Participating Organization(s)	National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Components of Participating Organizations	Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)
Funding Opportunity Title	Shared Instrumentation Grant Program (S10)
Activity Code	S10 Biomedical Research Support Shared Instrumentation Grants
Announcement Type	Reissue of PAR-13-008
Related Notices	January 13, 2015 - This PAR has been reissued as PAR-15-088. February 5, 2014 - See Notice NOT-OD-14-049. The purpose of this Notice is to highlight the new requirements for the Institutional Commitment section and institutional letters of support..
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number	PAR-14-073
Companion Funding Opportunity	None
Number of Applications	There is no limit on the number of applications an institution may submit, provided the applications are for different types of equipment. See Section III. 3. Additional Information on Eligibility.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s)	93.351
Funding Opportunity Purpose	The ORIP Shared Instrument Grant (SIG) program encourages applications from groups of NIH-supported investigators to purchase or upgrade a single item of expensive, specialized, commercially available instrumentation or an integrated system that costs at least $100,000. The maximum award is $600,000. Types of instruments supported include, but are not limited to, confocal and electron microscopes, biomedical imagers, mass spectrometers, DNA sequencers, biosensors, cell-sorters, X-ray diffraction systems, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers among others.

Posted Date	January 15, 2014
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date)	February 21, 2014
Letter of Intent Due Date(s)	Not Applicable
Application Due Date(s)	March 21, 2014, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.
AIDS Application Due Date(s)	Not Applicable
Scientific Merit Review	June 2014 and November, 2014
Advisory Council Review	October 2014 and January 2015
Earliest Start Date	April 1, 2015
Expiration Date	March 22, 2014
Due Dates for E.O. 12372	Not Applicable

Required Application Instructions

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to continue the Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) Program currently administered by ORIP. The objective of the program is to make available to institutions expensive research instruments that can only be justified on a shared-use basis and that are needed for NIH-supported projects in basic, translational or clinical areas of biomedical/behavioral research. The SIG program provides funds to purchase or upgrade a single item of expensive, specialized, commercially available instrumentation or an integrated instrument system. An integrated instrument system is one in which the components, when used in conjunction with one another, perform a function that no single component could provide. The components must be dedicated to the system and not used independently. Increase in productivity or efficiency is not sufficient justification for an integrated system. Applicants are advised to contact SIG Scientific/Research Contact (See Section VII) prior to submitting an application for an integrated instrument system. Instruments must be for research purposes only. Foreign made equipment is allowable. Applicants should contact a Scientific/Research Contact with any questions about eligibility of specific instrument requests prior to preparing an application.

This program is designed to provide funding for the acquisition or updating of expensive shared-use instrumentation not generally available through other NIH mechanisms, such as the regular research project, program project, or center grant programs. Applications for research on advancing the design or for the development of new instrumentation are not appropriate for this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

Types of supported instrumentation include, but are not limited to, nuclear magnetic resonance systems, electron and confocal microscopes, mass spectrometers, protein and DNA sequencers, biosensors, x-ray diffractometers, cell sorters, and NMR spectrometers. Applications for "stand alone" computer systems (supercomputers, computer clusters and storage systems) will only be considered if the instrument is solely dedicated to the research needs of a broad community of NIH-supported investigators.

The SIG program will not support requests for:

• the development of new instrumentation;
• general purpose equipment or purely instructional equipment;
• instruments used for clinical (billable) care;
• an instrument with a base cost of less than $100,000;
• multiple instruments bundled together to meet the $100,000 minimum;
• a series of complementary related instruments which share a common research focus;
• an assortment of instruments to furnish a research facility;
• software, unless it is integral to the operation of a piece of equipment;
• institutional administrative management systems, clinical management systems;
• equipment for routine sustaining infrastructure: manufacturing equipment such as fabrication equipment and standard machine shop equipment, standard computer networks, autoclaves, hoods and equipment to upgrade animal facilities.

Questions about appropriate equipment should be directed to the Scientific/Research contacts (See Section VII.

