USDA Borlaug Fellowship Mentor Focus Group Event Grant

Program Overview, Objectives, and Priorities

The Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program (Borlaug Fellowship Program) is requesting the design and delivery of a 2020 Borlaug Fellowship Program Mentor Focus Group to capture the experiences of Borlaug mentors through a 4-day planned discussion group event.

Background

The Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program (Borlaug Fellowship Program) advances USDA’s agricultural research goals of promoting collaborative programs among agricultural professionals of eligible countries, agricultural professionals of the United States, the international agricultural research system, and United States entities conducting research by providing fellowships to individuals from eligible countries who specialize or have experience in agricultural education, research, extension, or other related fields.

Fellowships promote food security and economic growth in eligible countries by educating a new generation of agricultural scientists, increasing scientific knowledge and collaborative research to improve agricultural productivity, and extending that knowledge to users and intermediaries in the marketplace. The collaborative nature of the training and research programs not only benefits the Fellow, his or her home institution, and partner country; the U.S. host institution, its professors, researchers, and students; and the global agricultural sector by improving agricultural productivity, systems, and processes in partnering nations through the transfer of new science and agricultural technologies.

USDA will identify Borlaug Fellows based on country-specific topics of importance to international, agricultural trade. USDA then places Fellows with U.S. research institutions for 10-12 week, intensive programs. These programs are expected to contribute to the strategic goals and objectives of the fellow and those institutions through a hands-on experience in a “real-world” agricultural research scenario, providing opportunity for application of research agendas where they can have a direct impact on food security and economic growth in an emerging economy. It is hoped that host institutions will share the knowledge gained through the program in their classroom and extension work with their faculty, students, extension officers, and constituents; and that they will continue to maintain professional contacts with the fellows after their departure from the United States.

Objective

As a mentor-mentee program, the Borlaug Fellowship Program wishes to improve understanding of the dynamics of such programs, the benefits derived by participants, and lessons learned in organization and function that can benefit similar programs, whether administered by USDA, other organizations, or independently at universities. The selected award recipient will collaborate with USDA/FAS to organize and execute a four-day focus group event, that will take place after June 1, 2020 but before August 31, 2020.