Sponsored Projects Office, University of California, Berkeley

Equipment Grants

The following programs provide funding or support specifically for equipment or instrumentation. Consult each program's web page for more detailed information. Find more opportunities by going to COS Funding Opportunities and selecting "Equipment or Materials Acquisition" under "Funding Type" or to the IRIS Funding Database and selecting "Equipment or Materials Acquisition" under "Activities Supported."
Federal Agencies:
    Defense Department
    Energy Department
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    National Institutes of Health
    National Science Foundation
Nonfederal Organizations
Department of Defense
Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP): Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Office
Deadline: August or September annually.
Synopsis: DURIP is a multi-agency DoD program 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. Proposals may request $50,000 to $1,000,000. Proposals for purely instructional equipment are not eligible. General-purpose computing facilities are not appropriate for DURIP funding, but requests for computers for DoD-relevant research programs are appropriate.
Department of Energy
Used Energy-Related Laboratory Equipment (ERLE)
Deadline: Open.
Synopsis: This program grants available excess of used energy-related laboratory equipment to universities and colleges and other nonprofit educational institutions of higher learning in the United States for use in energy-oriented educational programs.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Planetary Major Equipment, Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES)
Deadline: Varies.
Synopsis: This program element allows proposals for new or upgraded analytical, computational, telescopic, and other instrumentation required by investigations sponsored by the Planetary Science Research Program’s science research programs.
National Institutes of Health
Shared Instrumentation Grant Program
Campus limited submission deadline: February annually.
Synopsis: This program funds groups of NIH-supported investigators to purchase or upgrade commercially available instruments that cost at least $100,000.  The maximum award is $500,000.  Types of instruments supported include confocal and electron microscopes, biomedical imagers, mass spectrometers, DNA sequencers, biosensors, cell sorters, X-ray diffraction systems, and NMR spectrometers among others.
There is no restriction on the number of applications an institution can submit to the SIG program each year provided the applications request different types of equipment. However, if two or more applications are submitted for similar equipment from the same institution, documentation from a high level institutional official must be provided stating that this is not an unintended duplication, but part of a campus-wide institutional plan.
Advanced Instrumentation for High Resolution Electron Microscopy
Deadlines: Standard application deadlines.
Synopsis: This program is intended to ensure that ongoing and new research projects that develop and/or apply advanced (3-D and high-resolution) EM methods are equipped with the instruments that are needed to achieve the required data throughput and image resolution. This applies to basic research in molecular cell biology using EM for the structural analysis of large macromolecular assemblies and for the imaging of macromolecules in cells.
National Science Foundation
Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program
Campus limited submission deadline: November annually.
Synopsis: This program assists in the acquisition, development, maintenance, and/or technical support of major research instrumentation by U.S. institutions that is, in general, too costly for support through other NSF programs. Proposals may be for a single instrument, a large system of instruments, or multiple instruments that share a common research focus. Computer systems, clusters of advanced workstations, networks, and other information infrastructure components specifically necessary for research are encouraged. Awards for instrumentation range from $100,000 to $2 million.
An organization may submit or be included as a partner or subawardee in no more than three proposals. If an organization submits or is included as a partner or subawardee in three proposals, at least one of the three proposals must be for instrument development.
Archaeometry Awards, SBE Archaeology Program
Deadline: October 31 annually.
Synopsis: The Archaeology Program recognizes three broad classes of archaeometric proposals: to support laboratories which provide archaeometric services; to develop and refine archaeometric techniques; and to apply existing analytic techniques to specific bodies of archaeological materials. Laboratory support awards provide "core" funding that permits laboratories to increase analytical capacity through the addition and/or replacement of equipment and retention of key personnel.
Biological Research Collections (BRC) Program
Deadline: Fourth Friday in July annually.
Synopsis: The Biological Research Collections Program provides support for biological collection enhancement, computerization of specimen-related data, research to develop better methods for specimen curation and collection management, and activities such as symposia and workshops to investigate support and management of biological collections.

