Section 3430.303 - Eligibility(a)General. Unless otherwise specified in the RFA or this subpart, eligible applicants for the grant program implemented under this subpart include: (1) State agricultural experiment stations;(2) Colleges and universities (including junior colleges offering an associate's degree);(3) University research foundations;(4) Other research institutions and organizations;(6) National laboratories;(7) Private organizations or corporations;(9) Any group consisting of 2 or more entities identified in paragraphs (a)(1) through (8) of this section.(b)Integrated projects. Eligible entities for the integrated component under this subpart include:(1) Colleges and universities;(2) 1994 Institutions; and(3) Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities (as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103 ).(c)FASE Grants - (1)New investigator awards. To be eligible to apply, a new investigator must be in the beginning of his/her career, without an extensive publication record, and must have less than 5 years of postgraduate, career-track experience. To be eligible to receive a grant, the new investigator may not have received competitively awarded Federal funds, with the exception of pre- or postdoctoral awards or NRI/AFRI Seed Grants. The AFRI RFA will contain specific instructions for New Investigator Grant eligibility, restrictions, and application preparation.(2)Pre- and postdoctoral fellowships. The following eligibility requirements apply to applicants for pre- and postdoctoral fellowships. (i) The doctoral degree of the applicant must be received not earlier than January 1 of the calendar year three years prior to the submission of the proposal and not later than nine months after the proposal due date; and(ii) For pre-doctoral applications, the applicant must have advanced to candidacy by the application deadline.(3)Strengthening grants. Eligibility for all strengthening categories includes: (i) Small and mid-sized academic institutions that have had limited institutional success;(ii) Degree-granting institutions and State agricultural experiment stations (SAES) in USDA Experimental Program for Stimulating Competitive Research (EPSCoR) states; and(iii) Minority-serving institutions with limited institutional success.