2024-26 Laboratory and University Core Facility Research Equipment Program

Offered by the Office of Research

Synopsis and Key Dates

Type I, for equipment with allowed costs up to $100,000 from the Office of Research.

Matching funds are not required but supplemental funds are allowed by any combination of funds from supporting Colleges, Schools, Departments, or individuals to support facility/utility upgrades or extended warranties and service contracts. A maximum of $100,000 will be awarded by the Office of Research.
Applications require signature of your College’s Associate Dean for Research to confirm if supplemental funds will be included and that space is available for the equipment. If space renovations are needed, a signature from the facilities representative is also required on the form. If the equipment will be housed within a core facility, signature of the Core Director is also required.
Applications are due by 5 pm ET on November 4, 2024.
Applicants will be notified of funding decisions no later than early January 2025.
Funds should be spent or encumbered by June 30, 2025. Any unused funds will be reclaimed on July 1, 2025.

Type II, for equipment with allowed costs between $100,001 and $1,000,000.

Matching funds are REQUIRED for at least one-third (1/3) of the allowed costs within the range above. A maximum of two-third (2/3) of $1,000,000 will be from Office of Research funds (i.e., $666,667).
Supplemental funds are allowed by any combination of funds from supporting Colleges, Schools, Departments, or individuals to support costs above $1,000,000.
A Mandatory Preliminary Concept Summary including signature of your College’s Associate Dean for Research is required to confirm matching fund discussion is initiated. For equipment being placed in a core facility, the signature of the Core Director is also required. In addition, if space renovations are needed, the signature of the facilities representative is required to confirm discussion initiation. Preliminary Concepts are due by 5 pm ET on Monday Oct. 21, 2024.
Final Applications are due by 5 pm ET on November 18, 2024.
Applicants will be notified of funding decisions no later than early January 2025.
Applicants requiring space renovations should work with their Associate Dean for Research AND facilities representative directly for 2025-2026 request timeline. In addition, if equipment will be placed in a core facility, applicants should be working with the Core Director.
Funds should be spent or encumbered by June 30, 2026.

Background and Rationale

Researchers at Purdue University must have up-to-date and effective equipment (instruments, apparatus, software and databases) and facilities to conduct the world-class research expected at a major research university. The Laboratory and Core Facility Research Equipment Program sponsored by the Office of Research supports the purchase of capital research equipment in two cost categories. The goal is to address critical and strategic research equipment needs and thereby enhance the research programs of individual investigators as well as multiple investigators reliant on shared-use equipment. Applications are expected to include details on limitations of including or requesting the equipment in externally funded grants and/or information related to prior submissions to external equipment programs [e.g., NSF’s Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) or NIH’s S10 Instrumentation Programs].

This program is not intended to replace internal funds committed as matching for external equipment awards or internal/external funds already allocated for the equipment. This program is not intended to augment start-up or other incentive funds provided to individuals.

Definitions and Award Mechanism

Equipment: Equipment means the item(s) targeted for acquisition, repair, or upgrade supporting Purdue's research activities. The equipment may be an apparatus, instrument, database, or software. Please inquire about the eligibility of any item that may not fall into one of these categories. Office or instructional computing equipment is not allowed. Please see the FAQs for additional information regarding research computing equipment.

Capital Equipment: The equipment must be Capital Equipment, which is “any tangible item costing $5,000 or more with an expected useful life of more than one year that will not lose its identity through use.”

Core Research Facility: See explanation here

Nature of the Award: An award from this Program is not a grant; it is an agreement to pay for specified and approved expenses up to the approximate value of the award. If actual expenses for the approved budget are less than the award, any funds remaining will be reclaimed.

PI Eligibility

The Principal Investigator must be a Purdue-West Lafayette or Indianapolis faculty member (tenured/tenure-track, research, or clinical/professional) or a Purdue-West Lafayette or Indianapolis staff member serving as the technical director/leader of a University Core Facility. An individual may be the Principal Investigator for only one Type I application and only one Type II application but may participate in others as a projected major or minor user. Applications for single-investigator equipment are allowed only for established investigators without access to substantial start-up or other incentive funds (see FAQs for additional information). An individual cannot receive (as PI) more than two awards for single-investigator Type I equipment from this program or its precursors within a five-year period. The history of single-investigator awards does not apply in any way to PIs of applications for multi-user or core facility equipment (Type II).

