Memo from the Director on Equipment Grants >>
About the Equipment Grant Programs
The North Carolina Agriculture Research Service (NCARS) normally has funds from overhead receipts available for the purchase of research equipment by CALS faculty each fiscal year. The CALS Research Committee administers this grant program, determines the objectives and procedures, and reviews and selects proposals to be funded.
2013 Program:
Small Equipment Grant Program
The next call for proposals will occur in the Fall of 2013.
Objectives
To support and advance innovative and competitive research efforts in CALS.
To support collaborative research efforts and encourage multi-user instrumentation.
List of 2012-2013 CALS Equipment and Infrastructure Grant Awards >>
Click Here for Online Proposal Form >>
Small Equipment Grant Program
Proposal Due Date:
The Requests for Proposals are sent to the Department Heads in November for distribution to faculty. The deadline for Proposal review and selection by the CALS Research Committee is TBD for 2013.
Program Objectives: This program is designed to address the need for equipment costing $15,000 or less, and targets equipment purchases that significantly enhance the research capabilities of multiple users in CALS.
Note Concerning Eligibility: All current CALS faculty may participate in the program regardless of pending moves to COS. Equipment awarded under this program will stay in CALS but remain accessible to PIs who move to COS.
Evaluation Criteria: Each proposal will receive a numerical rating (0 to 5) for each of the following four criteria. Proposals are ranked by their cumulative ratings, based on:
1. Innovativeness/Competitiveness of the Research: Proposals that describe specific research that would benefit from the equipment will receive a higher score. Even if the equipment will be used by a number of people with diverse research programs, stating specifically the innovative aspects of that research will yield a more favorable rating.
2. Multi-user/Collaborative Nature of the Research: Scores will increase if multiple PIs are listed on the project. Equipment usage across departments or colleges is a plus. General statements about large numbers of faculty or students (without specific information) will not improve the score.
3. Need for the Equipment: Proposals for equipment currently unavailable, which would serve a new research need, will receive more favorable scores. Replacement and upgrades to existing, functioning or oversubscribed equipment will receive lower ratings, depending on the apparent margin of benefit that the upgrade/replacement would yield.
4. Proportion of Matching Funds Offered: The greater the proportion of departmental or PI matching funds up to 50%, the higher the score.
Note Concerning Equipment Types:
In the past, awards have been made to purchase a broad range of equipment, such as a gamma ray counter, digital camera, video gel documentation system, seed planter, HPLC detector, isothermal titration calorimeter & accessories, tissue electroporator, chromatography workstation, plot thresher, environmental monitoring system, micro-scanning-kinetic spectrophotometer, electrophoresis unit, autoclave, plant temperature sensor & accessories, planters, and cryostats.
Awards for computer purchases are made only if the computer is identified as a primary research tool. Proposed equipment may include anything from basic equipment needed as a routine part of several diverse research projects to highly specialized equipment unique to a particular research type.
Proposal Format: Proposals are submitted online and are completely paperless. The online form for submitting a proposal can be found here >>
http://harvest.cals.ncsu.edu/wrap/index.cfm?showpage=757&AddProp=1
Several pieces of information are required including:
Principal investigators: names, departments
Proposal Type: Small Equipment
Equipment requested: (name, model & manufacturer)
Total cost:
Amount of funding requested:
Matching Funds: (source & amount, by investigator)
Other funding sources that have been pursued for the equipment (if applicable):
Justification: i.e. how the purchase satisfies this RFP's funding objectives. Describe research projects requiring the equipment and how it will be used. List any collaborative uses
Status of current, similar or related equipment, if it exists, and why additional equipment is needed.
Equipment Location
Equipment Maintenance Plans and who will maintain and repair it.
Total length of the Justification, Status of Similar or Related Equipment, and Location and Maintenance of Equipment sections, when combined, must not exceed 5,000 characters (not including spaces or punctuation).
Proposals that do not include all fields will not be reviewed.
The equipment must be delivered and paid for by June 30 of each year. Therefore, all funds granted must be encumbered (PO's must be submitted) by February 28 of each year.
