Each time you submit a research project grant application, you’ll complete sections on Facilities and Other Resources and Equipment.
For the former, you’ll describe the resources you need and those that are available to you. Work with your department chair or colleagues to identify the resources and level of support your institution can provide and external resources you can leverage. If you have collaborators, you should indicate what they can offer.
For the latter, you’ll list major pieces of equipment already available for your project. Check if your institution has a catalog of core facilities (most universities do) to help you find equipment. Where appropriate, identify the equipment’s location and pertinent capabilities.
Generally speaking, you can request money in your application’s budget section to buy materials like reagents, small pieces of equipment, or other items not usually shared. For larger purchases, you’ll need to explain why the equipment is absolutely essential and provide a strong, detailed justification in your application explaining why you need the equipment for your research. Refer to Determine Institutional Resources for further guidance.
Awards for Expensive Equipment
Over the course of your research career, you may encounter situations in which you need to purchase or upgrade an expensive instrument but can’t afford to do so on your own.
NIH’s Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) routinely issues S10 Instrumentation Program notices of funding opportunities (NOFOs) to support purchases of state-of-the-art, commercially available instruments on shared-use basis to enable or enhance conduct of cutting-edge research by NIH-funded investigators. The instruments that are awarded are typically too expensive to be obtained by an individual investigator with a research project grant. Examples include X-ray diffraction systems, nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometers, DNA and protein sequencers, biosensors, electron and confocal microscopes, cell-analyzers, and biomedical imagers.
Cost sharing is not required, however an institution must commit its funds towards the costs of purchasing an instrument if its price is beyond the maximum award limit. An institution typically supports the long-term maintenance and operation of the instrument.
ORIP awards more than 100 awards under the S10 activity code each year.
General Information on S10 NOFOs
Currently, ORIP manages three S10 NOFOs, which have the following common characteristics:
- Applicants must identify at least three Major Users who have active NIH grant awards and a substantial need for the chosen instrument.
- The principal investigator (PI) must have technical expertise directly related to the type of chosen instrument.
- Awards do not confer facilities and administrative costs (indirect costs).
- Awards have a 1-year project period.
- The next application submission deadline is June 3, 2024.
NOFO-Specific Details
Below are important details that are specific to each of the NOFOs. We encourage you to carefully read the NOFO in which you are interested and direct your questions to the scientific/research contact listed in Section VII. Agency Contacts of the announcement.
Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) Program (S10, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
- Objective: To make available to institutions expensive research instruments that can be justified only on a shared-use basis and are needed for NIH-supported projects in basic, translational, or clinical areas of biomedical and bio-behavioral research.
- Minimum award is $50,000. There is no upper limit on the cost of the requested instrument, but the maximum award is $750,000.
Basic Instrumentation Grant (BIG) Program (S10, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
- Objective: To allow groups of NIH-supported investigators to purchase a single high-priced, specialized, commercially available instrument or an integrated instrumentation system.
- Eligibility is limited to institutions that have not received S10 instrumentation funding in excess of $250,000 in any of the preceding 3 fiscal years.
- Minimum award is $25,000. There is no upper limit on the cost of the requested instrument, but the maximum award is $350,000.
High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program (S10, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
- Objective: Similar to BIG and SIG programs; typically, these instruments will demand sophisticated technical expertise and commensurate institutional support.
- If requesting cutting-edge innovative instruments, applicants should demonstrate special technical expertise in physical and biological sciences to allow the adoption of such instruments for biomedical research and the development of innovative biomedical applications.
- Minimum award is $750,001. There is no upper limit on the cost of the instrument, but the maximum award is $2 million.
If you’re unsure whether to prioritize the SIG or BIG S10 NOFO, reach out to ORIP at oripconstruction@od.nih.gov or 301-594-1187.
Additional Help
In addition to the NOFOs, check out ORIP’s comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions: Share and High-End Instrumentation Grant Programs, which cover topics like preparing an application, PI and institution eligibility, letters of support, and post-award issues.