The Major user group of the instrument must have a minimum of three Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PDs/PIs)with NIH research grants with one of the following activity codes: P01, R01, U01, R35, R37, DP1 or DP2. NIH-supported users should together require 75% of the instrument time. For detailed eligibility requirements of the Major and Minor User Groups, see (section III 3).

To promote cost effectiveness, to encourage optimal sharing among individual investigators, research groups and departments, and to foster a collaborative multidisciplinary environment, the instrument should be integrated in a centralized core facility, whenever possible.

Each applicant institution must propose a PD/PI who can assume administrative/scientific oversight responsibility for the requested instrumentation. See Section III 1 for qualifications for the PD/PI. An Advisory Committee must be named to assist the PD/PI in administering the grant and overseeing the usage of the instrument. For details on the composition of the Advisory Committee, see Section IV 2 under "Administration." The PD/PI and the Advisory Committee are responsible for the development of guidelines for:

• Maximum utilization of the instrument, including time allocation;
• A detailed plan for the day-to-day management and safe operation of the instrument;
• If appropriate, a plan to ensure that access to the instrument is limited to users whose projects have received approval from institutional human subjects, animal welfare or biosafety committees;
• A financial plan for the long term operation and maintenance of the instrument during the post award period;
• Considering and recommending to the NIH the relocation of the instrument within or outside the institution or changes of ownership, if such changes are necessary.
• Working with the Institution on recommendation to the NIH to name a new PD/PI if such a need arises due to the departure of the current PD/PI.

The PD/PI also will be responsible for:

• Requesting no-cost extensions of the project period, if needed.
• Preparing (and working with the Institution to submit) a Final Progress Report at the end of the project period, that describes the purchased instrument, a list of all users and publications resulting from use of the instrument, and a description of the value of the instrument to the investigators and to the institution as a whole. See Section VI.3.
• Submitting Annual Equipment Usage Reports to the NIH for a period of four years after the final progress report. See Section VI.3.

Funding Instrument	Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.
Application Types Allowed	New Resubmission The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types.
Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards	Although the financial plans of ORIP provide support for this program, awards pursuant to this funding opportunity are contingent upon the availability of funds and the receipt of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. ORIP intends to commit approximately $40 million in FY2015 to fund approximately 80 new awards.
Award Budget	Applications will be accepted that request a single, commercially available instrument or integrated system which costs at least $100,000. There is no upper limit on the cost of the instrument, but the maximum award is $600,000. Since the cost of the various instruments will vary, it is anticipated that the size of the award also will vary.
Award Project Period	Awards are made for one year only.

NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made in response to this FOA.

Higher Education Institutions

• Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
• Private Institutions of Higher Education

The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:

• Hispanic-serving Institutions
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
• Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
• Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
• Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)

Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education

• Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
• Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)

Under the general research support authority of Section 301(a) (3) of the Public Health Service Act, Shared Instrumentation Grant awards are made to public and non-profit domestic institutions only. These institutions include health professional schools, other academic institutions, hospitals, health departments, and research organizations. Federal institutions, foreign institutions, and for-profit institutions are not eligible to apply. A Federal institution is defined by the NIH as a Cabinet-level department or independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government or any component organization of such a department or agency.

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.

Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.

Applicant Organizations

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.

• Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) - All registrations require that applicants be issued a DUNS number. After obtaining a DUNS number, applicants can begin both SAM and eRA Commons registrations. The same DUNS number must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.
• System for Award Management (SAM) (formerly CCR) Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually. The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.
• NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.
• eRA Commons - Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the eRA Commons registration. Organizations can register with the eRA Commons as they are working through their SAM or Grants.gov registration. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.
• Grants.gov Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.gov registration.

Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))

All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account and should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate an existing account with the applicant organization’s eRA Commons account. If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.

Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.

The PD/PI need not be an NIH grantee, but must be affiliated with the applicant institution and registered on the eRA Commons.

Multiple PDs/PIs are not allowed under the S10 mechanism.