Allowed Costs and Budget

Allowed costs include typical costs associated with acquiring, repairing, or upgrading of equipment, including purchase price, shipping and/or import costs, installation, and limited training. All necessary allowed costs should be included in the submitted budget using one of the cost categories listed in the template. When preparing the budget, pay careful attention to unquoted costs associated with vendor terms and conditions, such as shipping costs.

Eligible equipment includes single, commercially available instruments or the essential components of an integrated system. In the latter case, all components should be largely dedicated to the identified need or function. The Program is not intended to support the acquisition of multiple, stand-alone items with independent functions. See FAQs for more information.

Costs to acquire a research-enabling information resource or technology, including but not limited to database(s) and software, are allowed.

Installation costs are limited to expenses incurred during the actual process of installation, such as items or services quoted by vendors, local carriage costs, etc.

Site preparation costs (i.e., improvements to the room/site that must be completed prior to installation, including new doors, altered access to utilities, IT or building services) should be identified in “Other Costs”, not installation costs. It is essential to acquire accurate quotes for the cost of site preparation. Please consult with your college’s Associate Dean for Research or Director of Discovery Park District Center or Institute to find the correct people to utilize.

“Other Costs” may include any expense necessary to acquire, deploy, and commission the equipment that does not fall readily into another cost category. As described above, program expenses for site preparation cannot exceed $10,000.

For example, the preparation of a room to receive the equipment will cost $30,000 to install a wider door, add electrical outlets, and supply a house vacuum. Alternative 1: do not include these costs in the budget. Alternative 2: Program costs of $10,000 can be matched by $20,000 from other sources such as college or departmental funds.

Program funds for personnel costs or costs for extended warranties or service contracts, software upgrade costs after the first year, recurring training, or costs of consumables beyond those needed to bring the equipment into service need to be justified.

Review Criteria and Process

The fundamental criteria are impact and need.

Impact. For single or multi-investigator applications, the impact is defined as the advancement of the investigators' research program(s). For Core Facilities, impact is defined as the overall enhancement of the Purdue research enterprise, including, but not limited to, opportunities to improve services for an existing user base, realize new services, or serve additional users.

Need. As appropriate for the project, the need will be assessed relative to immediate or near-term reduction or removal of research barriers, including barriers to external funding, enhancement of the pace or quality of research, the extent of projected use relative to potential use, and the availability of similar equipment/functions on campus. Applications that could result in duplication of existing equipment/functions, especially those in recharge facilities, must include strong scientific and/or practical justification.

A faculty panel with representatives from the various Colleges will review all applications. Funding recommendations will be submitted to the Office of Research for budgetary review and the final selection.

Eligibility and suitability for funding by federal programs, as well as the history and outcomes of applications and awards from either external or internal equipment programs, will be considered during the review and award processes (see FAQs).

Award Procedures and Reporting Requirements

Successful applicants will receive a notice of award for an amount derived from the submitted budget and any amendments resulting from the review. Thereafter, the PI must work through Procurement Services to obtain bids (if appropriate) and approved quote(s) for purchase. The quotes and Procurement approval must be sent to evprp-instrument@purdue.edu for review and approval by Office of Research staff. Upon approval, funds will be made available and the order(s) can be placed.

The PI/spokesperson or an approved designee must submit a final report describing the impact of the equipment on Purdue research programs. The report should highlight any research funding facilitated by the equipment project. Deadlines for reporting are likely to be project specific and will be communicated to awardees, but, in general, the report should be submitted to evprp-instrument@purdue.edu one year after the assets were made available for use.

Type I Details

Equipment with allowed costs up to $100,000

Gaps in the availability of external funding for capital equipment costing up to $100,000 are recognized. Grants to individual investigators and/or funds from academic units are often unable to support equipment acquisitions in the high end of this range, and few external mechanisms foster acquisitions of multi-user equipment with costs near the low end.

Matching funds are not required but supplemental funds are allowed by any combination of funds from supporting Colleges, Schools, Departments, or individuals. A maximum of $100,000 will be awarded by OOR.

Supplemental funds. The signature of your College’s Associate Dean for Research is required to confirm if supplemental funds will be included. Generally, supplemental funds are not encouraged for Type I applications given usual eligibility for Type II program. Exceptions are allowed for facility/utility upgrades or extended warranties and service contracts as detailed below.

Facility/utility upgrades. These costs must be assessed and approved in advance. A signature from your College’s Associate Dean for Research is required to confirm space is available for the equipment. If space renovations are needed, a signature from the facilities representative is also required.

