Overview
The Research Instrumentation & Equipment Program is designed to help Research Core Facilities acquire new equipment, and repair, upgrade or replace existing instrumentation critical to UO’s research infrastructure. The Program will enable Research Core Facilities to continue to provide world-class service to both internal and external users.
This internal program is distinct from, and complements, the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation's support of proposals to federal agencies and foundations to acquire major instrumentation. Prospective PIs are encouraged to request matching funds when needed for those proposals. This program recognizes that some instrumentation is not appropriate for external funding programs despite a strong need from the research community. Further, repairing, upgrading or replacing high use instrumentation can be difficult or impossible via external funding mechanisms even though the equipment is essential to ongoing research at the University.
For emergency requests, please fill out this form for review on an as-needed basis.
Deadline: TBD
Funding Term: 1 year
Eligibility: Directors of Research Core Facilities. The director or manager requests must be approved by the facility’s Faculty Advisory Committee Chair. Individual faculty members wishing to purchase particular pieces of instrumentation should reach out to the facility director/manager and engage with the facility’s Faculty Advisory Committee to develop a proposal that fits within the focus and business model of that facility.
Directors are limited to 1 submission per research core facility, though the submission can include multiple items that are thematically connected to address a particular need or build capacity.
Scope of Award: RIEP has a soft cap of $100,000 per request to the OVPRI. (The total cost of the purchase can exceed $100K if the Core is providing matching funds). Requests above $100K would need pre-approval from OVPRI.
Note: RIEP award funds cannot be used to reimburse previously made purchases.
Application Process
Applications must be submitted by completing the RIEP online application, The narrative and vendor quotes should be attached to the online form. Instructions for the narrative are below.
Narrative instructions - Please use the bolded headings to organize your narrative.
- Type of research to be enabled
- Provide a brief statement identifying the piece of instrumentation and its function.
- What are the capabilities of the requested equipment and how broadly beneficial is it to the UO research community?
- Are funds requested to replace or upgrade existing instrumentation?
- Provide a list of active awards for projects that rely on the requested equipment (include funding agency, project title, principal investigator, project period, total direct costs).
- Current availability: Does similar equipment already exist on the UO campus? If so, why is existing instrumentation unable to meet current needs?
- Current and projected user base
- How widely used and/or how many labs anticipate a need for the requested instrumentation?
- Are matching funds available for this acquisition? If so, please identify the source and the amount.
- Suitability for external funding opportunities: What makes the requested instrumentation a poor fit for external programs such as the NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program or the NIH Shared Instrumentation Program? (In other words, why are internal funds needed?)
- Budget and Technical specifications: Please provide the technical specifications, budget for the equipment costs (attach vendor quotes, if applicable), and a business plan to manage the instrumentation within the core facility.
Review
The review committee will be appointed by the Vice President for Research and Innovation and will include Core Facilities directors, faculty, and/or executive team members.
Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: 1) likely impact on research productivity; 2) breadth of use across multiple research groups; 3) likely impact on UO researchers’ ability to successfully compete for external funds, and 4) the lack of availability of other public or private foundation funding opportunities.
Reporting
Research Development Services will contact awardees 12 months after award receipt. If projects have unspent funds after the 1-year project period, the OVPRI will request a progress report.
Prior Winners
2019
- CAMCOR received $100,000 toward the purchase of an NMR Spectrometer
- GC3F received $16,500 to purchase a Millipore-Sigma Magpix System for multiplexed Luminex assays
- HGeM received $26,393 to purchase a Leica DMI8 injection microscope
- TeACS received $67,397 toward the purchase of Individually Ventilated Cage Rat Racks and an AMSCO 3000 Series Autoclave
- CAMCOR received $28,545 for emergency replacement of the high-tension tank for the Titan high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM)
2018
- July 25, 2018: The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation has approved the use of $8,000 from the Research Instrumentation and Equipment Program to cover the unplanned repairs to the AqACS autoclave.
- April 12, 2018: Two core facilities have received grants from the Research Instrumentation & Equipment Program. The Greenhouse Facility had its proposal fully funded at $8,000. The Histology and Genetic Modification (HGeM) was funded at $50,000.
- $20,000 in emergency support for the electrode puller for Aquatic Animal Care Services (AqACS).