This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Applications will be accepted that request funds to purchase or upgrade a single, commercially-available instrument or integrated instrument system which costs at least $100,000. There is no restriction on the number of applications an institution can submit to the SIG program each year provided the applications request different types of equipment. However, if two or more applications are submitted for similar equipment (for example, two 600 MHz NMR spectrometers) from the same institution, documentation from a high level institutional official must be provided stating that this is not an unintended duplication, but part of a campus wide institutional plan. A single application requesting more than one type of instrumentation (for example, a mass spectrometer and a confocal microscope or a new NMR and an upgrade to an existing NMR) is not appropriate for this FOA.

NIH will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed within the past thirty-seven months (as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement), except for submission:

• To an RFA of an application that was submitted previously as an investigator-initiated application but not paid;
• Of an investigator-initiated application that was originally submitted to an RFA but not paid; or
• Of an application with a changed grant activity code.

Determination of New Application Status: A new application is expected to be substantially different in content and scope with more significant differences than are normally encountered in a resubmitted application. For S10 applications, there must be a substantial change in more than one critical aspect of the application, which may include a change in the composition of major or minor users due to a change in instrumentation needs or NIH grant support, inclusion of new preliminary data for several users, specific documented changes in institutional commitment or changes in technical expertise and the administrative/management structure.

Major and Minor User Groups

A Major User group of three or more investigators who are Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PDs/PIs) on three distinct active NIH research grants with the following activity codes, P01, R01, U01, R35, R37, DP1, or DP2 must be identified. Once this eligibility requirement has been met, additional users with active NIH research grants can be added as Major or Minor Users (this includes, but is not limited to PDs/PIs of R00, R03, R21, R55, P30, P41, P50 awards). Major Users should have substantial interests in and needs for the instrument. PDs/PIs of NIH training grants and contracts are not eligible to be Major or Minor Users in the application unless they qualify through funding of one of the mechanisms described above. Investigators with funding from sources such as other federal agencies (e.g., NSF, DoE, DoD), private foundations or academic institutions can be added as Minor Users provided they are engaged in basic, translational or clinical areas of biomedical/behavioral research. To demonstrate the clear need for the requested instrumentation, the projects supported by NIH research grants should together require at least 75 percent of the instrument time. The Major User group should require at least 35 percent of the total usage time.

Major Users can be researchers within the same department or from several departments at the applicant institution. Awardees from other nearby institutions may also be included.

Access to the instrument may be made available to other users upon the advice of the Advisory Committee. These other users need not be NIH awardees, but priority should be given to NIH-supported scientists engaged in biomedical/behavioral research.

Applicants must download the SF424 (R&R) application package associated with this funding opportunity using the Apply for Grant Electronically button in this FOA or following the directions provided at Grants.gov.

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications.

All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed, with the following exceptions or additional requirements:

For this FOA, there is no overall page limit for the entire Instrumentation Plan. However, there are specified page limits for each section of the Instrumentation Plan as described below. The sections cannot exceed the page limit including tables, graphs, figures, diagrams, and charts. Although there is no overall page limit, applicants are reminded to be informative yet succinct. It is expected that the length of the Plan’s narrative will depend on the type of the requested instrument and the number of users. An application to be successful does not have to reach the page limits described here.

• Introduction to Resubmission: 3 pages (if applicable)
• Justification of Need: 6 pages in total
• Technical Expertise: 3 pages in total
• Research Projects section must not exceed 30 pages in total. This section should be divided into two subsections: Research Projects of Major Users and Research Projects of Minor Users. The limit is 6 pages per Major User; however, three or fewer pages are STRONGLY recommended. The applicant will allocate the total number of up to 30 pages between the two subsections.
• Summary Table(s): 6 pages in total
• Administration (Organizational / Management Plan): 6 pages in total
• Institutional Commitment: 3 pages in total
• Overall Benefit: 3 pages in total

Note: Letters of Support and Bibliography & References Cited Section are not included in the page limitations.

