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Each year, the National Buffalo Foundation generously funds research projects through the Center of Excellence for Bison Studies. This year is no different, and the Center of Excellence is requesting letters of intent from researchers by Oct. 24. Projects addressing bison herd health and management will be given priority consideration. Details regarding letter of intent submission are below. Please use the provided link to access the budget form, which is fillable once downloaded. Please reach out to Director Kristi Cammack with questions.

Letter of Intent Instructions

The letter of intent is a prerequisite for the submission of an application to the request for proposals for the Center of Excellence for Bison Studies Competitive Grant Program. The letter of intent is considered an initial screening document to ensure that all proposals align with bison research priorities and to also estimate the review workload and plan the review process. Principal investigators will be notified about the status of their letter of intent, and those with an acceptable letter of intent will be invited to submit a full proposal. The letter of intent itself does not enter into the formal review process with the full proposal.

For this year’s request for proposals, projects addressing bison herd health and management will be given priority consideration. This includes challenges and knowledge gaps facing the bison industry, private and tribal bison producers, nongovernmental organizations and public herds. A project can be up to three years in duration but will be reviewed and approved on an annual basis. The project budget should not exceed $70,000 annually; the annual funding cycle is July 1-June 30. Research results are expected to be published with open access.

The letter of intent must adhere to the following guidelines for successful submission:

Formatting

1. Font size must be at least 11 point.
2. All margins must be at least 1 inch.
3. Line spacing must not exceed six lines of text per vertical inch (single-spaced).
4. Page size must be letter (8.5” x 11”).

Content

Limited to three pages, and must adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Page 1, provide only:
   1. Descriptive title
      1. Name, professional title, department, institution and email address of the principal investigator
      2. Name, professional title, department and institution of all other investigators
2. Page 2, provide:
   1. Rationale
   2. Overall hypothesis/goal
   3. Specific objective(s)
   4. Approach
   5. Potential impact and expected outcomes
   6. Results dissemination plan
3. Page 3, complete projected budget form (separate file) for each year of the project. No additional text or justification beyond this table should be included at this time. Annual budgets are limited to $70,000 per year; total faculty salary compensation (including fringe) is limited to no more than 10% of the total annual budget requested. No indirect is allowed.

All letters of intent must be submitted as a single PDF. Submissions should be emailed directly to Kristi Cammack by Oct. 24, 2025 (5 p.m. Mountain Time). Include “Bison Center of Excellence – Letter of Intent” in the email subject line. You should receive a confirmation of letter of intent receipt by Oct. 31.

Notification of request for full proposal will be via email by Dec. 19. Deadline for full proposal submission will be Feb. 27, 2026. Submission of more than one letter of intent by a principal investigator/collaborative team is highly discouraged.