RECIPIENTS: PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS OPPORTUNITY WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES.
Those interested in pursuing this opportunity are eligible to receive
research administrative assistance from the Office of Research Development
(ORD). Please contact ORD for details at [log in to unmask]
Title: Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR)
Program Solicitation: NSF 10-563
<http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10563/nsf10563.htm> [Replaces
Document(s):NSF 08-566]
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation - Directorate for Biological
Sciences
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): August 27,
2010; July 29, 2011; Last Friday in July, Annually Thereafter
Estimated Number of Awards: 10 to 12 of type (A) and 2 to 5 of type (B).
Anticipated Funding Amount: $3,000,000 (approximately) will be available
for new IDBR awards in FY 2011, pending availability of funds.
Synopsis of Program:
The Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR) Program
supports the development of instrumentation that addresses demonstrated
needs in biological research, in areas supported by NSF Biology programs
(see http://www.nsf.gov/bio). The program accepts two types of proposals:
1. Innovation Proposals: Proposals for the development of innovative
instrumentation that permits new kinds of measurements, or instruments that
significantly improve current technologies by at least an order of magnitude
in fundamental aspects (such as accuracy, precision, resolution, throughput,
flexibility, breadth of application, cost of construction or operation, or
user-friendliness).
2. Bridging Proposals: Proposals for transforming, 'one of a kind'
prototypes or high-end instruments into devices that are broadly available
and utilizable without loss of capacity. If appropriate, PIs should seek
SBIR, STTR or similar support mechanism for implementation of broad
distribution following an IDBR award.
The goal is to produce systems that would benefit a broad user community
through mass distribution of the technology. This program does not support
access to an individual instrument in a user facility, or to data collected
thereby; such proposals should be submitted to other relevant programs or
agencies. Projects focused on enhancing research capabilities in a specific
research lab, institution, center or consortium are not eligible for IDBR
support. Similarly not eligible are projects for the development of methods,
assays, or software for instrument operation, data acquisition or analysis,
except as a component of the instrument development and testing.
Interdisciplinary collaborations are strongly encouraged, as are
partnerships with U.S. industries that can facilitate knowledge transfer,
commercialization and broad utilization in the research community.
In addition to NSF's standard merit review criteria the following points
will be considered in proposal evaluation:
Innovation Proposals: Need and potential impact on biological research,
novelty of the device, or clear demonstration of at least an order of
magnitude improvement over available technologies, and feasibility of the
technical plan.
Bridging Proposals: The magnitude of the potential user community and
demonstrated strength of need, technical plan, and the dissemination plan
for making the technology available to the community.
Limit on Number of Proposals per PI:
There is no limit on the number of proposals that may be submitted by an
investigator or institution. However, multiple submissions (including
submissions to the CMI program) must be distinct. Moreover, the program
seeks to diversify numbers of PI, gender, geography, etc. in each
competition, so it is unlikely that multiple awards to a single PI or
institution would be made.
Rachael Andel Basnett
Research Administrator
Office of Research Development
Northwestern University
600 Foster Street, Chambers Hall, Room 235
Evanston IL 60208-4056
847-467-0373 (Direct) 847-467-0398 (Fax)
http://www.research.northwestern.edu/ord