The forms package associated with this FOA includes all applicable components, required and optional. Please note that some components marked optional in the application package are required for submission of applications for this FOA. Follow all instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide to ensure you complete all appropriate optional components.

The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

Descriptive Title: Enter the generic name of the instrument requested in the title (for example, 600MHz NMR Spectrometer or High Throughput DNA Sequencer).

Proposed Project: Enter start date of 04/01/2014 and end date of 03/31/2015.

Estimated Project Funding:

Total Federal Funds Requested: Enter the total Federal funds for the requested instrument.

This entry cannot exceed $600.000 which is the maximum award under the SIG Program. If the cost of the instrument is more than $600,000 enter $600,000 (or any lower amount of the requested Federal Funds).

Total Non-Federal Funds: If Total Federal Funds Requested (described immediately above) and Total Federal & Non-Federal Funds (described immediately below) are not the same, enter the difference in this line. Explain how the difference will be paid in the Equipment section on the SF424 (R&R) Other Project Information component (described below).

Total Federal & Non-Federal Funds: Enter the total cost of the instrument from the quote.

Program Income: Enter zero for as does not apply to the SIG Program.

NOTE: A warning will be generated during submission for any S10 with a budget in excess of $500,000. This warning can be ignored.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

Project Summary/Abstract: The Project Summary/Abstract is meant to serve as a succinct and accurate description of the requested instrument and the research projects which will be supported by the instrument. State the application’s broad, long-term objectives, concisely describing the research design and methods for achieving the health-related goals of the research projects. This section should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and understandable to a scientifically or technically literate reader.

NOTE: The Project Summary/Abstract must be no longer than 30 lines of text.

Project Narrative: Using no more than two or three sentences, describe the relevance of this research to public health. In this section be succinct and use plain language that can be understood by a general, lay audience.

Bibliography & References Cited: Users should list only these publications that demonstrate the users' expertise in operation and applications of the requested instrumentation or are relevant to research projects which will be supported by the instrument. References of the research project narratives of Major and Minor Users may appear in this section under each user's name or users may list such references at the end of their individual research sections.

Facilities & Other Resources: Not Applicable. Do not include an attachment here.

Equipment: Describe the requested instrument, including manufacturer and model number. The model chosen should be justified by comparing its performance with other available instruments, when appropriate. Such comparisons should include preliminary data using the protocols or types of samples proposed by users when possible. Specific features and any accessories should be justified, both in this section and in the description of research projects. Each such accessory must be utilized by at least half of the Major Users. All accessories and components (in particular, if an integrated system is requested) must be dedicated to the system and not used independently. Provide a detailed budget breakdown of the main instrument and accessories requested, including tax and import duties, if applicable. An itemized quote, with appropriate discount, from a vendor is required. The quote must be scanned and combined in a single attachment with the equipment description as part of this upload. As described above in SF424 Cover Component, include an explanation of Total Non-Federal Funds in this section (if applicable). If human or infectious materials, which could create a potential biohazard, are to be analyzed, funds for accessory containment equipment for the instrument may be requested in the budget. In this case, a signed letter from the institutional biosafety committee stating that they have reviewed the proposed containment plan and that the plan adheres to documented biosafety regulations is required in the application, and must be scanned and uploaded in the Other Attachments (described immediately below).

Other Attachments: Instrumentation Plan (in lieu of Research Plan section). The entire Instrumentation Plan (with the sections described below) must be saved as a single pdf (named Instrumentation Plan) and attached via the Other Attachments. Organize the Instrumentation Plan in the specified order (described below) starting each section with the appropriate section heading (i.e. Justification of Need, Technical Expertise, Research Projects etc.). Do not include links to websites for further information. Do not include animations. Incomplete applications or applications which do not follow the SIG program policies described in this Funding Opportunity Announcement will not be reviewed.

