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Find similar grantsNational Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program is sponsored by NSF. Supports acquisition or development of major research instrumentation.
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Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) Status: Waiting for new publication The merit review process for MRI proposals submitted in Fiscal Year 2025 in response to solicitation NSF 23-519: Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program: Instrument Acquisition or Development is continuing and we expect that it will conclude before the end of FY 2026.
NSF anticipates issuing an updated MRI solicitation later in FY 2026 for an opportunity to submit proposals in FY 2027. Please monitor this page and the NSF funding search for updates. Important information for proposers and award recipients All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in the funding opportunity and in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and its supplements .
All NSF grants and cooperative agreements are subject to the applicable set of NSF award terms and conditions . NSF has updated its research security policies for NSF funded projects. Supports requests for up to $4 million from NSF for the development or acquisition of multi-user research instruments that are critical to the advancement of science and engineering.
Instrument Acquisition or Development Supports requests for up to $4 million from NSF for the development or acquisition of multi-user research instruments that are critical to the advancement of science and engineering.
The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program ( MRI Program Website) serves to increase access to multi-user scientific and engineering instrumentation for research and research training in our Nation's institutions of higher education and not-for-profit scientific/engineering research organizations.
An MRI award supports the acquisition of a multi-user research instrument that is commercially available through direct purchase from a vendor, or for the personnel costs and equipment that are required for the development of an instrument with new capabilities, thereby advancing instrumentation capabilities and enhancing expertise for instrument design and fabrication at academic institutions.
MRI instruments are, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. MRI provides support to acquire critical research instrumentation without which advances in fundamental science and engineering research may not otherwise occur.
MRI also provides support to obtain next-generation research instruments by developing instruments with new capabilities that open new opportunities to advance the frontiers in science and engineering research. Additionally, an MRI award is expected to enhance research training of students who will become the next generation of instrument users, designers and builders.
An MRI proposal may request from NSF up to $4 million for either acquisition or development of a research instrument. Each performing organization may submit in revised "Tracks" as defined below, with no more than two (2) submissions in Track 1 and no more than one (1) submission in Track 2 . For the newly defined Track 3, no more than one (1) submission per competition is permitted.
As a result, it is now possible for an institution to submit up to four MRI proposals within the Track limits as described above. Track 1: Track 1 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than $100,000 [1] and less than $1,400,000. Track 2: Track 2 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $1,400,000 up to and including $4,000,000.
Track 3: Track 3 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,000 [1] and less than or equal to $4,000,000 that include the purchase, installation, operation, and maintenance of equipment and instrumentation to conserve or reduce the consumption of helium. Institutions may submit no more than one Track 3 proposal.
Submission of a Track 3 proposal does not impact limits that apply for Track 1 and Track 2 proposals. Cost sharing requirements for new awards in the MRI Program are waived for a period of 5 years beginning with the FY 2023 MRI competition. Institutional submission limits for Track 1, Track 2 and Track 3 proposals remain.
The MRI Program especially seeks broad representation of groups, institutions, and geographic regions that are underrepresented in STEM disciplines. Proposals from women, underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities and early-career PIs are encouraged, as are proposals that benefit early-career researchers and proposals with PIs from geographically underserved regions, including EPSCoR jurisdictions.
Additionally, proposals are encouraged from under-resourced institutions, including from emerging research institutions, where MRI can significantly build capacity for research.
___________________________ [1] Track 1 proposals requesting funds from NSF less than $100,000 will be accepted only from: a) eligible performing organizations requesting instrumentation supporting research in the disciplines of mathematics or social, behavioral and economic sciences; or b) non-Ph. D. -granting institutions of higher education requesting instrumentation supporting research in any NSF-supported disciplines.
