EW-RELEASE a THE McKNIGHT FOUNDATION 121 South Eighth Street Minneapolis, Minsota For information: Mary Ziegenhagen Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402 Ofc 612-333-4220 Communications Officer (612) 333-4220 FOR RELEASE May 23, 1994 THE McKNIGHT FOUNDATION AWARDS FIRST GRANTS IN ITS NEW, INTERNATIONAL, COLLABORATIVE CROP RESEARCH PROGRAM The McKnight Foundation has awarded its first grants in a new six-year $12 million international, collaborative crop research program, Cynthia Boynton, president, announced today. This initial round of planning grants to 18 research partnerships totals $217,988. "Every year, around the world, 40 million people die from hunger and related diseases," Ms. Boynton said. "Through this program, the Foundation seeks to make a contribution to meeting the food needs of countries where large numbers of people suffer hunger and the effects of malnutrition." This will be done through the support of research that is strategically linked to issues of food crop production in less developed countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These initial grants were made to partnerships selected from among 460 applications from 63 countries. Each partnership includes top plant scientists in universities or national agricultural programs of less developed countries and outstanding researchers in the United States. The grants will enable recipients to work together to develop detailed research plans and to prepare proposals for support for that research. Based on the proposals, the Foundation will award major research and training grants to as many as eight international partnerships. These grants are expected to range between $100,000 and $300,000 per year for up to three years, with renewal possible for another three years. The Foundation will announce the recipients of these major grants in January 1995. Michael O'Keefe, executive vice president of The McKnight Foundation explained: "This new initiative builds on ten years of McKnight support for basic research in plant biology. In our call for