Grant Opportunities

Opportunities from
the Office for Research

 

• INFORMATION for Fall '09 Office for Research Funding

• Previous Awards

  Fall 2008

  Spring 2009

 

Federal Programs

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Programs

Shared Instrumentation Grants (SIG) program supports the purchase of research equipment costing $100K to $500K. Examples of instrumentation supported by SIG funding include nuclear magnetic resonance systems, electron and confocal microscopes, mass spectrometers, protein and DNA sequencers, biosensors, x-ray diffractometers and cell sorters.

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-09-028.html

High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grants program supports the purchase of research equipment costing $750K to $2M. Instruments in this price range include structural and functional imaging systems, macromolecular NMR spectrometers, high-resolution mass spectrometers, electron microscopes, and supercomputers.

This is a semi-annual program that was utilized for the ARRA Stimulus Package in 2009, so it is unclear if there will be a solicitation in 2010.

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-07-383.html

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National Science Foundation (NSF) Programs

Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program supports the purchase or development of shared research equipment costing $100K to $4M (30% cost sharing required). Development or acquisition of research instrumentation for shared inter- and/or intra-organization use are encouraged, as are development efforts that leverage the strengths of private sector partners to build instrument development capacity at academic institutions. Up to 3 proposals per institution allowed (max. 2 acquisition proposals).

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5260

Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR) program supports the development of novel instrumentation or instrumentation costing $40K to $400K. Supported instruments are expected to significantly improved by at least an order of magnitude or more in fundamental aspects and have a significant impact on the study of biological systems at any level. The development of new instrumentation must be firmly based in biological research need. Proposals are encouraged for instrumentation that does not currently exist in the form of a working prototype.  In the selection of projects for funding, the program does not support the development of biological instrumentation that would be used for clinical or biomedical applications.

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=9187&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund

Instrumentation for Materials Research (IMR) program supports the acquisition and/or development of research instruments costing up to $100K that will provide new capability and/or advance current capability to: (1) discover fundamental phenomena in materials; (2) synthesize, process, and/or characterize the composition, structure, properties, and performance of materials; and (3) improve the quality, expand the scope, and foster and enable the integration of research and education in research-intensive environments.  Designed to provide advanced capability to the nation's scientists and engineers who are endeavoring to conduct research and educational activities in all areas normally supported by DMR.

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5452&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund

Instrumentation for Materials Research - Major Instrumentation Projects (IMR-MIP) program supports the design and construction of major instruments at major US facilities costing $4M to $20M. Also supports the development of detailed conceptual and engineering design for new tools for materials preparation or characterization at major national facilities. Such instruments may include, for example, neutron beam lines, synchrotron beam lines, and high field magnets, as well as development of detectors and preparation environments necessary to support materials research. The program supports two types of awards: Conceptual and Engineering Design (CED) awards and Construction (CNST) awards. Only 1 proposal per institution allowed.

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=6672&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund

Earth Sciences: Instrumentation and Facilities (EAR/IF) program will support meritorious requests within and across a broad range of fields in the Earth sciences including but not necessarily limited to:  biogeoscience, geology, geochemistry, geodesy, geodynamics, geomorphology, geophysics, hydrology, limnology, mineral physics, mineralogy, paleorecords research, paleontology, petrology, remote sensing, sedimentology, seismology, stratigraphy, structural geology, tectonics and volcanology. The program will consider proposals for: (1) the acquisition or modernization of research equipment ($750K max), (2) the development of new instrumentation, analytical techniques and/or software that extend current research capabilities in the Earth sciences ($750K max), (3) the support of shared facilities that make complex and expensive instrument systems available on a national or regional basis, (4) support of research technicians, and 5) development of Cyberinfrastructure for the Earth Sciences (Geoinformatics) that will enable transformative advances in Earth science research and education through novel application, development or adaptation of information technologies.

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=6186&govDel=USNSF_39

Chemistry Research and Instrumentation Facilities: Instrument Development (CRIF:ID) program provides funds for the design and construction of instruments that will enable new chemical measurements or will significantly broaden the use of chemical instrumentation.

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5641&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund

http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf04534

Chemistry Research and Instrumentation Facilities: Departmental Multi-User Instrumentation (CRIF:MU) program responds to a variety of needs for infrastructure–instrumentation and facilities–that promotes research and education in areas traditionally supported by the Division (see the NSF Guide to Programs for more information). The Departmental Multi-User Instrumentation component of CRIF provides funds to universities, colleges, and consortia thereof for the purchase of multi-user instruments. PI must be department chair of chemistry or equivalent.

