Instrumentation Funding Opportunities

Please note this is for informational purposes only, and much of this is based on previous solicitations. Please check with the specific agencies for the most updated information and deadlines.

Capacity: Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (FSML) 

Supports major improvements to biological field stations or laboratories in any terrestrial, marine, estuarine, or  freshwater environment for research and education. 

• Award amount: in FY21, 50-75 awards from $18M-$20M budget 
• Submission deadline: Proposals accepted anytime

Earth Sciences, Instrumentation and Facilities 

The Instrumentation and Facilities Program in the Division of Earth Sciences (EAR/IF) supports meritorious requests for  infrastructure that promotes research and education in areas supported by the Division. EAR/IF will consider proposals for  the acquisition or upgrade of research equipment that will advance laboratory and field investigations, and student  research training opportunities in the Earth sciences. 

• Award amount: $500,000, 30-50 awards 
• Submission deadline: Proposals accepted anytime

Facility and Instrumentation Request Process (Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences) 

The Facility and Instrumentation Request Process (FIRP) solicitation describes the mechanism by which the research  community can propose projects that require access to instrumentation and facilities sponsored by the Facilities for  Atmospheric Research and Education (FARE) Program in the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS). FARE  provides funding support to a variety of organizations to make specialized instrumentation and facilities available to the  atmospheric science research community through the Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities (LAOF) and the Community  Instruments and Facilities (CIF) programs. FIRP allows for parallel evaluation of intellectual merit and broader impacts along  with the feasibility of the proposed project. 

• Award amount: in FY21, 5-15 awards from $10M-$20M budget 
• Submission deadline: January 

Infrastructure Capacity for Biological Research (Capacity) 

The Capacity Program focuses on building capacity in research infrastructure that is broadly applicable to a wide range  of researchers in three programmatic areas: Cyberinfrastructure, Biological Collections, and Biological Field Stations and  Marine Laboratories. This program will also accept proposals for planning activities or workshops to facilitate  coordination that may be necessary in building capacity in infrastructure that meets the needs of a research community. Award amount: FY2021, 50-75 awards made from a total budget of $18-$20M million 

• Award amount: The size and duration of any individual request should be justified by the amount and complexity of the work to be accomplished. As a rule, the larger the budget, the greater the expected impact on the biological research community.
• Submission deadline: Proposals accepted anytime

Infrastructure Innovation for Biological Research Program (Innovation)

Infrastructure Innovation for Biological Research (Innovation) supports research to design novel or greatly  improved research tools and methods that advance contemporary biology in any research area supported by the  Directorate for Biological Sciences at NSF. The Innovation Program focuses on research infrastructure that is broadly  applicable to researchers in three programmatic areas: Bioinformatics, Instrumentation, and Research Methods.  Infrastructure supported by this program is expected to advance biological understanding by improving scientists’  abilities to manipulate, control, analyze, or measure critical aspects of biological systems, which can be essential for  addressing important fundamental research questions. 

• Award amount: 20-40 awards made from a total budget of $18-$20M million 
• Submission deadline: Proposals accepted anytime

Major Research Instrumentation (MRI)

The MRI Program serves to increase access to shared instrumentation for scientific and engineering research and research training. This program especially seeks to improve the quality and expand the scope of research and research training in science and engineering by supporting proposals for shared instrumentation that fosters the integration of research and education in research-intensive learning environments. Harvard may submit only three proposals for the NSF MRI competition. If three proposals are submitted, at least one of the proposals must be for instrument development (i.e., no more than two proposals may be for instrument acquisition).

• Award amount: Track 1: $100,000 - $1M; Track 2: $1M to $4M
• Submission deadline: January

Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 (Mid-scale RI-1)

Within Mid-scale RI-1, proposers may submit two types of projects, "Implementation" and "Design". Design and Implementation projects may comprise any combination of equipment, infrastructure, computational hardware and software, and necessary commissioning. Design includes planning (preliminary and final design) of research infrastructure with an anticipated total project cost that is appropriate for future Mid-scale RI-1, Mid-scale RI-2 or MREFC-class investments. Mid-scale RI-1 uses an inclusive definition of implementation, which can include traditional stand-alone construction or acquisition and can include a degree of advanced development leading immediately to final system acquisition and/or construction. Implementation projects may support new or upgraded research infrastructure.

