Equipment Grants

The following programs provide funding or support specifically for equipment or instrumentation. Consult each program’s web page for more detailed information and current deadlines. Find more opportunities by using Pivot and selecting “Equipment and Materials or Facility Use and Construction” under “Funding Type.”

Federal Agencies

Department of Agriculture

Program Deadline Program Synopsis
National Institute of Food and Agriculture: Equipment Grant Program (EGP) campus limited submission: approximately May EGP serves to increase access to shared-use special purpose equipment/instruments for fundamental and applied research for use in the food and agricultural sciences programs at institutions of higher education

Department of Defense

Program Deadline Program Synopsis
Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP):
Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Office
varies 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 $1,500,000. 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

Program Deadline Program Synopsis
Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program open Some categories include equipment and computational support for physics research activities.
Laboratory Equipment Donation Program open LEDP was by DOE to grant surplus and available used laboratory equipment to universities and colleges in the U.S. for use in energy-oriented STEM educational programs.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Program Deadline Program Synopsis
Planetary Major Equipment and Facilities (ROSES 2019), Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) varies This program allows proposals for upgrading the analytical, computational, telescopic, and other instrumentation required by investigations for certain programs elements sponsored by the Planetary Science Division Research and Analysis Program.

National Institutes of Health

Program Deadline Program Synopsis
NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) Program (S10),
High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program (S10), and Shared Instrumentation for Animal Research (SIFAR) Grant Program (S10)
campus limited submission: approximately January or February The S10 Instrumentation Grant Programs provide funds to purchase or upgrade expensive, specialized, state-of-the-art, commercially available instruments that can only be justified on a shared use basis and that are needed for NIH-supported projects in basic, translational, or clinical areas of biomedical/behavioral research.
NIH Modern Equipment for Shared-Use Biomedical Research Facilities: Advancing Research-Related Operations (R24) campus limited submission: approximately October Supports purchase and installation of advanced equipment to enhance and modernize research-supporting operations of biomedical research facilities.

National Science Foundation

Program Deadline Program Synopsis
Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program campus limited submission: approximately November MRI provides organizations with opportunities to acquire major instrumentation that supports the research and research training goals of the organization and that may be used by other researchers regionally or nationally.
Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation (ATI) November 15 The ATI program provides grants to support the development and construction of state-of-the-art astronomical detectors and instruments for the visible, infrared, submillimeter, and radio regions of the spectrum.
Archaeometry Awards, SBE Archaeology and Archaeometry varies The Archaeology Program recognizes three broad classes of archaeometric proposals: proposals to support laboratories which provide archaeometric services; proposals to develop and refine archaeometric techniques; proposals 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.
Capacity: Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (FSML) open Supports major improvements to biological field stations or laboratories in any terrestrial, marine, estuarine, or freshwater environment for research and education.
Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) to be determined CRIF provides funds to research institutions and consortia thereof for the purchase of multi-user instruments and for the establishment and support of multi-user research facilities in the chemical sciences. NSF has temporarily suspended the CRIF program.
CISE Community Research Infrastructure (CCRI) December for letters of intent The program drives discovery and learning in the core CISE disciplines of the three participating divisions by funding the creation and enhancement of world-class research infrastructure.
Earth Sciences: Instrumentation and Facilities (EAR/IF) open 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; Support for Early Career Investigators.
Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 (Mid-scale RI-1), Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 (Mid-scale RI-2) varies The Mid-scale Research Infrastructure Big Idea funds experimental research capabilities in the mid-scale range between the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program and Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) thresholds.
Oceanographic Facilities and Equipment Support December 15 These 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.
Sustaining Infrastructure for Biological Research open Supports the continued operation of existing research infrastructure that advances contemporary biology.

 

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