Shared Instrumentation for Animal Research (SIFAR) Grant Program 2020

Pre-application Deadline: Tuesday, March 31, 2020 - 5:00 PM

  

DESCRIPTION OF THE AWARDS

From the NIH call “the Shared Instrumentation for Animal Research (SIFAR) Grant Program encourages applications from groups of NIH-funded investigators to purchase or upgrade scientific instruments necessary to carry out animal experiments in all areas of biomedical research supported by the NIH. Applicants may request clusters of commercially available instruments configured as specialized integrated systems or as series of instruments to support a thematic well-defined area of research using animals or related materials. Priority will be given to uniquely configured systems to support innovative and potentially transformative investigations.

This FOA supports requests for state-of-the-art commercially available technologies needd for NIH-funded research ising any vertebrate and invertebrate animal species.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) does not support requests for single instruments. At least one item of the requested instrumentation must cost at least $50,000, after all applicable discounts. No instrument in a cluster can cost less than $20,000, after all applicable discounts. There is no maximum price requirement; however, the maximum award is $750,000 of direct costs."

The MGH Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) has again committed funding to provide institutional support this year for Shared Instrumentation for Animal Research (SIFAR) grant proposals. ECOR has made this commitment because it recognizes that institutional support greatly increases the likelihood that a SIFAR application will be funded.

NOTE: Those who want to apply to the Shared Instrumentation Grant (S10) and High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant proposals, should submit an internal application here.

Since 2014, the following has been required in each SIFAR application:

• The institution must explicitly state a commitment to provide financial support for the proposed financial plan should a shortfall be experienced due to a lack of other grant funding or chargeback/volume fluctuations (see Sect. IV).
  • A separate communication will be sent directly to department chiefs addressing the support of financial plans for submitted applications.
     
• 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.
  • To meet this requirement, any recipient of an S10 award from 2015-present will be asked to provide specific details that will be used to support all shared instrumentation grants going forward. A separate email will be sent directly to the PIs to which this applies.

The Pre-application must be submitted through MGH ECOR's Online Grant Management Portal by the MGH PI or their delegate.

 

REVIEW PROCESS

Please note that MGH is only allowed to submit one SIFAR application to the NIH. If we receive multiple internal applications for the SIFAR grant, there will be an internal review process and one application will be selected.

In addition, the reviewers may provide feedback that will help strengthen the final application. During the review process, ECOR may reach out to PIs if they have any questions. 

The selected applicant will receive a letter of institutional support required to submit the application to NIH.    

 

DEADLINES  

ECOR Pre-application Deadline:  Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 5pm

NIH Application Deadline:  Monday, June 1, 2020

 

AWARD AMOUNT

As previously stated,at least one item of the requested instrumentation must cost at least $50,000, after all applicable discounts. No instrument in a cluster can cost less than $20,000, after all applicable discounts. There is no maximum price requirement; however, the maximum award is $750,000 of direct costs.

 

ELIGIBILITY  

• Applicants must have a full-time MGH appointment at the time of application and during the entire award period.
• Applicants must hold their primary appointment at MGH and their research must be based at MGH.

 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The pre-application must include the following 11 items:

1. Title of Submission
2. Equipment Requested.
   • Include the names of the instruments and a URL for specifications. 
   • For each instrument, please indicate if it is new or if it is replacing an existing instrument on campus
   • Do any of the instruments already exist on an MGH campus?  If yes, explain why the equipment is not accessible or cannot be used. To see a list of equipment at MGH, click here.
3. Estimated Cost of Equipment. Please provide a break down on the cost of each instrument.
4. Planned Location of Equipment.  Include Building, Floor and Room #
5. Renovation Required.  Will any renovations be required to install the equipment? Select Yes or No.  If yes, who will be paying for the renovations? What is the estimated cost of the renovations (If an estimate is available at time of ECOR application)?
6. Signed Statement Confirming Renovations (Signed by Department Chief and Unit/Division Chief/Center Director). If renovations are required for your project, please download this Confirmation of Endorsement Form and review it with your Chief and Unit/Division Chief/Center Director. The costs of any renovations or enhancements of infrastructure that exceed the committed funds provided by ECOR are the financial responsibility of the department. By signing this form, the Chief or Center acknowledges that they are aware of this arrangement and will be responsible for any additional costs for the renovation or enhancement.
7. Significance. What is the significance of procuring these instruments to your research lab, department and the institution?  Please be specific in discussing your field of stuy, the impact of the equipment, and how the instrumentation will advance animal research.
8. Use of Institutional Funds.  What do you plan to do with the institutional funds? (i.e. procurement, maintenance, etc. )
9. Potential Users (If available at time of ECOR application). List a minimum of 3 Major Users. Include name, degree(s), department and institution.
   • Major Users must be a PD/PI on a distinct active NIH research award in an area of basic, translational or clinical research.  An award given to multi PDs/PIs is counted only once. NIH training or fellowship grants and other non-research grants cannot be counted. 
   • Investigators with funding from sources such as other federal agencies (e.g., NSF, DoD), private foundations or academic institutions can be listed as Major Users, provided they are engaged in basic, translational or clinical research and can demonstrate a substantial need for the instrument.
   • Major Users can be researchers from the same department or from several departments or divisions at MGH or from nearby or regional institutions. 
   • Major users may come from distant institutions, but they must demonstrate the need for the instruments and describe plans for regular access to the instrument
10. Technical Expertise (250 words maximum) Per the NIH Call, the PI for this application should have documented technical expertise directly related to the types of instruments.  Describe very briefly the technical expertise of the individuals who will set up and run the instruments, ensure that these instruments are safely operated and appropriately maintained and who will train users.
11. Administration - Organizational/Management Plan (1 page maximum): Briefly describe the organizational plan to administer the grant. Describe how requests to use the instruments will be enlisted.  Describe typical day-by-day management of the instruments.

 

FORMAT GUIDELINES

• Use margins of 0.5 inches or greater
• Use 11pt font size or greater
• Upload PDF documents only.  Limit characters to A-Z, a-z and 0-9 when naming PDF documents.  Do not use periods, commas or dashes in the file name.

 

HOW TO APPLY

ECOR accepts all applications online via the MGRI Online Grant Management Portal.  The system has been designed to allow users to:

• Create a personal profile, which will auto-populate your future ECOR applications
• Assign a delegate to submit applications on your behalf (optional)
• View current calls and apply to open opportunities 
• Save and edit current applications in progress
• Submit completed applications
• View all your ECOR applications that have been submitted via the Online Grants Management Portal.

Instructions for Applying Online:

1. Create your account: Log in using your Partners credentials and fill-out the profile information.
2. Complete the application: Once your profile is complete, you will automatically progress through the online application. If you cannot complete the application at one time, “save” the application and return to it at a later time to finish. Before submitting your application, you will have the ability to make changes to the application.
3. Submit your application: Once you have completed the application click on the “submit” button at the bottom of the page. Once you submit it, you will not be able to make further changes unless you send a request to ECOR (note that once the deadline passes, requests to make changes will not be accepted).

Useful tips:

• To avoid losing your work, remember to save frequently
• You can only upload PDF documents
• If you previously created a profile, please ensure your information is current prior to submitting an application.

  Click 'Apply' below to begin the application.

 

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions, please email ECOR.