Part 1. Overview Information

Need for the Program

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognizes that scientists and students from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences bring different perspectives, creativity, and research interests to address complex scientific problems. Benefits of a scientific workforce from a variety of backgrounds include fostering scientific innovation, enhancing global competitiveness, building robust learning environments, improving research quality, advancing participation of underserved populations, and strengthening public trust. Yet many institutions that educate students from a wide variety of backgrounds are under-resourced and their faculty receive fewer NIH research grants ( Hoppe 2019 ). This Instrumentation Program for Resource-limited Institutions aims to enhance biomedical research capacity and educational opportunities at under-resourced institutions by supporting their purchase of modern scientific instruments for research and education. Access to scientific equipment is essential for conducting biomedical research. By providing the opportunity to acquire instruments and other forms of equipment necessary for performing modern experimental studies, this program aims to increase the research capacity at resource-limited institutions across the country, bringing a wider set of researchers with new scientific questions and the different populations they serve into biomedical research. In addition, hands-on, active learning has been shown to significantly enhance student interest and educational achievement in scientific fields. By providing increased access to modern scientific equipment, this program will enhance opportunities at institutions that currently cannot provide this kind of research-based education, which will help increase the talent pool on which the U.S. biomedical research enterprise can draw.

Program Objectives

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) provides awards to institutions that have limited NIH Research Project Grant funding to purchase scientific equipment (see Section III.1 for details on institutional eligibility). Proposed instruments may support scientific projects in basic, translational, clinical, or biomedically-related behavioral fields. Students and trainees may also benefit from access to the instrument in formal courses. The requested instrument should invigorate current research, contribute to opportunities for new research projects, stimulate collaborations, and/or enhance education.

Expectations

The requested instrument should be housed at the eligible applicant institution and placed in a space that maximizes sharing, promotes cost-effectiveness, and fosters a collaborative multi-disciplinary environment. Examples of suitable spaces include a core facility, a shared-resource space, or an accessible laboratory, which may be a teaching space.

The applicant institution should propose a Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) who will assume administrative and scientific oversight of the requested instrument.

The PD/PI is responsible for the instrument's organizational plan (Section IV.2) and:

• Communicating with NIH Program Staff and instrument vendors;
• Ensuring a safe, accessible location for the instrument ;
• Evaluating the instrument's use in research projects and formal academic courses;
• Submitting a Final Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) and responding to the request from NIGMS for an Annual Instrument Usage Report (AUR; see Section VI.4) two years after the Final RPPR; and
• Ensuring that users cite the S10 award in publications that benefit from the instrument.

Each application should have at least three Major Users with research projects or educational activities that demonstrate a significant need for the requested instrument (see Section III.3 Additional Information on Eligibility).

Allowable equipment

This NOFO provides funds to purchase a single, specialized, commercially available instrument or an integrated instrumentation system. An integrated instrumentation system is one in which the components, when used in conjunction with one another, perform a function that no single component can provide. The components must be dedicated to the system and not used independently. Types of instruments to be supported include, but are not limited to, basic cell sorters, confocal microscopes, ultramicrotomes, gel imagers, mass spectrometers, optical instruments such as fluorimeters or CD spectropolarimeters, centrifuges, micro-plate-readers equipped with optical systems for high throughput measurements, FPLCs and HPLC, or computer systems. All instruments, integrated systems, and computer systems must be dedicated to research and education. Applications for stand-alone computer systems (e.g., computer clusters and data storage systems) will only be considered if the system is solely dedicated to biomedical research and/or education and alternative access to such services (e.g., commercial cloud services) is not feasible or cost-effective.

Foreign-made instruments are allowed.

Exclusions

This NOFO will not support requests for:

• An instrument with a base cost of less than $25,000;
• More than $250,000;
• Multiple instruments bundled together;
• Purely instructional equipment that cannot be used for research purposes;
• Instruments used for clinical (billable) care;
• Instruments that are not commercially available and do not have a manufacturer's warranty;
• Institutional administrative management systems or clinical management systems;
• Software, unless it is integrated into the operation of the instrument and/or necessary for generation of high-quality experimental data from the instrument;
• Multiple stand-alone workstations for data processing;
• General purpose equipment (such as standard machine shop equipment), instruments to furnish a research facility (such as autoclaves, hoods, equipment to upgrade animal facilities), equipment for routine sustaining infrastructure (such as standard computer networks or data storage systems);
• Disposable devices, office furniture, or supplies; and,
• Alteration or renovation of space to house the instruments.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss any questions about appropriate types of equipment, eligibility, and program requirements with the appropriate Scientific/Research Contact (See Section VII) prior to submitting an application.

Note: An application requesting more than one type of instrument (for example, a spectrometer and a microscope) that cannot be justified as an integrated instrumentation system is not appropriate for this NOFO and will be withdrawn without review.

Specific Areas of Research Interest

NIGMS: NIGMS is interested in supporting applications for the purchase of instruments that are aligned with the Institute's mission. NIGMS-supported research may utilize specific cells or organ systems if they serve as models for understanding general biological or chemical principles. NIGMS also supports research in specific clinical areas that affect multiple organ systems.

NEI: The mission of the NEI is to eliminate vision loss and improve quality of life through vision research. Applications considered for funding by the NEI must fall within the areas of emphasis detailed in the NEI Strategic Plan. NEI will support applications that are justified for shared-use equipment for basic, translational, biomedical and/or biobehavioral research on vision. Types of supported instruments include, but are not limited to: DNA and protein sequencers, biosensors, electron and light microscopes, confocal microscopes, flow cytometers, high throughput robotic screening systems, and biomedical imagers, including Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT).

NIA: NIA's mission is to support and conduct genetic, biological, clinical, behavioral, social, and economic research on aging.

NIMHD: The mission of NIMHD is to lead scientific research to improve minority health and reduce health disparities. NIMHD supports the study of many aspects of minority health and health disparities from biological and population sciences to clinical, behavioral, and translational research, as well as research on health care services, health systems and workforce development. NIMHD seeks to support institutional equipment acquisition to expand the capability of researchers seeking to study minority health and reduce health disparities. NIMHD also seeks to encourage the development of the technical expertise of researchers and trainees on equipment and instruments utilized to conduct research that are aligned with the mission of NIMHD.

NHGRI: NHGRI is interested in supporting applications for the purchase of instruments that will enable and/or advance research projects and educational activities relevant to genomics, such as resources, approaches, and technologies that accelerate genomic research focused on the structure and biology of genomes; the genomics of disease; the implementation and effectiveness of genomic medicine; computational genomics and data science; the impact of genomic technology, advances, and implementation on health disparities and health equity; and ethical, legal, and social issues related to genomic advances. Examples of supported instruments include, but are not limited to: DNA and RNA purification systems, nucleic acid sequencers, genotyping instruments, computer systems and mass spectrometers.

NIDCR: NIDCR supports research and research training to advance fundamental knowledge about dental, oral, and craniofacial health and disease, and to translate these findings into prevention, early detection, and treatment strategies that improve overall health for all individuals and communities across the lifespan. Strategic Priorities are laid out in NIDCR Strategic Plan 2021-2026.

NINDS: NINDS is interested in supporting applications for the purchase of instruments that are aligned with the NINDS mission. NINDS expects to support instrumentation for existing NINDS-funded projects and/or catalyze future NINDS-relevant projects at resource-limited institutions or other collaborative partnerships for neuroscience research or education. NINDS supports a broad array of rigorous and important neuroscience research from fundamental studies of basic nervous system function to studies to improve treatments and prevent neurological disorders. Please refer to the NINDS Strategic Plan for our priorities in neuroscience research.