Grant Opportunities

At the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences research serves as the foundation for our actions. See our current grant opportunities below.

Current Opportunities:

Request for Proposals to Evaluate Printing Colorants and Components that Impact Safety & Quality of Recycled Resins for Food Contact Applications.

The IAFNS Food Packaging Safety and Sustainability Committee is please to share this Request for Proposals to Evaluate Printing Colorants and Components that Impact Safety & Quality of Recycled Resins for Food Contact Applications.

Food contact materials, including food packaging, can contain intentionally or unintentionally added substances. Some of these are integral to the packaging materials, such as inks and colorants. Chemical inks are used for a variety of applications, including printing batch identification information and sell-by dates.

Inks, being complex mixtures of low molecular weight substances (photoinitiators, aromatic amines, pigments, etc.) may under certain conditions generate toxicologically relevant NIAS. This issue is exacerbated in resins that are recycled more than once, subjected to extreme heat during recycling, or undergo ineffective cleaning technology. Residual ink-derived substances may also introduce chemical contaminants, affect odor and taste, and create processing defects such as specks, gels, and discoloration. These issues can compromise the suitability of PCR for food-contact applications and highlight the need to better understand how ink components behave during recycling.

This project will develop a framework that links ink class and component fate during recycling to PCR safety and quality, enabling more practical guidance for packaging design. Specifically, the project will identify colorants that generate hazardous or restricted chemicals upon recycling. It will also explore methods to effectively remove these chemicals from the recycled material, thus maintaining its suitability for food contact applications. Additionally, the project will identify existing pigments and inks that are compatible with recycling.

Proposal Deadline: August 31, 2026

Full Details are here.

IAFNS Graduate Student and Post-Doc Stipends for Research Using the Comprehensive Fiber Database

The IAFNS Carbohydrates Committee is pleased to announce it is accepting applications for the above project.

Publication and travel stipends are available on an ad hoc basis for graduate students and post-docs who complete research based primarily on the Comprehensive Fiber Database developed and maintained by Tufts University with funding from IAFNS.

The database: https://iafns.org/our-work/research-tools-open-data/dietary-fiber-database/

Supported projects may include evidence reviews of fiber and health outcomes and knowledge or gaps analysis of a specific area of fiber as it relates to human health. Other uses may also be considered as long as the database is a primary tool used in conduct and analysis.

Travel Awards: Up to 2 travel awards may be granted annually to reimburse up to US $1,000 each to cover meeting registration or travel for a graduate student or post-doc to present in an oral or poster presentation a project in which the Comprehensive Fiber Database serves as the basis for analysis.

Publications: Awards will be granted on an ad hoc basis up to US $4,000 in the form of reimbursed fees for free access to a peer-reviewed paper accepted for publication by a student currently enrolled in a nutrition or food science graduate program. The same would apply to a post-doc in food science or nutrition who is the first author on a paper for which the Fiber Database is a primary tool for analysis.

Details and full instructions can be found in this form.

Please submit proposals at your convenience. Applications will be reviewed every 8 weeks. For further questions please contact blyle@iafns.org.

Scientific integrity is a core value of IAFNS. Learn how we embed scientific integrity into every step of our research process.

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Where indirect costs are permitted, they can not exceed 10%.

Projects Funded by IAFNS:

IAFNS's mission is to advance food safety and nutrition science for the benefit of public health. View projects funded by IAFNS below, and learn how we embed scientific integrity into every step of our research process.

