework is now being applied to veterinary science in Africa, with the expectation that participants will return home better equipped to modernize what they teach, how they teach it, and how they connect classroom content to real-world animal health systems and trade-related standards.

In practical terms, the funded project is expected to organize cohorts of fellows and place them in groups of ten at U.S. Land Grant Universities that align with their research and teaching interests. During the semester, participants are meant to upgrade technical expertise in their discipline, observe classes to learn new teaching methods, and gain research skills through laboratory experience, short courses, or individualized mentorship. A concrete output of the exchange is that each fellow revises and modernizes course outlines for implementation at their home institution after returning. The experience is also designed to be applied and systems-oriented: fellows travel to relevant laboratories, farms, agribusinesses, and government offices to see how veterinary science, animal health regulation, and related institutions function in the United States, including how these systems intersect with trade and SPS/TBT compliance.

A defining feature of this opportunity is the built-in follow-on support. After the U.S.-based semester concludes, U.S. host faculty conduct follow-up visits to the participants universities roughly 3 to 9 months later to assess progress, support implementation of newly developed or revised courses, and encourage longer-term collaboration between U.S. and African institutions. The intent is not simply short-term training, but sustained improvement in veterinary curricula and ongoing professional linkages that can strengthen teaching and research over time.

Administratively, the opportunity is a discretionary USDA program under CFDA 10.613, offered as an "Other" funding instrument type through the USDA Faculty Exchange Program. Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and other entities as allowed by the full eligibility language in the notice. The funding opportunity number is USDA FAS 10613 0700 10 21 0001. The original posting indicates an award ceiling of $400,000 and an expectation of two awards, reflecting an intention to support a limited number of implementers capable of designing and running the exchange model at a high level, including the required curriculum components on trade and SPS/TBT. The notice was created on January 4, 2021, with an original closing date of April 5, 2021.

• The Department of Agriculture, Faculty Exchange Program 10.613 in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Faculty Exchange Program – African Veterinary Science" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.613.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 04, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 05, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $400,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA FAS 10613 0700 10 21 0001

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: