The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Skip to main content
UNC School of Medicine | Office of Research
Expertise. Innovation. Collaboration.

External Funding Opportunities

Instrumentation Grants

NIH S10 Instrumentation Program

  • Description: ORIP’s S10 Instrumentation Grant Programs support purchases of state-of-the-art commercially available instruments to enhance research of NIH–funded investigators. Instruments that are awarded are typically too expensive to be obtained by an individual investigator with a research project grant. Every instrument awarded by an S10 grant is used on a shared basis, which makes the programs cost-efficient and beneficial to thousands of investigators in hundreds of institutions nationwide. S10 awards are made to domestic public and private institutions of higher education, and non-profit domestic institutions such as hospitals, health professional schools, and research organizations. To be eligible for an S10 award, an institution must identify three or more Principal Investigators with active NIH research awards who demonstrate the substantial need for the requested instrument. Awards are issued for one year, and matching funds are not required. However, ORIP expects institutions that compete for S10 awards to provide an appropriate level of support for associated infrastructure, such as space to house the instrument, technical personnel, and post-award service contracts for instrument maintenance and operation.
  • Important Notes; NIH S10 submissions must be first applied for as a limited submission at UNC Chapel Hill. Limited submission applications typically close in late February or early March. We encourage you to reach out to your departmental grants manager and the UNC Office of Research Development early to  discuss the application process and meet all necessary internal deadlines.
  • Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG): $50,000 – $750,000
  • High-end Instrumentation Grant (HEI):  $750,001 – $2,000,000
  • Deadline for Submission: June 1, 2026

 

  • ABRF Town Hall

NIH S10 Grant Applications for Shared Instrumentation:  Tips, Tidbits, and Informed Suggestions
February 15-16, 2023

Part 1: Developing the Foundation – Timeline, Who, What, When, Where, How (recording)

Part 2: Writing the Proposal – Essentials for Each Section  (recording)

(Combined slide presentation)

 

NCBC Innovation Impact Grant

  • Description: The Innovation Impact Grant (IIG) program supports the purchase of shared-use research equipment for core facilities at academic or nonprofit institutions that foster innovation within North Carolina’s life sciences ecosystem.Priority will be given to proposals that will have a high impact at the applicant institution and the broader life sciences research community. Institutional matching funds are required. Maximum award amount is $150,000
  • Deadline for Submission: October 1, 2025
  • Information: https://www.ncbiotech.org/funding/grants/innovation-impact-grant

 

NIH R24 Resource-Related Research Projects for Development of Animal Models and Related Materials

  • Purpose: ORIP’s intent with this FOA is to support resource-related research projects that are aimed at developing and characterizing new animal-based resources, improving existing resources, or acquiring deep understanding of a model system to improve the utilization, accessibility and translational values of animal models to the research community. The NIH-wide mission of ORIP is to support all NIH ICs that fund basic, preclinical, and translational research by strengthening their existing programs, developing research resources, advancing areas of emerging science, and developing new initiatives to move biomedical research forward. Therefore, proposed studies, models, technologies, and biological materials must be applicable to two or more NIH ICs and must explore multiple body systems or evaluate diseases and processes that impact multiple body systems.
  • More Information:: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-22-013.html
  • Award Amount: Not limited, but applications requesting $500,000 or more need special approval from the R24 program. See website for more information.
  • Deadline: September 25, 2024; January 25, 2025

 

NIH R24 Modern Equipment for Shared-use Biomedical Research Facilities: Advancing Research-Related Operations (S15 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

  • Purpose: This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) invites eligible academic or research institutions to apply for funding support to purchase latest scientific equipment that will enhance and modernize research-supporting operations of existing shared biomedical research facilities. Targeted are laboratory research core facilities, animal research facilities, and other similar shared-use research spaces. The goal of this NOFO is to strengthen research-auxiliary activities of biomedical research facilities and to enhance the efficiency of their operations.The NOFO does not support the purchase of scientific research instruments or their components, nor components of building-level infrastructure equipment that indirectly support research activities.
  • More Information: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-24-259.html
  • Award Budget: $50,000 – $35,000 (multiple pieces of the same instrument has a minimum budget of $15,000 but total budget must exceed $50,000)
  • Deadline: September 25, 2025; September 25, 2026

Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)

  • DURIP is 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. This award provides support to purchase instrumentation in support of research in areas of interest to the DoD, including areas of research supported by the Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Areas of research interest are published at the following websites, but are updated annually.
  • Award Ceiling: $1,500,000
  • Deadline for submission: Not announced