Updates and announcements NSF Major Research Instrumentation presentation slides for FY 2026 Changes to NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program for FY 2026 Additional MRI Program Contacts General information for the MRI Program is available as follows: Office of Integrative Activities (OIA) Major Research Instrumentation Program National Science Foundation OIA MRI Website: http://www. nsf.
gov/od/oia/programs/mri October 4, 2024 - MRI Town Hall Webinars - October 3rd and 4th October 3, 2024 - MRI Town Hall Webinars - October 3rd and 4th September 15, 2023 - Major Research Instrumentation Virtual Town Halls September 14, 2023 - Major Research Instrumentation Virtual Town Halls July 12, 2023 - MCB Virtual Office Hour: Major Research Instrumentation Program… June 20, 2023 - Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) Virtual Office Hours December 8, 2022 - MRI 2023 Solicitation Virtual Townhall Meeting December 7, 2022 - MRI 2023 Solicitation Virtual Townhall Meeting July 19, 2022 - DBI Virtual Office Hour: Instrumentation Additional program resources Awards made through this program Browse projects funded by this program Office of Integrative Activities (OD/OIA) Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) Directorate for Engineering (ENG) Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP)
Key questions and narrative sections extracted from the solicitation.
Instrument Location and Type: Provide a statement describing the physical location of the instrument.
Research Activities Enabled: Describe specific research projects, personnel by type and number, and funding sources that the instrument will support.
Instrument Description and Needs: Provide technical specifications, justification for why the instrument is needed, and feasibility of acquisition or development.
Broader Impacts: Describe training opportunities, contributions to diversity, community benefits, and the institution's DEIA commitment.
Management Plan: Describe operations, maintenance, personnel expertise, and usage allocation procedures for the instrument.
For Development proposals: Justify why the submission qualifies as development, address design, construction, and commissioning phases with work breakdown, and provide risk mitigation and knowledge transfer plans.
Scoring criteria used to review proposals for this grant.
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: U. S. universities and nonprofit organizations. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program is funded by NSF. Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Yes — this listing is flagged as national in scope, so applicants across the U.S. may apply, subject to the sponsor's other eligibility criteria.
Applications go through the funder's official portal — the Apply Now link on this page goes there directly.
The solicitation lists 12 required documents: Organization classification statement on institutional letterhead, Letter of institutional commitment for operations/maintenance over instrument lifetime, Subawardee acknowledgment statements (if applicable), Partner confirmation letters (if applicable), Host facility commitment letter (if applicable), and Itemized vendor quotes, among others (the full list is in the Required Documents section on this page). Check the official notice for formatting and page-limit rules.
Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Science (SCH) is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH). This interagency program supports transformative, high-risk/high-reward advances in computer and information science, engineering, mathematics, statistics, behavioral, and/or cognitive research to address pressing questions in biomedical and public health. It encourages scientific and engineering innovations by interdisciplinary teams to develop novel methods to collect, sense, connect, analyze, and interpret data from individuals, devices, and systems, enabling discovery and optimizing health. This includes applying AI in healthcare.
Mathematical Biology Program is a grant from NSF that funds research in applied and computational mathematics with relevance to the biological and life sciences. The program supports projects across all areas of mathematical sciences that demonstrate strong integration between mathematics and biology. Successful proposals must show mathematical innovation, biological relevance and significance, and rigorous interdisciplinary methods. Projects may include development of new mathematical theories, methodologies, and computational tools aimed at advancing the life sciences. Eligible applicants are typically academic researchers and institutions. Award amounts and deadlines vary by submission cycle.
