High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 22 079

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 22 079

The High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program (PAR 22-079) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant opportunity that helps NIH-supported research teams buy or upgrade one major piece of cutting-edge, commercially available scientific equipment or an integrated instrument system. The goal is to strengthen shared research infrastructure by making expensive, specialized instrumentation accessible to groups of investigators whose NIH-funded work depends on capabilities that are otherwise difficult for a single lab to afford or maintain. This funding opportunity is explicitly labeled "S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed," meaning the award is intended for instrumentation acquisition and related setup, not for conducting clinical trials under this mechanism.

The award size is designed for high-end purchases. The minimum award request is $600,001, and while the instrument itself can cost more than that, NIH will provide up to a $2,000,000 maximum award. In other words, there is no stated maximum price tag on the equipment you want to acquire, but NIH support through this program cannot exceed $2 million, so applicants typically need to plan accordingly if the total purchase and associated costs exceed the cap.

The program supports a wide range of sophisticated biomedical and life-science research instruments. Examples specifically mentioned include biomedical imaging systems, high-throughput robotic screening platforms, X-ray diffractometers, mass spectrometers, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers, DNA and protein sequencers, biosensors, electron and light microscopes, flow cytometers, and other biomedical imagers. The emphasis is on high-end, specialized instrumentation that enables advanced measurement, characterization, screening, imaging, or analysis that can significantly expand or accelerate NIH-relevant research across multiple projects and users.

Eligible applicants span several common U.S.-based organizational types, including public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and certain nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status). The notice also highlights that certain mission-focused and minority-serving institutions are eligible, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). At the same time, it draws a firm boundary around foreign participation: non-U.S. (foreign) institutions cannot apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply, and foreign components (as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed under this opportunity.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is offered by NIH under CFDA numbers 93.351 and 93.859 and is categorized under the Health funding activity area. The original closing date listed for the opportunity is June 3, 2024. The listing does not provide a specific number of expected awards or an award ceiling beyond the stated maximum award amount. Overall, this program is best understood as an NIH infrastructure investment mechanism: it is intended to equip multiple NIH-funded investigators with shared access to a single, expensive, high-impact instrument that will strengthen research capacity and productivity in NIH-relevant areas, without supporting clinical trial activities.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.351, 93.859.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-01-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-03. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for PAR 22 079

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