• Introduction: Only in the case of a resubmission, include an Introduction describing the changes that have been made in response to comments in the previous review.
• Justification of Need: Describe the requested instrument. Provide an inventory of similar instruments existing at the applicant’s institution, neighboring research institutions, or otherwise accessible; describe why they are unavailable or inappropriate for the proposed research. Provide a clear justification for why new or updated equipment, including accessories, are needed. Include specific documentation on the current usage and downtime of existing instruments and a realistic estimate of the projected usage for the requested instrument. Such documentation should be expressed as hours of use, setup time, etc., per day or week, not simply as percentage of available time. Be specific and quantitative; define available usage time. Use of tables may clarify the presentation. Tables included within this section will count towards the specified page limit.
• Technical Expertise: Describe the technical expertise present at the institution to set up, run and maintain the instrument. Specify who will operate the instrument, train new users, ensure that it is operated safely and appropriately maintained.
• Research Projects: Divide this section into two subsections: Research Projects of Major Users and Research Projects of Minor Users.
  • All Major Users must have active NIH support and substantial need for the requested instrument. Detailed eligibility requirements for Major Users is described in Section III 3. Since the projects have been previously peer reviewed, the project descriptions should be concise and the focus of the section should be directed to the specific benefits that the acquisition of the instrument will have on the research objectives of each user. The section describing such specific benefits to the research should be designated with its own subtitle. Describe the impact of the new instrument on the present and future research objectives of the user. Sufficient technical detail (preliminary data and/or supplemental information) about the specific types of samples or specific experimental protocols to be employed by each user for the requested instrument should be included to allow evaluation of whether the instrument is appropriate, would be effectively employed, and would provide advantages over other methods and other similar existing or new instruments. The need for special features and accessories for the requested instrument must be justified. Individual project investigators that require a specific option or upgrade (e.g., a UV laser) should describe the specific studies that utilize this option. At least half of the all Major Users should need any of these options.
  • Minor Users are additional users with active NIH research grants or active grants from other sources. Eligibility information for Minor Users is described in Section III 3. Include a brief summary of the research related to the need for the requested instrument.
  • Summary Table(s): Use a table to list the names (last, first) of the Major and Minor Users from the Research Projects section, the complete NIH grant numbers (e.g. 5R01HL123451-01A1), brief titles of the projects, grant start and end dates, and the estimated percentage of use. If there are multiple Major or Minor Users funded by the same grant, clearly indicate their names and their total estimated percentage of use of the instrument for projects supported by that grant. Make a separate table to indicate the users needs for any requested accessories. (These summary tables do not count towards the designed page limitation of the Research Projects section).
• Administration (Organizational/Management Plan): Describe the organizational plan to administer the grant. Include how the instrument will be utilized, how requests to use the instrument will be made, how time will be allocated among Major and Minor Users, and plans for attracting new users. List the names and titles of the members of the local Advisory Committee. The membership of this Committee should be broad, to balance interests of different users and should include members without conflicts of interest (non-users of the requested instrument) who can resolve disputes if they arise. The membership of this Committee should include at least one senior institutional official. Major and Minor, and other active Users of the instrument may be members, but none may Chair the Advisory Committee. The PD/PI should be a non-voting member of the Committee. Describe a plan for managing access to the instrument if users projects involve human subjects, vertebrate animals or biohazards such as infectious materials. Submit a specific financial plan for long-term operation and maintenance of the instrument. Explain how various operational costs will be met; specifically, costs associated with routine operation of the instrument, the maintenance, support personnel, and service costs associated with effective use of the instrument must be described. The financial plan MUST include a table for year one of operation with approximate dollars for anticipated expenditures and anticipated income showing how these estimates were derived. Include a description of the projected financial plan changes over the subsequent four years:
  • Operation: Include salary support of expert personnel to operate the instrument and provide its routine care and standardization.
  • Maintenance: May include a service contract, or funds for local technical personnel (and parts) who will maintain the instrument if such personnel are qualified to do so.
  • Supplies: Necessary supplies for operating the instrument such as chemicals, cryogenics, and other expendable items.
  • Anticipated Income: Enumerate the sources of income such as charge back fee structure, grants, or institutional support. Specific dollars are required.
• Institutional Commitment: Describe the institutional infrastructure available to support the instrumentation. In this section, confirm that the institution will commit to provide backup of the financial plan for for five years from installation of the equipment or for the effective lifetime of the instrument. The PD/PI, upon recommendations and approval of the Advisory Committee, may request permission from the NIH for any future changes to this commitment due to unforeseen alterations in the use of the instrument (i.e., transfer of title to another institution, trade-in towards a more advanced instrument, etc.). The review panel will evaluate the time of institutional support of the financial plan for this instrument in terms of consistency with the expected usable lifetime for the instrument dependent upon the type of instrument requested. Provide a short descriptive narrative of the institution's summary of instrument performance of all previous S10 awards to the institution for instruments awarded or installed within the last five years. See Letters of Support section for details to be provided in that section by the institution.
• Overall Benefit: Explain how the instrument will impact NIH funded research and contribute to the institution’s long-range biomedical research goals
• Letters of Support. Letters from institutional officials (mentioned in Institutional Commitment) and letters from the biosafety committee (mentioned in Equipment) should be combined in a single file named Letters of Support and uploaded as a separate attachment via Other Attachments. In particular, the institution must provide an official letter of support that includes an explicit commitment to provide backup for the proposed financial plan. Specifically, the letter must state that if the financial plan should fall short of its projected income, the institution will commit funds to replace the shortfall and maintain operation of the instrument. Applications without an institutional commitment to support a shortfall in the financial plan will not be accepted for review The institution must also provide a Letter of Support that includes a table that provides information about instrument performance of all previous S10 awards for instruments awarded or installed within the past five years. The table should include: S10 grant number, year of award, PD/PI’s name, generic name of instrument, current instrument status (i.e., in use, traded-in, transferred, non-functional), approximate hours used per year, status of maintenance agreement, and number of publications citing the S10 award. If the instrument is currently non-functional, the institution must provide a supplementary explanatory text.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