• Award amount: $600k - $20M
• Submission deadline: January 2023 (every two years)

Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 (Mid-scale RI-2)

The NSF Mid-scale RI-2 program supports implementation of projects that comprise any combination of equipment, instrumentation, computational hardware and software, and the necessary commissioning and human capital in support of implementation of the same. Mid-scale RI-2 projects will directly enable advances in any of the research domains supported by NSF, including STEM education. Mid-scale RI-2 will support projects in high states of readiness for implementation, i.e., those that have already matured through previous developmental investments. Projects may also include upgrades to existing research infrastructure.

• Award amount: $20M - $70M
• Submission deadline: February 2023 (every two years)

Oceanographic Facilities and Equipment Support

Oceanographic facilities and equipment awards are made for the procurement, conversion and/or up-grade, enhancement or annual operation of platforms in the ocean, coastal, near-shore and Great Lakes. Awards are generally directed specifically to support facilities that lend themselves to shared use within the broad range of federally-supported research and education programs. Individual project-based facilities and instrumentation, limited to one or a small group of investigators, should be supported through appropriate research programs, including: Ship Operations, Oceanographic Technical Services, Oceanographic Instrumentation, Shipboard Scientific Support Equipment, Ship Acquisition and Upgrade, and Other Facility Activities.

• Award amount: $5k-$8.5M, 10 to 75 awards
• Submission deadline: December 15 annually

Sustaining Infrastructure for Biological Research (Sustaining) 

The Sustaining Infrastructure for Biological Research (Sustaining) Program supports the continued operation of existing  research infrastructure that advances contemporary biology in any research area supported by the Directorate for  Biological Sciences (BIO) at NSF. The Sustaining Program focuses primarily on sustaining critical research infrastructure  that is cyberinfrastructure or biological living stocks and that is broadly applicable to a wide range of researchers.  Projects are expected to ensure continued availability of existing, mature resources that will enable important science  outcomes achieved by users representing a broad range of research supported by BIO and its collaborating  organizations. 

• Award amount: 40-80 awards made from a total budget of $40 million 
• Submission deadline: Proposals accepted anytime

Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) 

DURIP is 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. This award provides support to purchase instrumentation in support of research in areas of interest to the DoD.  The program is administered by the Army Research Office (ARO), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the Air Force  Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). Each year, ARO, ONR, AFOSR publish separate FOAs, please check grants.gov 

• Award amount: $50,000-$1,500,000 
• Deadline for submission: May  

DoD Research and Education Program for HBCUs/MSIs Equipment/Instrumentation  

This solicitation invites applications (also referred to as “proposals”) for acquisition of equipment/instrumentation to be  used in research areas of interest to the Agencies and to enhance the education of students in areas of science, technology,  engineering and mathematics (STEM) that correlate with the Agencies’ research interests. 

• Award amount: $100,000-$600,000 
• Submission deadline: August 

Department of Energy (DOE)

Laboratory Equipment Donation Program (LEDP) 

The Laboratory Equipment Donation Program (LEDP) was established by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to  grant surplus and available used laboratory equipment to full-time faculty at universities and colleges in the United States  for use in energy oriented Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educational programs. This program  is managed by the Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS). The listing of equipment available  through LEDP is updated as new equipment is identified. It is available at no cost for a limited time and is granted on a first received qualified application basis. 

• Submission deadline: Rolling 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Planetary Major Equipment and Facilities (PMEF) 

This program allows proposals for new or upgraded nonflight analytical, computational, telescopic, and other  instrumentation required by investigations sponsored by the Planetary Science Research Program’s science research  programs. A Planetary Major Equipment (PME) proposal may be submitted in one of two ways: (1) as a special section that  is appended to an eligible Planetary Science research program; or (2) as a stand-alone equipment proposal submitted to an  eligible Planetary Science research program. 

• Award amount: No award ceiling provided; requests must exceed $40,000 
• Submission deadline: Varies by program of interest