Nebraska EPSCoR intends to increase access to shared instrumentation for scientific and engineering research and research training at Nebraska higher education institutions through a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program. The program emphasizes shared-use instrumentation that will enhance the capabilities of state researchers, and is intended to assist with the acquisition of a single research instrument. The program does not fund research projects, including research that uses an instrument acquired with support from the program. Proposals must be for only a single, well-integrated instrument, or a substantial upgrade to an existing instrument or a high performance computing system.
For the purpose of this program, a major research instrument costs $150,000 or more (not including service agreement). Service contracts for up to five years may be a part of the proposal and funded by the required match since many major research instruments can be expensive to maintain.
Any Nebraska college or university faculty member is eligible to apply to this program. There is no limit on the number of proposals submitted from any one institution.
Cost sharing is required. The amount of any one award will be 50 percent of the total proposal request with a maximum award of $200,000. No Indirect Costs are allowed. Award period can be for up to a maximum of nine months. No extension to the award period will be granted.
For specifics on proposal content categories (including budget, description, principal investigator’s bio sketch, campus endorsement letter, list of potential users, and equipment quote) and formatting, please see the RFP instructions at https://epscor.nebraska.edu/proposals.
The proposal must be submitted to Nebraska EPSCoR by the faculty’s institution. No proposal will be accepted directly from the PI or Co-PI. PIs are strongly encouraged to contact their campus Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), or equivalent, as early as possible to coordinate the OSPs receipt of the PI’s proposal to allow time for them to meet the Nebraska EPSCoR deadline.
Each campus Sponsored Program Office or equivalent must submit all MRI proposals as one package, with institutional priority score for each proposal. Nebraska EPSCoR anticipates funding approximately six proposals if high quality proposals are received.