Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Cornell University's Office of Sponsored Programs received a $120,000 predoctoral research project grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310). The award, announced May 1, 2026 with completion targeted for April 30, 2028, supports research aimed at improving frost tolerance in grain crops including maize, sorghum, and rice by leveraging genetic variation from wild relatives. This research directly aligns with AFRI's Plant Health and Production and Plant Products priority area and addresses the critical need to extend growing seasons currently limited by frost events, thereby increasing crop yields and agricultural productivity.

The project delivers advanced research services and scientific outputs through the application of deep learning techniques to characterize cis-regulatory genetic variation across crop species. Key deliverables include the identification and characterization of frost tolerance mechanisms in grasses and the acceleration of trait transfer from wild crop relatives into domesticated varieties. This work contributes to the broader plant genomics field by developing computational and genetic tools that improve understanding of frost tolerance genetics while directly enhancing crop resilience and production capacity. The research is conducted at Cornell University's Ithaca, New York location, leveraging the institution's established capabilities in agricultural sciences, plant genomics, and advanced computational research.