The following is a submission opportunity with no restriction on the number of applications per institution provided the applications are scientifically distinct. If you are interested in this program please email Loren Walker a single PDF by 5:00 pm on March 7th with the following pre-proposal requirements:
1) A two to three-page project summary that must include:
a. project goals,
b. equipment specifications and any estimated costs,
c. building modifications (if any),
d. objectives,
e. methods, and
f. a short statement of competitiveness (i.e. what you think will discriminate your proposal from the competition, including anything you have done to pre-position yourself/your team for this funding opportunity).
2) A short statement from each group on the anticipated use of the equipment and what proposals the equipment will enable
3) Budget estimate. Include also anticipated instrument operating costs (M&S, personnel)
4) A short-form CV for the PI and each senior staff person.
5) Current and Pending support from NIH for (a) confirmed users and (b) potential users, and a statement describing the significance of the proposed instrumentation and their estimated use.
6) Identify the core facility where this equipment will be assigned or indicate if it may require the establishment of a new core
- If it will be associated with an established core facility, include a brief agreement to participate from the Core Director
- If it will NOT be associated with core facility, provide a pro forma business plan for a sustainable financial model (attached to this email).
7) If you have submitted a proposal on the same topic previously and were not funded, please provide reviews and detail how you responded to comments.
Description:
Types of supported instruments include, but are not limited to: X-ray diffractometers, mass and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers, DNA and protein sequencers, biosensors, electron and light microscopes, cell sorters, and biomedical imagers. Applications for "stand alone" computer systems (supercomputers, computer clusters and data storage systems) will only be considered if the instrument is solely dedicated to the research needs of NIH-supported investigators.
To facilitate the introduction of advanced cutting-edge instrumentation technologies to biomedical fields a risk-return trade-off is allowed when certain classes of instruments are requested. Accordingly, the HEI program supports the acquisition of unique instruments developed by reliable commercial vendors, provided the instruments are guaranteed by the manufacturer’s one-year warranty. Due to the novelty of the technologies and the uniqueness of their implementation, specialized and technologically savvy groups of investigators will be qualified to lead the adoption of such instruments for biomedical research and the development of innovative biomedical applications. Therefore, if such novel instrument is requested, the applicant should demonstrate special technical expertise, merging physical and biological sciences. Also, the applicant must provide a detailed training for the investigators listed in the application about the use of the novel technology to advance their research.
Instruments must be for research purposes only.
In rare special circumstances when an institution cannot justify sole use of the high-end instrument for NIH-supported and other biomedical research, the institution may request a Special Use Instrument (SUI). Eligibility requirements for SUI requests are described in Section III 3.
Foreign-made instruments are allowed.
The HEI Program will not support requests for:
- An instrument with a base cost of less than $600,001;
- Multiple instruments bundled together;
- Purely instructional equipment;
- Institutional administrative management systems, clinical management systems, or instruments to be used purely for clinical (billable) care;
- Software, unless it is integral to the operation of the requested equipment;
- General purpose equipment or an assortment of instruments to furnish a research facility and equipment for routine sustaining infrastructure (such as standard machine shop equipment, standard computer networks, autoclaves, hoods, and equipment to upgrade animal facilities).
Applicants are advised to discuss with the HEI Scientific/Research Contact (See Section VII) any questions about appropriate types of equipment, eligibility, and Program requirements, prior to submitting an application for an integrated instrumentation system.
To promote cost effectiveness, to encourage optimal sharing among individual investigators, research groups and departments, and to foster a collaborative multidisciplinary environment, the instrument should be integrated in a core facility, whenever possible.
Each applicant institution must propose a Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) who can assume administrative and scientific oversight responsibility for the requested instrumentation. See Section III.1 for qualifications for the PD/PI. The PD/PI also will be responsible for:
- Requesting no-cost extensions of the project period, if needed.
- At the end of the project period, preparing (and working with the institution to submit) a Final Progress Report (FPR) that describes the purchased instrument, lists all users and publications resulting from use of the instrument, and outlines the value of the instrument to the investigators and to the institution as a whole. See Section VI.3.
- Submitting Annual Usage Reports (AURs) of the instrument to the NIH for a period of four years after the project end date. See Section VI.3.
An Advisory Committee must be named to assist the PD/PI in administering the grant and overseeing the usage of the instrument. For details on the composition of the Advisory Committee, see Section IV.2 under "Administration." The PD/PI and the Advisory Committee are responsible for the development of guidelines for:
- Maximum utilization of the instrument, including time allocation;
- A detailed plan for the day-to-day management and safe operation of the instrument;
- A plan to ensure that access to the instrument is limited to users whose projects have received approval from institutional human subjects, animal welfare or biosafety committees, as applicable;
- A financial plan for the long-term operation and maintenance of the instrument during the post-award period;
- The relocation of the instrument within or outside the institution or changes of ownership, if such changes are necessary;
- Recommending a new PD/PI, if such a need arises.
The PD/PI and the Advisory Committee should convene meetings and issue annual reports on the instrument status, including their recommendations for the instrument operations.
NIGMS is especially interested in promoting participation of Institutional Development Award (IDeA) states and programs in the S10 Program. The IDeA program will provide co-funding for scientifically meritorious applications from IDeA states and encourages sharing and collaboration among institutions, programs, and states.