In 1950, the National Science Foundation (NSF) was created to “…promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense.” The NSF has been a strong supporter of graduate education throughout its history. For example, some of the NSF's first awards were to support graduate training, and extensive support for PhD training is still offered through the NSF Research Traineeship program (NRT) and the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). In 2015, the NRT expects to award almost $37.9M and the GRFP is expected to award roughly $333M in new and continuing awards (pending availability of funds). Additional support for the costs associated with graduate and postdoctoral training is available through fellowships and awards funded by core programs, special solicitations, and related activities in the research directorates. Understanding the NSF structure, priorities and merit review process are critical to securing support through these programs because each funding agency has a distinct set of goals and objectives. Researchers associated with the ADSA (or other member societies associated through FASS) can find very relevant funding opportunities in all of the NSF research directorates. However, those submitting proposals should recognize and emphasize the basic, fundamental aspects of their research proposals and activities. Merit review at the NSF centers around the intellectual merits of a proposal, and the broader impacts of the proposed work. So, although NSF does not have an explicit emphasis on food production or agricultural efficiency, animal production systems are potentially excellent experimental systems to reveal basic biologic processes, advance complex technical or engineering principles, and even elucidate economic factors. Putting any proposed effort in context with an over-arching and broadly relevant scientific scope can result in a compelling and fully competitive research proposal that includes support for student training. Such activities also represent excellent student training opportunities that will supply the future demand for PhDs with interdisciplinary skill sets.