View the most recent Program Announcement.
Federal funding is critical to equipping core facilities at biomedical research
institutions with state-of-the-art technologies. The NCRR Division for Biomedical Technology Research and Research Resources administers two competitive
grant programs that award funds to institutions so they may purchase present and
emerging technologies. The Shared Instrumentation Grant Program supports the purchase
of equipment in the $100,000 to $500,000 price range, and the new High-End Instrumentation
Grant Program supports the purchase of instruments that cost more than $750,000.
Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) Program
Purpose: The SIG Program provides a cost-effective mechanism for groups of NIH-supported
investigators to obtain commercially-available equipment that costs more than
$100,000. Instruments in this price range are typically too expensive to be obtained
through a research project grant. The maximum SIG award is $500,000. These grants
cover the direct costs of the instruments; the grantee institution must meet costs
for maintenance, service contracts, and technical support. Awards are for one
year only and are not renewable.
SIG Awards, FY 1993-2004: From FY 1993 to FY 2004, the SIG Program provided 1,228 awards to biomedical research institutions in 47 states and the District of Columbia, totaling $344,923,527.
Eligibility Requirements: SIG awards are made to domestic public and non-profit
institutions, including health professional schools, graduate institutions, hospitals,
health departments and research organizations. To be eligible for a SIG, the applicant
institution must identify three or more major users of the technology who are
Principal Investigators on active NIH awards funded by the P01, R01, U01, R29,
R35 or R37 mechanisms. However, the Principal Investigator of a SIG does not have
to be NIH funded.
Types of instrumentation supported by SIG funding includes, for example, nuclear
magnetic resonance systems, electron and confocal microscopes, mass spectrometers,
protein and DNA sequencers, biosensors, x-ray diffractometers and cell sorters.
To apply for SIG funding, applications must be submitted on PHS
Form 398. The application receipt date is once a year, usually
in March. Detailed information is available in the most recent Program Announcement (Application Receipt Date: March 19, 2004).
Because the SIG Program interfaces with other NCRR and NIH grant programs, potential
SIG applicants are encouraged to contact NCRR program staff before submitting
a proposal: SIG@mail.nih.gov or 301-435-0772.
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