The Equipment Grant Program (EGP) serves to increase access to shared-use special purpose equipment/instruments for fundamental and applied research for use in the food and agricultural sciences programs at institutions of higher education, including State Cooperative Extension Systems. The program seeks to strengthen the quality and expand the scope of fundamental and applied research at eligible institutions, by providing them with opportunities to acquire one major piece of equipment/instruments that support their research, training, and extension goals and may be too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NIFA grant programs.
The EGP does not support the acquisition of suites of equipment to outfit research laboratories /facilities or to conduct independent experiments simultaneously. Similarly, the EGP does not fund common, general purpose ancillary equipment that would normally be found in a laboratory and/or is relatively easily procured by the organization or through other NIFA grant programs. Rather, it is intended to help fund items of equipment that will upgrade infrastructure. Moreover, EGP does not fund research projects, including research that uses the equipment acquired with support from the program nor does it support the operation and maintenance of facilities.
Program Area Description
The Equipment Grant Program (EGP) serves to increase access to shared special purpose equipment for scientific research for use in the food and agricultural sciences programs in our Nation’s institutions of higher education, including State Cooperative Extension Systems. The program seeks to improve the quality and expand the scope of fundamental and applied research in food and agricultural sciences, including data science and data systems, by providing institutions with opportunities to acquire instrumentation that supports the research, research training and extension goals of the institution.
The EGP emphasizes shared-use instrumentation that will enhance the capabilities of researchers both within and outside the proposing institutions. The EGP is intended to assist with acquisition that may be too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NIFA grant programs (such as the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, Hatch, Evans-Allen, or 1890 Facilities Grant Program). An instrument acquired using EGP funding is expected to be fully operational by the end of the award period.
The acquired equipment may be a well-integrated ensemble which means that the equipment that defines the instrument enables a specific fundamental or applied research experiment in the food and agricultural sciences programs to be undertaken; separating or removing an element or component of such an instrument would preclude that research from occurring or succeeding.
Operations and Maintenance of the acquired equipment. Major research equipment can be expensive to operate and maintain over the useful lifetime. Proposals should demonstrate institutions’ commitment to undertake the responsibility of maintaining and operating the instrument for the benefit of a community of users engaged in research, training, and/or extension.
Interested applicants should upload the following documents in sequence in one PDF file (File name: [Last name]_NIFA-EDP_2020 no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:
1. Cover Letter (1 page, pdf):
- Descriptive title of proposed activity
- PI name, departmental affiliations(s) and contact information
- Co-PI's names and departmental affiliation(s)
- Names of other key personnel
- Participating institution(s)
- Title of this funding opportunity
2. Project Description (no more than two pages, pdf) and identify the project scope that addresses the key aspects and elements, principal investigators, collaborators, and partner organizations. (Include a description of shared-use within and across Penn State, including other campuses and institutions; research training and educational uses; and plan for ongoing operation and maintenance of the acquired equipment )
3. 2-page CV's of Investigators
Formatting Guidelines:
Font/size: Times New Roman (12 pt.)
Document margins: 1.0” (top, bottom, left and right)
Standard paper size (8 ½” x 11)
Questions concerning the limited submissions process may be submitted to limitedsubs@psu.edu.