Chemical and Transport Systems Division, Engineering Research Equipment Funding
Deadline: Mid January annually.
Synopsis: Research equipment with a total cost of less than $200,000 can be funded by individual or multiple programs within the Engineering Directorate or via joint funding with programs in other divisions or directorates. Programs that accept equipment proposals are: Thermal Transport & Thermal Processing; Combustion & Plasmas Systems; Interfacial, Transport & Thermodynamics; Separation & Purification Processes; Fluid Dynamics & Hydraulics; Kinetics, Catalysis & Molecular Processes.

Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF)
    Departmental Multi-User Instrumentation Program (CRIF:MU)
    Instrument Development (CRIF:ID)
Deadlines: Fourth Monday in June annually for CRIF:MU, fourth Tuesday in January annually for CRIF:ID.
Synopsis: CRIF provides funds to research institutions and consortia thereof for the purchase of multi-user instruments (CRIF:MU) and for major instrumentation development and construction (CRIF:ID).
CISE Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI)
Deadline: First Wednesday in August annually.
Synopsis: The CRI program drives discovery and learning in the computing disciplines by supporting the creation, enhancement and operation of world-class computing research infrastructure. CRI supports two classes of awards: Institutional Infrastructure, and Community Infrastructure.
Earth Sciences: Instrumentation and Facilities (EAR/IF)
Deadlines: Second Wednesday in February and second Wednesday in July annually.
Synopsis: This program supports: Acquisition or Upgrade of Research Equipment; Development of New Instrumentation, Analytical Techniques or Software; Support of National or Regional Multi-User Facilities; Development of Cyberinfrastructure for the Earth Sciences (Geoinformatics); Support for Early Career Investigators.
Improvements at Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (FSML)
Deadline: First Friday in March annually.
Synopsis: NSF invites proposals to upgrade or improve equipment and facilities at Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories, such that they can offer modern laboratories and educational spaces, up-to-date equipment, appropriate personal accommodations for visiting scientists and students, and modern communications and data management systems for a broad array of users.
Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR)
Deadline: Last Friday in August annually.
Synopsis: This Program supports the development of novel or of substantially improved instrumentation likely to have a significant impact on the study of biological systems at any level. The development of new, or substantial improvement of existing, software for the operation of instruments, analysis of data, or the analysis of images is also supported where these have the effect of improving instrument performance.
Instrumentation For Materials Research (IMR)
Deadline: Second Thursday of January annually.
Synopsis: The IMR Program supports the acquisition of research instruments that will provide and/or advance 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. Only proposals seeking $100,000 or greater will be considered.
Oceanographic Centers and Facilities, Integrative Programs Section, Division of Ocean Sciences
Deadlines: Varies.
Synopsis: This program supports expensive facilities that are necessary for NSF-funded research and training of oceanographers. Examples of these facilities are ships, submersibles, large shipboard equipment, and shared-use instruments to collect and analyze data.
Scientific Computing Research Environments for the Mathematical Sciences (SCREMS)
Deadline: Fourth Thursday in January annually.
Synopsis: Proposals may request support for the purchase of computing equipment and limited support for professional systems administrators or programmer personnel for research computing needs. These grants are intended to support research projects of high quality that require access to advanced computing resources. Requests for routine upgrades of standard desk-environment workstations or laptop computers are not appropriate.
Non-Federal Organizations
Equipment Grants, Cisco Systems
Deadline: August 1, November 1, February 1, May 1 annually.
Synopsis: Cisco Systems provides enhanced education and research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate information assurance students by increasing hands-on experience. Universities and community colleges are encouraged to apply for an equipment grant at least two quarters ahead of the time the equipment will be needed for classroom use.
Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative, Hewlett Packard Company
Deadline: February annually.
Synopsis: This initiative is designed to support the innovative use of mobile technology in K-16 education, and to help identify K-12 public schools and two- and four-year colleges and universities that HP might support with future grants. In 2007, HP will award approximately $10 million in cash and equipment.
Sun Microsystems Academic Excellence Grant Program
Deadline: August, November, February, May annually.
Synopsis: Sun grants equipment to eligible organizations who have developed creative projects that address our investment priorities and create partnerships for success. Grants are made on a published quarterly calendar and are for hardware donations only.

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