NIH Instrumentation (High End and Shared) Programs and Required Information for Letter of Institutional Commitment
The NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) issued new announcements for two instrumentation grant
programs, each of which has a May 16, 2016 deadline:
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High-End Instrumentation Grant Program for major research equipment costing at least $600,000 http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-16-053.html
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Shared Instrumentation Grant Program for instruments or integrated systems that cost between $50,000 and
$600,000 - http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-16-054.html
Specific requirements for each program include:
Financial Plan: The application must include a specific financial plan for long-term operation and maintenance of
the instrument, with details on how various operational costs will be met. The financial plan MUST include a table
for year one of operation with dollars for anticipated expenditures and anticipated income showing how these
estimates were derived. For Year 1 specific dollar amounts are required; for Years 2 -5 approximate dollars are
recommended. Also required is a description of projected changes to the financial plan over the subsequent four
years for operation, maintenance, supplies, anticipated income, and institutional support.
Institutional Commitment and Letters of Support: The application must describe the institutional infrastructure
available to support the instrumentation, including space to house the instrument and site for sample preparation, if
needed, and confirm the institutional support toward the maintenance and operation of the instrument. In particular,
the institution must commit to provide backup of the financial plan for five years from installation of the equipment
or for the effective lifetime of the instrument. Note that the NIH prefers locating the instruments in a centralized core
facility whenever possible
The Vice President for Research will provide the institutional support letter for instruments that will be placed in a core
facility that is over-seen by the Office of the Vice President for Research. Applications for instruments to be housed in
college-level core facilities or that will not be in core facilities will need to acquire institutional support letters from the
college dean, center/institute director and/or department chair. The Vice President for Research will consider
committing to partial support of these instruments after an internal review for alignment with institutional research and
budgetary priorities. In all cases, the Office of the VPR will provide the table of all previous S10 awards to UK within the
past five years that is a required part of the application.
Researchers planning to submit a proposal to either the High-End Instrumentation or the Shared Instrumentation Grant
program for an instrument to be housed in an existing VPR Core Facility should send the following material
electronically, assembled into a single PDF file, to the Office of the Vice President for Research at
limitedsubmissions@uky.edu and a copy to Alan Daugherty (adaugh@uky.edu), Associate Vice President for
Research by March 15, 2016.
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Name of the PI and Core Facility
Instrument requested and approximate cost
Proposed user group (a minimum of 3 NIH-funded investigators is required)
A description of the instrument capabilities/uses, and a one page narrative of how the instrument addresses
current institutional research priorities and will extend UK’s capabilities to facilitate additional NIH-funded research
A draft financial management plan for Year 1 and any projected changes for Years 2-5
Researchers planning to submit a proposal to either the High-End Instrumentation or the Shared Instrumentation Grant
program for an instrument NOT to be housed in an existing VPR Core Facility are requested to inform the Office of the
Vice President for Research of their intent to submit and include a description of the instrument and how the institutional
financial commitment will be handled. If partial support is requested from the Vice President for Research, send the
following material electronically, assembled into a single PDF file, to the Office of the Vice President for Research
at limitedsubmissions@uky.edu and a copy to their Associate Dean for Research by March 15, 2016.
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Name and department of PI
Instrument requested and approximate cost
Proposed user group (a minimum of 3 NIH-funded investigators is required)
A description of the instrument capabilities/uses, and a one page narrative of how the instrument addresses
current institutional research priorities and will extend UK’s capabilities to facilitate additional NIH-funded research
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A draft financial management plan for Year 1 and any projected changes for Years 2-5
If the instrument is intended to be part of an existing service core (recharge center), identify which one; if a new
recharge center is being proposed, provide proposed name and location and include a letter of support from the
relevant Dean that includes the commitment to provide financial back-up for the proposed financial plan if it
should fall short of the projected income. Describe the request for VPR support.
If the instrument is not intended to be part of a service core, delineate the department/center/institute and college
plans for instrument support in terms of personnel and service costs and include a letter of support from the
relevant Dean that includes the commitment to provide financial back-up to ensure operation and maintenance of
the instrument. Describe the request for VPR support.
Questions about the submission process may be sent to Ms. Annette Evans in the Office of the Vice President for
Research (alevan4@email.uky.edu or 257-1663.) Potential applicants can contact the Office of the Vice President for
Research to discuss financial aspects of running a cost-recovery core facility if they need more information. To identify
potential NIH-funded investigators to use the equipment requested, researchers may contact the Proposal Development
Office (PDO@uky.edu) or search SPIFi, the database of UK funded projects
(http://www.research.uky.edu/ospa/info/spifi.html).