Include profiles of the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s), the Major Users, and the technical person(s) responsible for the maintenance and operation of the instrument. For the Major Users, select Other under Project Role. Then complete the Other Project Role Category by inserting Major User. For technical person(s), select Technician for Project Role field. Follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for Additional Senior/Key Person Profile(s) if there are more than 8 Major Users.

NOTE: Current and Pending Support. Since Just-in-Time does not apply to the S10 mechanism, this FOA requires current and pending support for the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s), each Major User and/or technician at the time of application submission. Follow the format provided in Other Support section of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide (Part III. Section 1.8. Other Support.)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission.

Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies). Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late.

Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.

Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.

All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Under the S10 mechanism, funding requests are limited to the purchase cost of the instrument only. Support for technical personnel, service contracts, extended warranties, and supplies are not allowable. Cost sharing towards purchase of the instrument is not required. If the amount of funds requested does not cover the total cost of the instrument, the application should describe the proposed source(s) of funding for the balance of the cost of the instrument. Documentation of the availability of the remainder of funding, signed by an appropriate institutional official, must be presented to ORIP prior to issuance of award.

The program does not provide facilities and administrative (F&A) costs or support for construction or alterations or renovations. Matching funds are not required. However, commitment of an appropriate level of institutional support to ensure the associated sustaining infrastructure is expected and should be described. Appropriate Grants will be awarded for a period of one year and are not renewable. Supplemental applications will not be accepted.

Applicants proposing purchase of an instrument that the institution is planning to lease prior to award are urged to consult with their institutional sponsored projects office and the NIH Grant Management Office regarding applicable NIH policy prior to executing the leasing agreement. If the leasing agreement was executed more than one year prior to submission of the SIG application, the applicant must provide strong justification for the requested Federal funds. This justification must demonstrate that the leased instrument is considered state-of-the-art at the time of submission appropriate award adjustments may be necessary. Execution of a purchase order or agreement, making a down payment or other formal commitment to purchase the equipment prior to award will automatically eliminate an applicant from eligibility for an award.

Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.

Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.

For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit Applying Electronically.

Important reminders:
All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH. See Section III of this FOA for information on registration requirements.

The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the application is the same number used in the organization’s profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management. Additional information may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

See more tips for avoiding common errors.

Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness by the Center for Scientific Review, NIH. Applications that are incomplete will not be reviewed.

Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in NOT-OD-13-030.

Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. As part of the NIH mission, all applications submitted to the NIH in support of biomedical and behavioral research are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.

Overall Impact/Benefit

Reviewers will briefly assess the potential benefit of the requested instrument for the overall research community and its potential impact on NIH-funded research; and provide comments on the overall need of the users which led to their final recommendation and an overall impact/priority score.

Scored Review Criteria

Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For example, a project that by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.

Justification of Need

Is the need for the instrument clearly and adequately justified? Is the equipment essential and appropriate? Justification of selection of proposed instrument may include but is not limited to comparison with other available instruments of similar function.

Technical Expertise

Does the institution have the technical expertise to make effective use of the requested equipment? How well qualified are the participating investigators or other assigned personnel to operate and maintain the instrument, conduct the projects, and evaluate the research results? How will new users be trained? How will biosafety procedures be implemented?

Research Projects

Will research with the requested instrument advance the knowledge and understanding of the proposed projects? How will the research projects of individual Users be enhanced? Do Users adequately justify the requested instrument for the needs of their specific projects? If accessories are requested for the instrument, do at least half of the Major Users require each of the accessories for their research projects?

Administration

Is the plan for the management and maintenance of the requested instrument appropriate? Is the membership of the Advisory Committee broadly based to oversee the use of the instrument for a wide range of biomedical investigators, to balance interests of different users, and to resolve disputes (if they arise)? How will research time be allocated among the projects? Are the sharing arrangements equitable? If needed, are the policies to manage projects which have human subjects, animals or biohazards adequate? Is the financial plan for the instrument for five years or the expected lifetime of the instrument reasonable and secured, balancing anticipated expenditures and anticipated income? Is the expected usable lifetime of the instrument reasonable?

Institutional Commitment

Did the Institution provide the required letter of commitment to back-up the submitted financial plan in the event of a shortfall of income? Is the institutional commitment to back-up the financial plan provided for a time period consistent with the expected effective lifetime of the requested instrument? The institutional commitment to the specific financial plan for operation and maintenance of the instrument may include, but is not limited to, support of maintenance contracts, preparation and maintenance of the installation site, contribution to the costs of the operating staff, and any other financial contribution towards the support and acquisition of the instrument. Has the institution provided the required Letter of Support table listing previous S10 instruments awarded and installed within the past five years? Is the management of awarded S10 instruments adequate?

As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.

Protections for Human Subjects

Generally Not Applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.

Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Children

Generally Not Applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.

Vertebrate Animals

Generally not applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer

Biohazards

Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.

Resubmissions

For Resubmissions, the committee will evaluate the application as now presented, taking into consideration the responses to comments from the previous scientific review group and changes made to the project.

Renewals

Not Applicable

Revisions

Not Applicable

As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.

Applications from Foreign Organizations

Not Applicable

Select Agent Research

Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including 1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, 2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, 3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and 4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).

Resource Sharing Plans

Not Applicable

Budget and Period of Support

Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.

Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by the CSR, in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.

As part of the scientific peer review, all applications:

• May undergo a selection process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit (generally the top half of applications under review) will be discussed and assigned an overall impact score.
• Will receive a written critique.

Applications will be assigned to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this FOA. Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the appropriate national Advisory Council or Board. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:

• Scientific and technical merit of the proposed project as determined by scientific peer review.
• Availability of funds.
• Relevance of the proposed project to program priorities.
• Program balance among various types of instruments supported and geographic distribution of awards.

After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons.

Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Just-in-time (JIT) information does not apply to the S10 mechanism.