You must notify department heads of PIs and Co-PIs of this submission or the request will not be considered.
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Small Equipment Grant Program |
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North Carolina Agriculture Research Service (NCARS) normally has funds from overhead receipts available for the purchase of research equipment by CALS faculty each fiscal year. The CALS Research Committee administers this grant program, determines the objectives and procedures, and reviews and selects proposals to be funded. For FY 13-14, we are pleased to continue the CALS Equipment Grant Program. This year’s program will consist of a Small Equipment Grant Program.
The objectives of this grant program are:
-
To support and advance innovative and competitive research efforts in CALS.
-
To support collaborative research efforts and encourage multi-user instrumentation.
SMALL EQUIPMENT GRANT PROGRAM
The Requests for Proposals are sent to the Department Heads in early November for distribution to the faculty. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, November 30, 2012 for review and selection by the CALS Research Committee.
Program Objectives: This program is designed to address the need for equipment that significantly enhances the research capabilities of multiple users in CALS. The Small Equipment Program will support requests up to $15,000. We anticipate that approximately $60K will be available from CALS for this program.
Note Concerning Eligibility: All current CALS faculty may participate in the program regardless of pending moves to COS. Equipment awarded under this program will stay in CALS but remain accessible to PIs who move to COS.
Evaluation Criteria: Each proposal will be given a numerical rating (0 to 5) for each of the following four criteria, and proposals will be ranked by their cumulative ratings:
-
Innovativeness/Competitiveness of the Research: Proposals that describe specific research that would benefit from the equipment will receive a higher score. Even if the equipment will be used by a number of people with diverse research, stating specifically the innovative aspects of that research will yield a more favorable rating.
-
Multi-user/Collaborative Nature of the Research: Scores will increase if multiple PIs are listed on the project. Equipment usage across departments or colleges is a plus. General statements about large numbers of faculty or students (without specific information) will not improve the score.
-
Need for the Equipment: Proposals for equipment that is currently unavailable and would serve a new need for the PIs will receive more favorable scores. Replacement and upgrades to existing, functioning or oversubscribed equipment will receive lower ratings, depending on the apparent margin of benefit that the upgrade/replacement would produce.
-
Proportion of Matching Funds Offered: The greater the proportion of departmental or PI matching funds up to 50%, the higher the score given.
In the past, awards have been made to purchase a broad range of equipment, such as a gamma ray counter, digital camera, video gel documentation system, seed planter, HPLC detector, isothermal titration calorimeter and accessories, tissue electroporator, chromatography workstation, plot thresher, environmental monitoring system, micro-scanning-kinetic spectrophotometer, electrophoresis unit, autoclave, plant temperature sensor and accessories, planters, cryostats. Awards for computer purchases are made only if the computer is identified as a primary research tool. Proposed equipment may include anything from basic equipment needed as a routine part of several diverse research projects to highly specialized equipment that is unique to a particular type of research.
Proposal Format: This year, proposals will be submitted online and will be completely paperless. The online form for submitting a proposal can be found at the following link. Several pieces of information are required, including
-
Principal investigators (names, departments).
-
Equipment requested (name, model, and manufacturer).
-
Total cost, Amount of funding requested and Matching Funds (source and amount by investigator).
-
Other sources of funding that have been pursued for the equipment (if applicable).
-
Justification, i.e. how the purchase will satisfy this RFP's funding objectives (describe research projects that require the equipment, how the equipment will be used, and note any collaborative uses).
-
Status of current, similar or related equipment, if it exists, and why additional equipment is needed.
-
Location of the equipment; who will maintain and repair it.
The total length of the Justification, Status of Similar or Related Equipment, and Location and Maintenance of Equipment sections, when combined, must not exceed 5,000 characters (not including spaces or punctuation).
Proposals that do not include all fields will not be reviewed.
The equipment must be delivered and paid for by June 30 of each year. Therefore, all funds granted must be encumbered (PO's must be submitted) by February 28 of each year.
You must notify department heads of PIs and Co-PIs of this submission or the request will not be considered.
If you have any questions about the Small Equipment Grant Program, please contact your departmental representative to the CALS Research Committee.
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