Extended warranties and service contracts. Non-program funds may be used to support coincident purchase of extended maintenance/warranty and training or service contracts if a practical or financial benefit can be realized (through time-of-purchase discounts, for example).

Type I Application Content, Preparation, and Submission Process

Applications must be submitted before 5:00 pm ET on the due date via the online submission portal at the following link: https://purdue.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1952100.

In order to apply via InfoReady at the link above, you will need to create your profile if you have not done so already. Please make sure to set "Purdue main campus" as your primary organization, otherwise you will not be allowed to apply.

For Type I applications, a faculty PI/spokesperson or a staff member who serves as a technical leader of a Core facility may submit the application directly.

Please DO NOT engage pre-award services during the preparation of your application.

The main body of the application must not exceed four (4) pages, must use Arial 11-point font with 1.0 inch margins and single line spacing, and must include all sections defined in the application template, which is available below or from the application page linked above.

Application Template Details (template available for download https://purdue.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1952100 )

Incomplete applications or applications not meeting these requirements may be returned without review.

As explained in the template, the following attachments are required but not constrained by the four-page limit.

Signature form from your College’s Associate Dean for Research indicating whether supplemental funds will be included and that appropriate space and utilities are available or provided. If space renovations are needed, a signature from the facilities representative is also required on the form. This statement should describe the exact location where the equipment will be installed. Minimally, the signature of your College’s Associate Dean for Research is required for Parts A and B on the form. In addition, specific details on the building location for where the equipment will be placed are required.
A brief synopsis of prior or concurrent attempts to acquire external funding for the requested item(s) or details on why there are limitations in including in other external funding requests (limited to 1/2 page).
Current NIH-, NSF-, or USDA-format biosketches for the PI(s) and co-PI(s).
Informational quote(s) from vendor(s)

Type II Details

Equipment with allowed costs between $100,001 and $1,000,000

Funding for the acquisition of major equipment costing more than $100,000 may be obtained through competitive proposals to external sponsors, and this is the preferred route. Internal funds are offered through this Program because external funding opportunities are sometimes poorly matched in expediency or design to the needs of Purdue researchers.

Matching Funds are required. At least one-third (1/3) of the allowed costs must be supported by matching funds. Any combination of funds from Colleges, Schools, Departments, or an individual’s account may be used to accumulate the match funding.

For Type II applications, the College Deans and/or Associate Deans for Research and the Director of Discovery Park District Centers and Institutes should consult with Heads of departments/schools, directors of University Core Facilities, and faculty/staff researchers to identify strategic or critical equipment needs. This consultation is required, and applications must be endorsed by at least one Associate Dean for Research.

Type II Mandatory Preliminary Concept Summary: Content and Submission Process

The Concept Summary must be submitted before 5:00 pm ET on the due date via the online submission portal at the following link: https://purdue.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1952620

In order to apply via InfoReady at the link above, you will need to create your profile if you have not done so already. Please make sure to set "Purdue main campus" as your primary organization, otherwise you will not be allowed to apply.

Consultation with your College’s Associate Dean for Research is required during the development of the Concept Summary to discuss matching funds plan and space needs.

If the equipment will be placed in a core facility, consultation is required during the development of the Concept Summary.

If space renovations or space-related changes are needed, the facilities representative for your area is required to be consulted during the development of the Concept Summary.

The Concept Summary should be submitted by the PI or a spokesperson for multiple PIs.

Please DO NOT engage pre-award services during the preparation of your application.

The Preliminary Concept Summary includes a subset of the material required for the final application and uses the same template, which is available from the application page linked above. In addition, the signature form confirming initiation of matching fund discussion is required. If space renovations are needed, the signature of the facilities representative is required to confirm discussion initiation.

Application Template Details (template available for download https://purdue.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1952620)

The Concept Summary must use Arial 11-point font with 1.0 inch margins and single line spacing, and must include a brief (1 page) justification of the need for the instrument. In addition, the signature form is required confirming initiation of matching fund discussion (Part A) and if space renovations are needed (Part B). Signature of facilities representative is also required if space renovations are needed on the form. If supplemental funds will be used for equipment purchase, this should also be indicated on the signature form (Part C).

Type II Final Application Content, Preparation, and Submission Process

Applications must be submitted before 5:00 pm EST on the due date via the online submission portal located at: https://purdue.infoready4.com/.

Please DO NOT engage pre-award services during the preparation of your application.

Endorsed applications may be submitted by the PI/spokesperson, or on their behalf by a College or Discovery Park District leader.