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13579&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund

Multi-user Equipment and Instrumentation Resources for Biological Sciences (MU-BS) program provides support to institutions to purchase expensive items of equipment ($40K to $400K) that will be shared by a number of investigators having actively-funded research projects in areas supported by BIO. There must be at least three major users of the proposed instrumentation, and no more than seven (including the PI and co-PIs). 30% cost sharing required.

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf98137/nsf98137.htm

Improvements in Facilities, Communications, and Equipment at Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (FSML) program invites requests that address the general goal of improvement of Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (FSMLs), which are off-campus facilities for research and education conducted in natural habitats of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems.  Requests may include improvements in the physical plant of the FSML, equipment purchase, improvements in data management and communication systems and institutional planning. $350K max

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5449&org=NSF&from=fund

Archaeology Program recognizes three broad classes of archaeometric proposals costing $50K to $400K: (1) proposals to support laboratories which provide archaeometric services; (2) proposals to develop and refine archaeometric techniques; and (3) proposals to apply existing analytic techniques to specific bodies of archaeological materials. "Laboratory support" and "technique development" projects are included within the Archaeometry competition. "Technique application" proposals are best evaluated in a more strictly archaeological context and therefore should be submitted to the "senior" research competition.

http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/bcs/arch/archaeom.jsp

Astronomical Sciences Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation (ATI) program supports the development and construction of state-of-the-art detectors and instruments for the visible, infrared, and radio regions of the spectrum; interferometric imaging instrumentation; adaptive optics; and the application of new hardware and software technology and innovative techniques in astronomical research. Proposals should identify clearly the astronomical measurement objectives that will be enabled and include a brief task implementation plan with milestones, schedules, and costs.

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5660&org=NSF&from=fund

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Program

Instrument Incubator program aims to identify, develop and, where appropriate demonstrate new measurement technologies which: 1) reduce the risk, cost, size, and development time of Earth observing instruments, and 2) enable new Earth observation measurements. $500K to $1M over three years

http://esto.nasa.gov/obs_technologies_iip.html

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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Program

National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program (NRICGP) supported (1) high priority fundamental and mission-linked research of importance in the biological, environmental, physical, and social sciences relevant to agriculture, food, and the environment and (2) competitively awarded research, extension, and education grants addressing key issues of national and regional importance to agriculture, forestry, and related topics.

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/nationalresearchinitiative.cfm

This program was discontinued in 2008. Please check website for possibly of continuation.

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Department of Energy (DoE) Program

Energy-related Laboratory Equipment (ERLE) program was established by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to grant available used equipment to institutions of higher education for energy-related research.  Equipment is listed as it becomes available.

http://erle.osti.gov/erle/

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Department of Defense (DoD) Program

Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) is a multi-agency DoD program within the University Research Initiative designed to improve the capabilities of U.S. institutions of higher education to conduct research and to educate scientists and engineers in areas important to national defense by providing funds for the acquisition of research equipment. $50K to $1M

http://www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/3t/corporate/durip.asp

 

State and Foundation Programs

CBC - seeks to stimulate collaboration among scientists at Northwestern University, the
University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago that will transform research
at the frontiers of biomedicine. CBC funding opportunities have enabled our three member
institutions to create a novel and innovative collaborative effort, linking researchers,
resources, and facilities to enable fundamental breakthroughs in scientific understanding.
Catalyst, Spark and Lever RFAs welcome broad participation among scientists at our three
member institutions.

http://www.chicagobiomedicalconsortium.org/grants/

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Keck Foundation - strives to fund endeavors that are distinctive and novel in their
approach. It encourages projects that are high-risk with the potential for transformative
impact. "High-risk" comprises a number of factors, including questions that push the edge
of the field, present unconventional approaches to intractable problems, or challenge the
prevailing paradigm. "Transformative" may mean creation of a new field of research,
development of new instrumentation enabling observations not previously possible, or
discovery of knowledge that challenges prevailing perspectives.

http://www.wmkeck.org/programs/index.html

 

Letters of Support

 

We offer a Letter of Support template here.

 

Acknowledgments in Grant Applications and Publications - the use of
data generated in a core facility in a grant application, progress
report or publication contains the implicit understanding that the PI
or authors will acknowledge the use of the core facility. Since many
of our facilities are supported by federal agencies, such
acknowledgment is mandatory.