A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via email to the grantee’s business official.

Awardees must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.

Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to the DUNS, SAM Registration, and Transparency Act requirements as noted on the Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website.

All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants.

Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award

Not Applicable

At the expiration of the grant, a Final Progress Report (FPR) is required that describes the instrument purchased, and a list of all users and description of the value of the instrument to the investigators and to the institution as a whole. This report is needed by the NIH for informing the public, administrative and Congressional officials about the research resources it supports. The following information must be included in the SIG FPR:

Information about the award and the instrument:

• Grant Number: 1S10OD#####-01
• Principal Investigator: (Name, Institution, Department, Address)
• Funding Period
• Name of Instrument (including manufacturer and model)
• Total Purchase Cost
• Total SIG Award Amount
• Other Sources of Funding (if appropriate)

Describe the SIG instrument purchased, its usage and its impact on the research community, specifically the NIH funded users. Use a summary table to list the names of the current major users (last, first), the complete NIH grant numbers (e.g. 5R01HL123456-01A1), brief titles of the projects and the percentage of use.

Describe the administration, operation, and plans for the maintenance of the instrument including the status of the current financial plan.

Describe (in language understandable to the lay public) any research accomplishments resulting from the use of the instrumentation. Explain the developments in terms of their contributions to new knowledge and potential for the improvement of human health. Provide a list of publications, if available. Publications must adhere to NIH Public Access Policy and include PMCID numbers.

Include any other additional information which you would consider useful to the NIH.

The SIG FPR must be submitted electronically through the Closeout module in eRA Commons.

In addition, for the period of four years after the FPR, on the anniversaries of the expiration of the award, annual instrument usage reports must be provided to the NIH. These reports must include:

Information about the award and the instrument:

Grant Number: 1S10OD#####-01

Principal Investigator: (Name, Institution, Department, Address)

Funding Period

Name of Instrument (including manufacturer and model)

The usage records of the instrument, specifically the name of the user; number of hours used per year; and the active supporting NIH grants of the user.

Machine downtime and explanation of any remediation plans.

Any changes in administrative and technical operation of the equipment from originally described in the application.

Any updates to or modifications of the instrument.

The current status of the financial plan. Has the financial plan been modified?

Any changes in the institutional support, especially changes affecting the institutional back-up of the financial plan.

A list of publications and other research reports depending, in part, on use of the awarded instrument. The publication list should be consistent with the NIH Public Access Policy.

Any publications and other research reports which arise from experiments conducted using the instrument must acknowledge the SIG award.

A Federal Financial report must be submitted for S10 awards. Information about the Federal Financial report is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps_2010/nihgps_ch8.htm#_Toc271264983.

A Federal Invention Statement is not required for S10 awards.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for awardees of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All awardees of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.

We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.

eRA Commons Help Desk (Questions regarding eRA Commons registration, submitting and tracking an application, documenting system problems that threaten submission by the due date, post submission issues)
Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)

Web ticketing system: https://public.era.nih.gov/commonshelp
TTY: 301-451-5939
Email: [email protected]

Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and submission, downloading forms and application packages)
Contact CenterTelephone: 800-518-4726

Web ticketing system: https://grants-portal.psc.gov/ContactUs.aspx
Email: [email protected]

GrantsInfo (Questions regarding application instructions and process, finding NIH grant resources)
Telephone: 301-710-0267
TTY: 301-451-5936
Email: [email protected]

Abraham Levy, PhD
Shared Instrumentation Program
Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)
Telephone: 301-435-0777
Email: [email protected]

Steven Birken, PhD
Shared Instrumentation Program
Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)
Telephone: 301-435-0815
Email: [email protected]

Examine your eRA Commons account for review assignment and contact information (information appears two weeks after the submission due date).

Nuria Assa-Munt, PhD
Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
Telephone: 301-451-1323
Email: [email protected]

Ms. Gloria Berrios
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)
Telephone: 301-435-0875
Email: [email protected]

Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Parts 74 and 92.