Federal Agencies
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
Program 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
Program 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 Institutes of Health
Shared Instrumentation Grant Program
Deadline: campus limited submission: approximately January or February
Program 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 $600,000. 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.
National Science Foundation
Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program
Deadline: campus limited submission: approximately December
Program Synopsis:
The MRI Program is intended to assist with the acquisition or development of research instrumentation that is, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. Proposals must be for either acquisition or development, and can be for a single instrument or for equipment that when combined serves as an integrated research instrument (physical or virtual). Awards for instrumentation range from $100,000 to $4 million. Proposals that request funds less than $100,000 will also be accepted for the disciplines of social, behavioral and economic sciences. 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.