For IIT faculty members interested in submitting a Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) proposal, send an abstract of no more than three pages to Elizabeth Soto at esoto2@iit.edu by the internal deadline of 5 pm on Friday, October 3, 2014. View to follow guidelines for internal competitions available.

Program Details: 

• Institutional Limit: 3 (If three proposals are submitted, at least one must be instrument development)

• Internal Deadline: 5 pm on October 3, 2014

• Full Proposal Deadline: January 23, 2015

Program Synopsis:
MRI serves to increase access to shared scientific and engineering instruments for research and research training in the nation’s institutions of higher education, and not-for-profit museums, science centers and scientific/engineering research organizations. This program especially seeks to improve the quality and expand the scope of research and research training in science and engineering, by supporting proposals for shared instrumentation that fosters the integration of research and education in research-intensive learning environments. Each MRI proposal may request support for the acquisition (track 1) or development (track 2) of a single research instrument for shared inter- and/or intra-organizational use; development efforts that leverage the strengths of private sector partners to build instrument development capacity at MRI submission-eligible organizations are encouraged.

To accomplish the program’s goals, the MRI program assists with the acquisition or development of a shared research instrument that is, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other National Science Foundation (NSF) programs. The instrument is expected to be operational for regular research use by the end of the award period. For the purposes of the MRI program, a proposal must be for either acquisition (track 1) or development (track 2) of a single instrument or for equipment that, when combined, serves as an integrated research instrument (in contrast to requests for multiple instruments that enable research in a common or focused research domain, which MRI does not support). The MRI program does not support the acquisition or development of a suite of instruments to outfit research laboratories/facilities or that will be used to conduct independent research activities simultaneously.

Instrument acquisition or development proposals that request funds from NSF in the range $100,000-$4 million may be accepted from any MRI-eligible organization. Proposals that request funds from NSF less than $100,000 may also be accepted from any MRI-eligible organization for the disciplines of mathematics or social, behavioral and economic sciences and from non-Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education for all NSF-supported disciplines.

• Cost-sharing of precisely 30 percent of the total project cost is required for Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education. The 30 percent cost share is on the total project cost.

• Please include a letter from the Dean committing to the cost share as part of the abstract submitted.