Equipment Enhancement Fund

Award Cycle: Annual
Limit on Proposals per PI: An individual may participate as PI on one EEF per cycle.
Next Due Date: December 4, 2024
Award Period: Instruments must be purchased and received by June 30, 2025
Applications: Proposals are accepted through Arizona Cultivate

FY25 Solicitation 

These grants are designed to add or augment research capacity through the acquisition of equipment for use by multiple investigators in shared facilities or approved university core facilities.

The proposed equipment should be located in an approved U of A Core Facility or in a shared, accessible space and should have multiple committed users from at least two departments and preferably, from at least two different colleges. In extremely well justified cases, a single department request may be considered. Additionally, well justified infrastructure refreshes, e.g., replacement of critical components, to avoid loss of current capability, will also be accepted. Preference will be given to multi-department/multi-college equipment with a priority for equipment located in the RII Core Facilities.

If the equipment is located in an RII core facility, the proposed core must be clearly identified, and documentation of support by the core facility manager is required. Equipment must add new capacity or refresh existing capacity to enable competitiveness for new, clearly identified extramural funding opportunities. RII expects to make awards depending upon competitiveness of the proposals and availability of funds.

Investigators may request in the range of approximately $50,000 to $150,000 in equipment. Requests below $50,000 may be considered, but will not be priority for funding.

For all equipment proposed for placement within a RII Core Facility, an additional $30,000 in U of A Core Facility use credits may be requested to stimulate use; core facility use credits may only be used to cover approved user fees in the RII core facility.

Investigators should make a compelling case for how the acquisition of this equipment will enhance the capabilities of the core or shared use facility, how this acquisition enhances research capacity across departmental and college boundaries, and how this acquisition increases competitiveness for new extramural funding.

Proposal preparation guidance is provided below and supersedes the Proposal Preparation Guide. Submission, award, and processing information is available in the RII Proposal Preparation Guide (PPG) v9, which is downloadable in the Arizona Cultivate competition. 

Full Proposal

You will be required to submit the following sections: Cover Sheet, Proposal Narrative, and Required Supplemental Documents.

Full Proposal Sections (including step-by-step upload into the submission system): 

a)      Cover Sheet: The following information will be copied into text boxes within the system. Special characters are discouraged.

i)     Principal Investigator: Name, Department, College, Rank, Contact Information, ORCiD ID (if applicable)

ii)    Co-Investigators (up to four Co-Is may be listed): Name, Department, College, Rank, Contact Information, ORCiD ID (if applicable)

iii)   Business Manager or Research Administrator: Name, Email Address, Phone Number   

iv)    Proposal Summary: Include a 200-word summary of your proposal. A self-contained description. Include the significance and potential impacts. This should be understandable to a scientifically or technically literate reader but one that is not in your field.

v)    Proposed External Funding: 200-word limit. Include the targeted solicitation (including funding level and deadline) and/or sponsor. If you do not have a solicitation, discuss fit to the potential sponsor or how the equipment enhances competitiveness.

vi)     Keywords/Key phrases: Include up to five keywords or key phrases.

vii)    Proposal Specific Sections:

(1)    Identification of relevant compliance areas including human subjects, animal research, inclusion of Native Americans or international indigenous groups in the proposal, etc.

(2)    Budget amount requested (round up to the nearest dollar)

(3)    Identification of primary TRIF initiative (see below for details) or select “none”

(4)    Identification of Co-Reviewed TRIF initiative

(5)    Connection to Federal Land Grant and HSI Mission (250 words max)

(6)    Connection to Inclusive Principles and Practices (250 words max)

b)      Proposal Narrative: The proposal narrative is limited to two-pages. The narrative should include the following sections:

i)       Brief description of the need and research equipment capabilities

ii)      Intended instrument location

iii)     Research activities to be enhanced

iv)     Management plan: for RII cores, this may include a statement on integration with the existing core management and administrative framework. For shared facilities include how and by whom the requested equipment will be operated and maintained, and how users will have access to the equipment (e.g., time allocation)

v)      Brief description as to why the PI and/or team is uniquely positioned to be competitive and how the RII grant will increase competitiveness

vi)     Brief statement connecting the proposed equipment purchase and related research to TRIF funding priorities and/or institutional strategic priorities    

c)       Required Supplemental Documents

i)       Table of confirmed collaborators, including their title, department, and college; a minimum of three users is required

ii)      References cited (no more than one-page) using the discipline-specific reference standard, i.e. the reference style you would use when submitting a journal article in your field

iii)     PI’s CV or agency-specific biographical sketch

(1)    NIH biographical sketches are exempt from the 1” margin requirements as detailed above and may be a maximum of five-pages per NIH guidance

(2)    CV’s should be no longer than three-pages

iv)     Vendor quote (preferably in USD) to include all applicable shipping and tariffs, preference for quote valid through June 30, 2025

v)      Estimate of installation costs including plumbing, electrical, and other facilities management related charges

vi)     Budget and Budget Justification using the budget template provided in the submission software

vi)    Applicant driven routing step for budget approval (comes after the supplemental documents)

d)      Supplemental Documents, if Applicable

(1)     Up to four Co-I CV(s) or agency-specific biographical sketch(es), proposal formatting and limitations described above in PI CV section apply

(2)     If the equipment is being placed in a core facility, you must obtain a letter of Commitment (email OK) from the core facility manager indicating the potential equipment purchase and placement is non-redundant and aligns with the core facility’s strategic investment plan.

(3)     Letters of Support, including in-kind support or match, i.e. letters committing financial resources.

(a)   Dean’s, Department Head, or Director’s letters are only required if there is some form of institutional commitment associated with the proposal or to justify why proposed equipment may not be housed in a Core Facility. Commitment is defined as resources that would otherwise not be available to you, e.g., additional funds for travel, in-kind support from existing personnel, etc. 

(b)   If there is a collaborating institution, a letter of support indicating the institutional commitment of the collaborating institution must be provided. That is, collaborating institutions must provide support for their faculty, this letter should document that support (see Budget Preparation section for additional information on allowable costs)

        (4)      Resubmission Statement: If your Research Advancement Grant proposal requests funds to enhance the competitiveness of a recently declined extramural proposal, include a one-page (maximum) description of how you plan to address the reviewer comments. Attach this statement to the reviewer comments (e.g., NIH Summary Statement or NSF Panel Summary) and upload as one PDF document.

        (5)       If you have an existing protocol, upload a PDF of your current approval letter only (not the full protocol) related to human subjects or animal research. Any items proposed in the grant that do not fall under the approval will be submitted as an amendment upon award recommendation. Note that all funded proposals are expected to comply with applicable institutional research policies, including but not limited to, human subjects, animal research, conflict of interest, HIPAA, export control, and laboratory safety.

Please note there is a new budget approval process that utilizes an applicant driven routing step after submission. Applicants will input the email address of their business officer or award/research administrator when prompted at the end of the application prior to submission. The email address should be for the person who has authority to create, review, and approve the budget. The system will send a link for approval via the email listed to the business officer or award/research administrator where they may confirm they reviewed and approved the submitted budget. This approval step is required before an application is accepted for compliance checks and formal review. The deadline for business officer or award/research administrator is December 6, 2024 at 5:00 pm. so it is recommended to communicate with this individual about your budget and this process in advance.

Questions: resdev@arizona.edu

Updated: October 21, 2024