Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF)

SYNOPSIS

The Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) provides funds to research institutions and consortia thereof for the purchase of multi-user instruments, for major instrumentation development and construction, and for the establishment and support of multi-user research facilities in the chemical sciences. This Program is structured to enable the National Science Foundation, through its Division of Chemistry, to respond to a variety of needs for infrastructure to undergird advanced research and education in chemistry. The NSF Division of Chemistry supports education and research activities in analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, materials, and surface chemistry. Instrumentation for related fields of research is provided through other NSF programs. 

INTRODUCTION

Research and education in the chemical sciences depend critically on access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, from small equipment items used in individual research projects to major instruments shared and maintained for multiple uses by many researchers. Specialized equipment dedicated for use in particular chemistry research projects is normally funded as part of individual investigator awards, along with personnel and other direct project costs. The Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) provides funds to research institutions and consortia thereof for the purchase of multi-user instruments, for major instrumentation development and construction, and for the establishment and support of multi-user research facilities in the chemical sciences. This Program is structured to enable the National Science Foundation, through its Division of Chemistry, to respond to a variety of needs for infrastructure to undergird advanced research and education in chemistry. The NSF Division of Chemistry supports education and research activities in analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, materials, and surface chemistry. Instrumentation for related fields of research is provided through other NSF programs (see section on Other NSF Instrumentation Programs for details). 

FULL PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The CRIF Program is designed to support the following three types of academic instrumentation research needs:

1. PURCHASE OR UPGRADE OF DEPARTMENTAL MULTI-USER INSTRUMENTATION

The Division of Chemistry recognizes the important role of chemistry instrumentation facilities in enabling research by a wide range of scientists who study problems at the molecular level. Such facilities play an important role for advancing multidisciplinary research. The main purpose of the multi-user instrumentation program is to enable research normally funded by the Division. Proposals will be considered for purchase or significant upgrade of major research instruments for use by a chemistry department or other groups of chemists. For all such multi-user instrumentation proposals, the chemistry department head, chairperson, or equivalent must act as the Principal Investigator. Instruments awarded under this program are intended as assistance to a department or a group of investigators; they would not move to a new institution with any investigator. Group proposals for instruments to be used primarily in research not normally supported by the Division of Chemistry should be directed to the appropriate NSF division (see Other NSF instrumentation programs). However, multi-disciplinary proposals in which the majority of the proposed research is in areas of science supported by the Division of Chemistry will be considered. Proposals for instrumentation primarily for the benefit of one investigator are inappropriate for this program; however, such proposals will be considered by the appropriate subdisciplinary program within the Division, provided the research of the investigator is already supported through that program.

2. INSTRUMENTATION DEVELOPMENT

To help ensure that advances in fundamental science and technology are rapidly incorporated into instrumentation of broad importance to the chemistry community, proposals for the design and construction of new chemistry research instruments are eligible for consideration.

3. CHEMISTRY RESEARCH FACILITIES

The CRIF Program also accepts proposals for the support of major national or regional facilities, which would provide unique state-of-the-art instrumentation or computational capabilities and resources for research to a broad community of users in chemistry. This program is intended to complement, not duplicate, support for facilities and centers provided under other NSF programs such as those of the Office of Integrative Activities. Principal Investigators are encouraged to consider carefully which program is best suited for their research needs. They should consult with Chemistry Division staff before submitting a preproposal for facility support to CRIF. Definitions and General Considerations: A facility is distinctly different from a departmental instrument center. It provides for unique or nearly unique instrumentation or other resources that are either too expensive to be widely available or must be custom-made or developed. A facility typically requires a permanent staff to operate and maintain instrumentation and to provide service to a national or regional user community. It is anticipated that there will be only a few such facilities and that there will not be more than one facility in a given technical area. These facilities are expected to serve the state-of-the-art instrumentation needs for a wide community of users and simultaneously to support core research in the development of next-generation instrumentation and instrumental methods. Instrumentation in this context is to be construed in a broad sense to include physical equipment, computational capabilities, and software. Facilities under this definition must not encroach upon the service functions that are available in the private sector. Particular attention should be paid to the National Science Board's policy on the use and operation of NSF-supported research instrumentation and facilities (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/iin122/iin122.txt). The proposal (and the preproposal) should document the need for the facility and describe the research community it would serve. A facility might, for example, have its efforts divided into core research (15%) and host-institution research (10%), service to or collaboration with non-host-institution users (60%), and instrument improvement and development (15%). The Chemistry Division does not set aside funds for the establishment of a pre-determined number of facilities. It will consider each request on its own merits against other possible uses for the same funds. Successful proposals will initially be supported by the Chemistry Division of NSF for a period of five years, with the possibility of multiple three-year renewals if the facility is successful in its core research, service, and instrument development functions, if this type of facility is still needed, and if the facility is a priority considering other potential uses of these funds. Annual progress reports will be required and used to assess these factors. On-site evaluations of all aspects of the facility operation will be made during the award period. There is no limitation on the number of renewals; however, the renewal proposal must compete on an equal footing with new proposals. In the event that an established facility is not renewed, a maximum of 50% base funding may be provided for an additional year for orderly phase-out of NSF support.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

Itemized manufacturers’ quotes are required.  They must be scanned into the Supplementary Documents section of the FastLane proposal and submitted electronically as part of the proposal.  

Back to Synopsis

FUNDED AS PART OF THIS ACTIVITY

Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Departmental Multi-User Instrumentation

Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Instrument Development

Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities:Cyberinfrastructure and Research Facilities

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program (NSF 01-171)

Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs Phase I Solicitation FY-2001 (SBIR/STTR) (NSF 01-28)

Instrumentation for Materials Research (IMR) Program Solicitation (NSF 02-009)

Earth Sciences Research at the NSF (NSF 96-50)

Instrument Development for Biological Research (NSF 98-119)

Multi-user Biological Equipment and Instrumentation Resources (NSF 98-137)

RELATED PROGRAMS

Instrumentation for Materials Research

Major Research Instrumentation Program

RELATED URLS

Earth Sciences Research/Instrumentation and Facilities

Instrument Development for Biological Research

Multiuser Equipment and Instrumentation Resources for Biological Sciences

Small Business Innovation Research

Small Business Technology Transfer

THIS PROGRAM IS PART OF

Integrative Chemistry Activities (ICA)