Geospatial Innovation for Food Security Challenge

Eligibility

This program is designed to allow any institution, including but not limited to industry, government, academia, tribal, and non-profits, to form a team and pursue the objectives of this solicitation.

Basic Requirements:
• Applicants must have the ability to receive funds from a United States-based organization.
• Partner government entities may apply but can only receive in-kind assistance through unfunded contracts.
• Applications must be in English, complete and submitted by the stated deadline.
• Applications must propose an innovation for a maturing geospatial technology or method that responds to a problem statement listed in this solicitation and otherwise adheres to the guidelines.
• Applications must identify the Principal Investigator representing the team and responsible for budget management, meeting milestones, and deliverables.

Summary

The G.I.F.S. Challenge calls for teams of practitioners and researchers to propose novel approaches to enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture through advances in applications of geospatial technologies, methods and models. Through the financial and technical support provided by this Challenge, TGI and its partners are assembling an interdisciplinary multi-organizational community of researchers, innovators and implementers to work together to advance geospatial innovation and help foster a new future for the food system grounded in sustainability and food security. This initiative is designed to link teams with deep understanding of the problems that lead to persistent food insecurity with teams with expertise in emergent geospatial technologies and methods. Together, they will be supported to collaborate on novel approaches. TGI invested 9 months in 2024-2025 to work with the community to scope this Challenge by identifying the problems where geospatial advancements have the greatest potential for impact, where potentially relevant technologies and methods are emerging, and where the community is positioned to act. This process shaped the focus topics for the Challenge.

The Challenge’s focus areas are:
• advances in geospatial technologies, models or methods to improve information sources and monitoring capabilities used to understand risks to food supply chains.
• advances in geospatial technologies, models or methods to better inform strategies for crop shifting, based on predicted changes to agricultural environments and crop suitability factors.
• advances in geospatial technologies, models or methods that enhance measurement and model verification protocols designed for use on working farms and capable of identifying effects of location-specific stacked practices on Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) and N losses.

Supported projects must:
• actively engage with the ongoing emergence of geoAI and its implications for geospatial technologies, methods, and models.
• advance geospatial technologies, methods and models at Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 3-7.
• be supported by teams that combine technological and methodological innovation with domain expertise and practical knowledge of the challenges of implementing new ways of working in food and agriculture.
• be supported by teams that include at least one research and one implementing partner organization.

Full RFP with detailed application instructions can be found at this LINK. 

Overhead

10% 

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

RESOURCES

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with Research Services, the more help we can be!

Contact the following Research Service units for support with:

Projects Involving Indigenous Research:

Support with incorporating wise practices in Indigenous research, community engagement, and Indigenous data management is available through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST).

Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage.

Knowledge Mobilization, Research Impact Assessment, DORA:

Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation, community partnerships, research impact, responsible research assessment (DORA), and open science, is available through the Knowledge to Impact team.

Applicants can reach out by email to the KI team at knowledge.impact@ucalgary.ca.

For more information and access to resource archives, please visit the KI team webpage.

Research Data Management:

For information on research data management plans, processes, or best practices for your research program, please contact research.data@ucalgary.ca.

EDI in Research:

RSO can provide resources and support to research teams on the integration of equitable and inclusive practices in research design and research practice.

Contact edi.rso@ucalgary.ca for more information.

Research Security:

The Research Security Division is available to ensure researchers adhere to research security guidelines and policies, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP) and the policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC).

Visit the Research Security website to learn more or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.

Pre-Award Submissions:

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application