Application Template Details (template available for download https://purdue.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1952620)

Incomplete applications or applications that do not meet these requirements may be returned without review.
The following attachments are required but not included in the four-page limit.

A signed endorsement of the application by at least one Associate Dean for Research to confirm that the application addresses a strategic or critical need and affirm that the plan for accumulating the matching funds is feasible. The pending contributors must be well-informed about the application and the approximate value of matching funding requested of them.
An updated signature form is required confirming matching fund discussion is finalized (Part A) and if space renovations are needed (Part B). This statement should describe the exact location where the equipment will be installed. Signature of facilities representative is also required if space renovations are needed on the form. In addition, if the equipment will be placed in a core facility, the signature of the Core Director is also required in Part B. If supplemental funds will be used for equipment purchase, this should also be indicated on the signature form (Part C).
A brief synopsis of prior or concurrent attempts to acquire external funding for the requested item(s) (limited to 1/2 page).
Current NIH-, NSF-, or USDA-format biosketches for the PI(s) and co-PI(s).
Informational quote(s) from vendor(s).

Contact Information

All questions should be directed to: evprp-instrument@purdue.edu

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the goal of this program and who does it target?

The program targets individual PIs, a group of PIs, or a University Core Facility needing equipment repairs, upgrades, or replacement/new equipment with costs too high to be practical for typical sponsored grant support or ineligible for typical grant support.

Will this program be repeated in the future?

There is no guarantee of future funding, but our goal is to be able to offer the program every two years.

Are requests for multi-user equipment favored?

No, the program treats individual laboratory, limited multiple-laboratory, and core facility requests equally.

Must applications go through the Pre-award process prior to submission?

Pre-award services SHOULD NOT be involved. After funding decisions are made, successful applicants will receive explicit procurement instructions with the notice of award.

For Type I applications, is the acquisition of equipment that costs more than $100,000 eligible if supplemental funding to make up the difference is available?

In general, acquisition of equipment with necessary and allowed costs exceeding $100,000 is not supported for Type I applications. Instead, these cases are generally eligible for the Type 2 program. Supplemental funds from the College, School, Department, or an individual’s account may be allowed from non-program sources for (1) costs borne by a unit to establish necessary space and utilities or (2) the coincident purchase of extended maintenance/warranty and training or service contracts if long-term cost savings can be achieved.

What is meant by, "Eligibility and suitability for funding by federal programs as well as the history and outcomes of applications and awards from either external or internal equipment programs will be considered during the review and award processes?"

Prior or concurrent submission to a suitable federal program may be considered as a positive factor affecting review and award decisions, and such submissions should be described briefly in the application. The absence of attempts to compete for funds from a suitable federal program may be an adverse factor, especially for investigators or cores that have received prior support from internal equipment programs on multiple occasions.

What is meant by, “Eligible equipment includes single, commercially available instruments or the essential components of an integrated system?"

The program is intended to support the purchase or integration of a single piece of equipment or instrument. It is not intended for the purchase of separate pieces of equipment that together increase the capabilities of a research laboratory or build a facility. Components of an instrument may be obtained from several vendors (e.g., a computer to run the instrument).

Are computers, nodes/servers eligible for this program?

Office and instructional computers/equipment are not eligible for this program.

What if Purdue University IT does not offer the research computing resources I need?

If, after consultation with Purdue IT’s central research computing (RCAC) staff, it is determined that the research need cannot be met by RCAC, then equipment to meet the need will be eligible for this program. A memo from RCAC stating that the need cannot be met with existing resources must be included in the application. Applicants should contact Arman Pazouki (apazouki@purdue.edu) at RCAC.

What is meant by “without access to substantial individual start-up or other incentive funds” as it relates to eligibility to apply for single-laboratory equipment?

For applications seeking equipment that will not be shared, the program targets established investigators who have depleted university-provided start-up or incentive funds. If a small sum of start-up or incentive funds remain available (less than 25% of the cost of the requested equipment, say), eligibility will be decided on the circumstances of the case. Please inquire by e-mail to evprp-instrument@purdue.edu.

Does the Justification of Need section of the application require individual statements of benefit from multiple users if the benefits are similar?

If the benefits are highly similar for all projects, a collective statement is acceptable. If some features/benefits are specifically or critically important to particular projects, this information is helpful to reviewers and brief individual statements may be included.

Why is an infrastructure endorsed statement required?

To ensure the availability of the infrastructure needed to deploy and effectively operate the equipment and to protect from unexpected costs.