 

NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI)

  • The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program (MRI Program Website) serves to increase access to multi-user scientific and engineering instrumentation for research and research training in our Nation’s institutions of higher education and not-for-profit scientific/engineering research organizations. An MRI award supports the acquisition of a multi-user research instrument that is commercially available through direct purchase from a vendor, or for the personnel costs and equipment that are required for the development of an instrument with new capabilities, thereby advancing instrumentation capabilities and enhancing expertise for instrument design and fabrication at academic institutions. MRI instruments are, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs.
  • Information: https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/major-research-instrumentation-program-mri
  • Track 1: Track 1 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,000[1] and less than $1,400,000.
  • Track 2: Track 2 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $1,400,000 up to and including $4,000,000.
  • Important Notes; There are multiple tiers of funding, but within those tears, the number of grants submitted from a single institution is limited. If you intend to apply for an NSF MRI we encourage you to reach out to your departmental grants manager sand the UNC Office of Research Development early to determine eligibility and discuss the application process.
  • Next Submission Window: This program will not be offered in FY26 but may be offered in future years

NSF Instrumentation and Facilities Program in the Division of Earth Sciences (EAR/IF)

  • The Instrumentation and Facilities Program in the Division of Earth Sciences (EAR/IF) supports meritorious requests for infrastructure that promotes research and education in areas supported by the Division. EAR/IF will consider proposals for the acquisition or upgrade of research equipment that will advance laboratory and field investigations, and student research training opportunities in the Earth sciences.
  • Award Ceiling: $500,000
  • Information: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=6186&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&fr
  • Deadline for submission: Rolling

 

Infrastructure Grants

NSF Infrastructure Capacity for Biological Research (ICBR)

  • Supports projects that specifically enable increased access to state-of-the-art instrumentation in support of the biological sciences. The program will support activities that enhance access to and dissemination of innovative instrumentation, and promote and enable access to existing instrumentation facilities (ie. imaging, genomics, proteomics, etc.) at the regional or national level.
  • 40-60 awards made from a total budget of $16 million – $18 million
  • Information: https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/infrastructure-capacity-biological-research
  • Deadline: Rolling

 

NSF Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 (Mid-scale RI-1)

  • Within Mid-scale RI-1, proposers may submit two types of projects, “Implementation” and “Design”. Design and Implementation projects may comprise any combination of equipment, infrastructure, computational hardware and software, and necessary commissioning. Design includes planning (preliminary and final design) of research infrastructure with an anticipated total project cost that is appropriate for future Mid-scale RI-1, Mid-scale RI-2 or MREFC-class investments. Mid-scale RI-1 uses an inclusive definition of implementation, which can include traditional stand-alone construction or acquisition and can include a degree of advanced development leading immediately to final system acquisition and/or construction. Implementation projects may support new or upgraded research infrastructure.
  • Amount $400,000 – $20million
  • Information: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505602
  • Deadline: September 1, 2026

 

CISE Community Research Infrastructure (CCRI)

  • The CRI program drives discovery and learning in the core CISE disciplines of the three participating CISE divisions by supporting the creation and enhancement of world-class research infrastructure that will support focused research agendas in computer and information science and engineering.
  • Award Ceiling: $5,000,000
  • Deadline for submission: September 13, 2024
  • Information: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12810

 

Other Grants of Interest

NCI Research Specialist

  • Purpose: This notice of funding opportunity  (NOFO) invites grant applications for the Research Specialist Award (R50) in any area of NCI-funded cancer research. This NOFO is specifically targeted toward laboratory-based scientists.The Research Specialist Award is designed to encourage the development of stable research career opportunities for exceptional scientists who want to continue to pursue research within the context of an existing NCI-funded basic, translational, clinical, or population science cancer research program, but not serve as independent investigators. These non-tenure track scientists, such as researchers within a research program, are vital to sustaining the biomedical research enterprise.It is anticipated that only exceptional scientists who want to pursue research within the context of an existing NCI-funded cancer research program, but not serve as independent investigators, will be competitive for this award.
  • Application budgets may request the following two expenses in direct costs per year:
    • 1) salary support for the Research Specialist commensurate with their level of funded effort (not less than  6 person-months) on NCI-funded research grants during:
      • Federal Fiscal Year 2025 for a November 2025 submission
    • 2) travel costs to attend research meetings/conferences not to exceed $2,500 per year.
  • More Information: https://www.cancer.gov/grants-training/grants-funding/funding-opportunities/r50
  • Deadline: November 3, 2025