Instrumentation Grants 2023

Murdock Charitable Trust funding intends to support scientific research in the form of major scientific instrumentation. Proposals must make the case for cutting-edge instrumentation that will support basic science endeavors led out of the natural sciences, medicine or engineering. Proposed instrumentation should support lab- or field-based work and allow scientists to ask questions or conduct research that existing instrumentation does not allow for, advancing science in significant and novel ways. While Murdock’s primary focus through this RFP is to support scientific discovery, proposals may also describe applied elements or impacts.

Proposals must support major instrumentation that benefits multiple users, preferably spanning two or more departments and optimally (but not necessarily) more than one school or college. Proposals should highlight four to five core faculty users as well as have in mind the potential for specific secondary users and user groups. An individual with the capacity to lead and coordinate a proposal agrees to serve as the PI on behalf of the core user group; a co-PI may also be identified; the core user group agrees to provide content to support the proposal and participate in a half-day site visit. The PI must commit to the submission timeline as well as to timely reporting back to the Trust.

The instrumentation should be supported by the PI’s school/college and viewed as an institutional priority. Proposals should be scoped in the $1M to $1.2M range for the instrumentation itself.

Mandatory cost share: $600K (Amount budgeted for equipment must be matched 1:1 by UW funds.)

Eligibility Requirements

The UW may submit three proposals in a two-year period. For this call, one to two proposals will be selected, one of which must be submitted by 3/1/2023. If a second proposal is chosen, it can be submitted later in the year. Proposal review typically takes five or six months.

Application Instructions

Please submit responses to the prompts below to limitedsubs@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Wednesday, December 7, 2022. Proposals are due to the sponsor 3/1/2023, so you will need to have your materials in to the Office of Sponsored Programs by 2/17/2023 if given the go‐ahead by the review committee.

1.    Answers to the Murdock letter of inquiry prompts below

2.    CV of applicant

3.    Letter from Dean confirming support for the application, including space and matching considerations

4.    Matching plan: The proposal group must be able to come up with the minimum 1:1 institutional match on the instrumentation (~$600K in total matching funds). Matching funds typically comprise one-third from the institution(s) associated with the PI and co-investigator team (i.e., Seattle, Tacoma and/or Bothell campus), one-third from the associated school(s)/college(s), and one-third from the associated department(s) — approximately $200K each for the typical proposal. Other distributions are possible, though institutional support is limited to one-third. Only proposals with documented matching commitments will be selected.

Murdock letter of inquiry prompts

Principal Investigator:

Co-principal Investigator (if applicable):

Project Description

Project Title:

For Equipment Requests, Number of Users (numeric field):

Anticipated Date of Application Submission:

Project Summary

Tell us about the project for which you are requesting Trust support (2,500 characters):

Summary of Project Budget

Total Project Cost (numeric field):

Amount Requested (numeric field):

Describe how the Trust funds will be used, including the cost share (1,000 characters):

Anything else we should know (500 characters):