Proposers must retrieve the instructions document (zip file) associated with the application package for this opportunity as there is at least one required form that must be attached to the submitted proposal package. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate (SMD) released its annual omnibus Research Announcement (NRA), Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) – 2024 (OMB Approval Number 2700-0092, CFDA Number 43.001) on February 14, 2024. In this case "omnibus" means that this NRA has many individual program elements, each with its own due dates and topics. All together these cover the wide range of basic and applied supporting research and technology in space and Earth sciences supported by SMD. Awards will be made as grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and inter- or intra-agency transfers, depending on the nature of the work proposed, the proposing organization, and/or program requirements. However, most extramural research awards deriving from ROSES will be grants, and many program elements of ROSES specifically exclude contracts, because contracts would not be appropriate for the nature of the work solicited. The typical period of performance for an award is three years, but some programs may allow up to five years and others specify shorter periods. In most cases, organizations of every type, Government and private, for profit and not-for-profit, domestic and foreign (with some caveats), may submit proposals without restriction on teaming arrangements. Tables listing the program elements and due dates (Tables 2 and 3), a table that provides a very top level summary of proposal contents (Table 1), and the full text of the ROSES-2024 "Summary of Solicitation", may all be found NSPIRES at http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2024. This synopsis is associated with one of the individual program elements within ROSES, but this is a generic summary that is posted for all ROSES elements. For specific information on this particular program element download and read the PDF of the text of this program element by going to Tables 2 or 3 of this NRA at http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2024table2 and http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2024table3, respectively, click the title of the program element of interest, a hypertext link will take you to a page for that particular program element. On that page, on the right side under "Announcement Documents" the link on the bottom will be to the PDF of the text of the call for proposals. For example, if one were interested in The Lunar Data Analysis Program (NNH24ZDA001N-LDAP) one would follow the link to the NSPIRES page for that program element and then to read the text of the call one would click on “C.8 Lunar Data Analysis Program (.pdf)” to download the text of the call. If one wanted to set it into the context of the goals, objectives and know the default rules for all elements within Appendix C, the planetary science division, one might download and read “C.1 Planetary Science Research Program Overview (.pdf)” from that same page. While the letters and numbers are different for each element within ROSES (A.12, B.7, etc.) the basic configuration is always the same, e.g., the letter indicates the Science Division (A is Earth Science, B is Heliophysics etc.) and whatever the letter, #1 is always the division overview. Frequently asked questions for ROSES are posted at http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs. Questions concerning general ROSES-2024 policies and procedures may be directed to Max Bernstein, Lead for Research, Science Mission Directorate, at sara@nasa.gov, but technical questions concerning specific program elements should be directed to the point(s) of contact for that particular element, who may be found either at the end of the individual program element in the summary table of key information or on the web list of topics and points of contact at: http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/program-officers-list. Not all program elements are known at the time of the release of ROSES. To be informed of new program elements or amendments to this NRA, proposers may subscribe to: (1) The SMD mailing lists (by logging in at http://nspires.nasaprs.com and checking the appropriate boxes under "Account Management" and "Email Subscriptions"), (2) The ROSES-2024 blog feed for amendments, clarifications, and corrections to at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/solicitations/roses-2024/, and (3) The ROSES-2024 due date Google calendars (one for each science division). Instructions are at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/library-and-useful-links (link from the words due date calendar). Funding Opportunity Number: NNH24ZDA001N-ECIP. Assistance Listing: 43.001. Funding Instrument: CA,G. Category: ST.
The UKRI Policy Fellowships 2025, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, offer 18-month placements for academics to co-design research with UK government and What Works Network host organizations. Awards range from £180,000 to £280,000 and support three fellowship tracks: core policy fellows, Natural Hazards and Resilience policy fellows, and What Works Innovation fellows. Applicants must hold a PhD or equivalent research experience, be based at a UKRI-eligible UK organization, and possess relevant subject matter or methodological expertise. Government-hosted positions target early to mid-career academics, while What Works fellowships welcome all career stages. Fellows work directly with policymakers to bridge academic research and policy development on pressing national and global challenges. The application deadline is July 15, 2025.
NSF reopened its Project Pitch portal on June 2 and posted two distinct solicitations — NSF 26-510 for general deep tech and NSF 26-511 for scientific instrumentation. The first full-proposal deadline is July 27, 2026. Here is why the split matters, who the $40M instrumentation lane is actually for, and how founders should choose a track before submitting a pitch.
Read articleOn May 27 NSF stood up Tech Accelerators — a new framework that funds domain-specialist organizations to invest in deep-tech teams in AgTech, MaterialsTech, OceanTech, and SciTech. The July 14 RFI is the field's only chance to shape topics, model, and selection before the first solicitation drops.
Read articleNSF 26-508 will deploy up to $224 million across 56 State/Territory AI Coordination Hubs over three to four years. Each hub gets $1M annually to build an AI Learning Resource Navigator, a state AI readiness plan, deployment support, capacity-building, and priority-sector coordination. The Letter of Intent is due June 16 and the full proposal July 16. Here is what the program is really buying, who is best positioned to win Round 1, and why the no-cost-share rule reshapes the partner landscape.
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