Good Morning,

The Office of the Vice Provost for Research is conducting an internal competition to select the Harvard nominees for the NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program, which 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. This is a limited submission opportunity and Harvard, as a single institution, is limited in the number of proposals that can be submitted to each track. More information on the award and internal selection process can be found in the synopsis below:

NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program

Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: August 14, 2023

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: November 7, 2023

Sponsor Deadline: November 15, 2023

Award Amount: Up to $4M

Note: Cost sharing is no longer required for this program

The NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program 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.

An MRI proposal may request from NSF up to $4 million for either acquisition or development of a research instrument. Organizations may submit in revised "Tracks" as defined below:

• Track 1: Proposals that request funds from NSF greater than $100,000 and less than $1,400,000.
• Track 2: Proposals that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $1,400,000 up to and including $4,000,000.
• Track 3: Proposals that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,000 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. 

Track 1 and Track 3 proposals requesting funds from NSF less than $100,000 will be accepted only from: a) eligible 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.

This is a limited submission opportunity. Harvard University, as a single institution, may submit no more than two submissions in Track 1, no more than one submission in Track 2, and no more than one submission in Track 3. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research will conduct an internal competition and submitted applications will undergo a preliminary review by school leadership before selection of the overall Harvard nominees. To be considered for the Harvard nomination, potential applicants must first submit an internal pre-proposal via the link above. 

FAS applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss potential proposals with Sarah Elwell, Assistant Dean for Research for the Science Division, sarah_elwell@harvard.edu, prior to submission. Applicants from SEAS are strongly encouraged to discuss their proposals with David Hwang, SEAS Dean for Research, dhwang@seas.harvard.edu prior to submission.

Questions from FAS or SEAS faculty about this opportunity may be directed to Erin Hale (erin_hale@fas.harvard.edu) or Jennifer Corby (jcorby@fas.harvard.edu).

Requests for support related to the application portal may be directed to vpr@harvard.edu.