Evidence-Based Risk Assessment of Ingredients and Additives

Ingredient & Additive Risk Assessment Evidence-Based Risk Assessment of Ingredients and Additives This project focuses on the development of a framework to facilitate the risk assessment of potential human dietary hazards. Such a framework will consider the relevance and inter-species extrapolation of exposure, toxicokinetics, as well as the toxicological mechanisms of action underlying observed adverse […]

Low & No Calorie Sweetener 2025 Webinar Series

Three-Part Research Series Advancing LNCS Research Through a Three-Part Webinar Series and Publication IAFNS’ Low & No Calorie Sweetener (LNCS) Committee hosted a 3-part webinar series to present new evidence from three large consortium projects. The projects focused on the effects of LNCS and include: Sweet Project: Developing evidence on the long-term effect of sweeteners on […]

Characterizing Intake & Eating Behaviors Among Individuals Prescribed GLP-1 Medications

Understanding Diet on GLP-1 At IAFNS, we advance nutrition science through rigorous research, collaboration, and evidence-based guidance. GLP-1 Medications and Eating Behaviors Medications which leverage the potent anorexigenic effects of the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) represent a highly promising treatment modality for obesity. However, little is known about the eating behaviors or nutrient needs […]

Soil Factors Test

Investigating Soil Characteristics At IAFNS, we advance food safety through rigorous research, collaboration, and science-based guidance. Soil Factors Driving Uptake of Toxic Elements by Rice & Leafy Greens Investigating how soil characteristics influence arsenic, cadmium, and lead levels in key food crops is key. Rice and leafy greens are healthy, widely consumed foods but are […]

A New Era in Reproducibility | The NIST Gut Microbiome Reference Material

Recorded April 29, 2025 Description: Significant investment in gut microbiome research has continued since uncovering the various roles of gut microbes in health and disease. At the same time, due to the dynamic nature and complexity of biological samples, challenges with reproducibility and comparability across studies are among the greatest encountered across research fields. Cross-study […]

Soil Factors Driving Uptake of Toxic Elements by Rice and Leafy Greens

Investigating Soil Characteristics Soil Factors Driving Uptake of Toxic Elements by Rice & Leafy Greens Investigating how soil characteristics influence arsenic, cadmium, and lead levels in key food crops is key. Rice and leafy greens are healthy, widely consumed foods but are susceptible to contamination by soil-occurring toxic elements such as arsenic, cadmium, and lead. […]

Barriers and Challenges to Estimating Caffeine Intake

Improving Caffeine Intake Assessment Advancing Caffeine Consumption Research There is a need for peer-reviewed literature that provides good guidance on how to determine caffeine intake in individuals consuming caffeine and for research where caffeine intake is a factor that needs to be accurately assessed. The IAFNS Caffeine Committee will leverage high-resolution caffeine consumption data from […]

Tracking the Fate of Additives in Recycled Plastics through Multiple Simulated Life Cycles

Research question: What are the technical, quality, safety, and migration impacts of recycling Polypropylene multiple times? Most companies have made sustainability commitments that will require a rapid adoption of higher concentrations of recycled plastics. This will eventually result in plastics that have served multiple service life cycles. However, there are numerous knowledge gaps regarding the […]

Exposure Characterization of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Foods

FCS and Packaging Committee Project: Exposure Characterization of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Foods The volume of plastics produced globally every year has steadily increased over the last few decades and shows no signs of tapering. As of 2017, an estimated total of 8.3 billion tons of resins and fibers had been produced globally with the […]

Sodium, Potassium & Blood Pressure: Evidence Map and Systematic Review

Balancing Sodium and Potassium At IAFNS, we advance food safety through rigorous research, collaboration, and science-based guidance. Sodium, Potassium, and Cardiovascular Health It is proposed that modest reductions in sodium intake coupled with increases in potassium from a variety of sources including potassium chloride and/or other supplemental potassium salts may achieve the public health goals […]

The Role of the Gut Structure and Function in Health and Disease | The Celiac Disease Paradigm

Recorded February 26, 2025 Description: The intestine is a critical site for interaction between the host and the external environment. Its complex structure plays key roles in selective absorption of nutrients or other dietary or environmental components, with implications for local and systemic effects. The gut microbiome is also active at the interface between the […]

The Past, Present, and Future of the NIH Office Dietary Supplements

Recorded January 22, 2025 Description: The National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) recently released their 2025-2029 Strategic Plan. This strategic vision builds upon the office’s successful history and positions ODS as the premier organization, authority, and convening body for advancing the study of dietary supplements across the federal government. IAFNS hosted Dr. Stefan […]

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