NSF Major Research Instrumentation FY 2000 Competition

Winfred M. Phillips, Vice President

In FY 2000 the National Science Foundation will again provide funding for the acquisition and development of major pieces of scientific instrumentation. The deadline for proposals to NSF is January 18, 2000. Awards generally range from $100K to $2M with a minimum 30% cost sharing required. The University of Florida will be able to submit up to four proposals: 2 for instrumentation acquisition or development; 1 solely for development; and 1 as part or lead of a consortium. In the FY 99 competition, UF received two MRI awards, one for acquisition and one for development.

Because of the restriction on the number and type of submissions, the following procedures have been established for internal screening and selection:

1. The deadline for preproposals is 5 p.m., Monday, October 25; deliver to 223 Grinter Hall.
2. Preproposals should be no longer than three pages and include the following information: – category of application (acquisition; development; or consortium) – description of instrumentation – impact of the instrumentation on current/future research and research training activities – demonstrated need for the instrument – qualifications of the persons who will use or develop the equipment – projected cost and plans for providing the required matching funds – written endorsement of the applicant’s department chair and dean
3. Applicants should provide a list of NSF-funded research projects at UF that will benefit from the instrumentation (i.e., PI, department, project title, budget/project period, award amount).
4. RGP will consider requests for matching funds. Generally, it is expected that any request for RGP funds will include a college/department commitment as well.Guidelines for the FY 2000 NSF MRI proposals may be downloaded in a variety of formats from http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf99168 or obtained from RGP’s Program Information Office, 392-4804.

   Please alert faculty in your area to this significant opportunity to enhance our research instrumentation infrastructure. If you have any questions, please call. Best regards.