REASONS HATCH PROPOSAL IS IMPORTANT TO YOU:

1. It is tied directly to your faculty position, which is funded either partially or fully by USDA Capacity Funds.

2. Tenure-track faculty with 20% or greater research appointment must maintain an active Hatch or Multistate project.

3. New faculty (tenured or tenure track) are required to develop an individual Hatch project within 18 months of their start date at VT.

4. Faculty without an approved Capacity Fund Project (Hatch or Multi state) shall not be eligible for an annual raise or other potential support funded through VAES (graduate student support, equipment, seed grant, etc.).

*See VAES Guide on Hatch & Multistate Research Program, effective March 1, 2024, for details.

Each project type (individual PD Hatch/Multistate) has variations in the guidelines.

FOR PROPOSAL PREPARATION, READ: 

HATCH PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

FOR SUBMISSION SEE: 

3-PHASE TIMELINE

PHASE 1:

1. Project Director (PD) completes Hatch proposal using Microsoft Word.
2. PD sends 4-6 potential Peer Reviewer (PR) names (including 3 VT Faculty names), a sentence on PR's area of expertise, & PR's affiliation to their Unit Leader (UL) for review/approval.
3. While the proposal must be reviewed by 3 tenure-track reviewers, additional names are provided as alternates to unit leader, if needed.
4. One reviewer must be from your unit (VT faculty). Remaining reviewers can be internal/external to VT.
5. UL approves suggested reviewer names.
6. PD contacts UL approved peer-reviewers requesting proposal review.  When reviewers agree, the PD shares the following documents for review:

• Proposal in Microsoft Word format
• PD's 2-page CV
• Review questionnaire
• HATCH PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

Review details:

• Reviewers have approximately 1-month to review documents & provide feedback.
• Upon receipt of reviews, PD has 1-month to revise the proposal based on reviewer's comments.
• PD submits revised proposal in two formats (track-changes & clean) to UL/designee  for review/approval.
• Oral Hatch review meeting with reviewers, department head, and VAES is only optional for first-time Hatch PDs, unless requested by PD, UL, or VAES.

PHASE 2:

PD submits the following via Submittable:

1. Proposal document in Word format showing revisions using track-changes.
2. Proposal document in Word format that is "clean" and considered final for VAES review.
3. 2-page CV
4. Any protocol approvals (IRB/IACUC)
5. Questionnaire forms completed by each reviewer & the Word reviewed documents with reviewer comments.
6. Departmental approval for the revised Hatch proposal.

    VAES will review for compliance, quality, and contributions to Virginia & the United States.

*VAES reserves the right to request a PD submit an additional proposal revision before Phase 3.

PHASE 3:

• VAES provides guidance for eAuthentication/Login.gov in NIFA Reporting System (NRS).
• PD completes eAuthentication, then notifies VAES a role is needed in NRS.
• PD completes proposal entry in NRS.
• VAES conducts final review and submits proposal to NIFA. If questions arise from NIFA, PD may be asked to provide additional data to NIFA.
• NIFA approves the Hatch project.
• VAES sends official award notification to PD and department.

PD submits required annual report via NRS by December 10th (covering 10/01 - 09/30)

Program Contacts 

Laura Rasnick, Administrative Research Programs Assistant (Lrasnick@vt.edu or 540-231-6336)  

Technical Support 

Technical support is provided by CALS Information Technology (540-231-4865, aghelp@vt.edu).