GUIDELINES FOR PRE-PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

The Role of the National Dairy Council®

The National Dairy Council® (NDC) is the nutrition research, education and communications arm of Dairy Management Inc™. On behalf of U.S. dairy farmers, NDC provides science-based nutrition information to, and in collaboration with, a variety of stakeholders committed to fostering a healthier society, including health professionals, educators, school nutrition directors, academia, industry, consumers and media.

Established in 1915, NDC comprises a staff of nutrition science researchers, registered dietitians and communications experts dedicated to educating the public on the health benefits of consuming milk and milk products throughout a person’s lifespan. In addition, NDC funds independent research to aid in the ongoing discovery of information about dairy foods’ important role in a healthy lifestyle. This research provides insights to industry for new dairy product innovation.

On-line Pre-Proposal Submission Process
NDC requires the submission of a pre-proposal, which allows researchers to easily submit potential research ideas to our program. Primary investigators may submit multiple pre-proposals for each active call.

Please assure that all guidelines are followed and that all of the appropriate fields on the electronic form are completed. Questions about the submission process should be directed to:

Personnel Summary:

  • In the spaces provided, indicate the principal investigator, including official position, department affiliation, institution or organization, mailing address, and email address

Project Summary:

  • Select the appropriate program area (Nutrition or Product)
  • Select the appropriate topic area from the list provided
  • Indicate the title of the proposal (Maximum of 150 characters with spaces)
  • Provide a brief introduction, including relevant background information (Maximum of 1500 characters with spaces)
  • List the hypotheses for the proposed project (Maximum of 750 characters with spaces)
  • List the specific aims for the proposed project (Maximum of 750 characters with spaces)
  • Describe the experimental approach that will be used to test the hypotheses (Maximum of 2500 characters with spaces)
  • Describe the contribution of the research to the dairy industry (Maximum of 750 characters with spaces)

Budget and Timeline:

  • NDC funds projects in accordance to its fiscal calendar year, which is from January 1 – December 31. The proposed study duration and funding requests should be adjusted to fit the DRI fiscal year funding cycle
  • Funding requested should be consistent with the research to be conducted. Indirect costs of up to 10% of total direct costs will be considered for the management of the research project by the sponsoring institution and should be included in the total pre-proposal budget. NDC does not permit indirect costs for equipment, including computers

Submission Dates:

  • Pre-proposals must be submitted prior to the appropriate deadline. Refer to the specific calls for details on submission dates. Note, Supplemental Support pre-proposals are accepted year-round

NDC Pre-Proposal Review and Notification
The intent of the pre-proposals is to minimize the work necessary for researchers to submit their ideas to NDC. Principal investigators will receive an email notification upon submission of the pre-proposal to NDC. Subsequently, NDC scientists will review all pre-proposals (see Evaluation Criteria link on the submission for more details) and approximately 3-4 weeks following the submission deadline, all applicants will receive notice of the outcome of this review process. Applicants whose pre-proposals are scientifically valid and meet the our current research needs will receive further information and materials for the submission of a detailed full research application. Please note that the notice will not contain a detailed explanation regarding the decision and that the NDC staff decision made on a pre-proposal application is final.

Confidentiality
All information that is not otherwise available to the public will be held in confidence while submitted preproposals are under consideration by NDC. Additionally, the information contained in the pre-proposals will be made available only to appropriate NDC staff, affiliated dairy organizations, and external scientific advisory committees

Refer to our Frequently Asked Questions section for more details about the submission process.