- Identify and contact appropriate mentors at a US university and CGIAR center. Send link to Borlaug LEAP website so they are aware of what should be included in a reference letter and they have access to the mentor supplemental applications. Consult with professors and/or colleagues with background in the country of research or those who have expertise in the field of study of the proposed project.
- Identify and contact a developing country university faculty member, national agricultural research center, policy maker or other appropriate leader and send link to the Borlaug LEAP website so they are aware of what should be included in a letter of support.
- Download Application and Budget from the Application Materials page.
- Draft an essay with the seven parts: Personal Scientific Background and Vision Statement, Leadership, Research Summary, Thesis Research, Fellowship Timetable, Plan of Activity Narrative and Mentoring Plan. Borlaug LEAP has a zero tolerance policy towards plagiarism and will immediately permanently disqualify any applicant that uses text or ideas without citing sources.
- Draft your budget and leveraged funding form with your US and CGIAR mentors. As the award will be administered through the US university, it is important the US mentor and the Sponsored Programs Office of the US university in particular are aware of the budget plan.
- Solicit critiques on the essay draft from professors, advisers, mentors, colleagues, etc., and make revisions as appropriate.
- Check for typos—misspellings, capitalization errors, grammatical mistakes, etc. Ensure that all appropriate citations are included.
- Gather all documents, in order specified and convert to PDF format, make sure size is under 5MB. Combine the documents into ONE single PDF file.
- You're ready to upload.
- Your application has been received when you have received an email confirmation from Borlaug LEAP.