ENG - Major Research Instrumentation (MRI)

The Most Recent MRI Solicitation is:   NSF 05-515

|   MRI Program Introduction   |   MRI Program Goals   |   MRI Program Scope   |

|   MRI ENG FY 2004 Summary   |   Instrument Development   |   MRI Award Grants   |

|   Questions ?   |

MRI Program Introduction

The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program is designed to increase the scientific and engineering equipment for research and research training in our Nation's academic institutions, and supports large-scale instrumentation investment.  This program seeks to improve the quality and expand the scope of research and research training in science and engineering, and to foster the integration of research and education by providing instrumentation for research-intensive learning environments.  The range for the MRI program awards is between $70,000 and $1,400,000.  This is not to be confused with the MRE (Major Research Equipment) Account, which provides grants with a range of several tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.

MRI Program Goals

MRI Program Scope

The MRI Program assists in the acquisition or development of major research instrumentation by U.S. institutions that is, in general, too costly for support through other NSF programs.  The maintenance and technical support associated with these instruments is also supported.  Proposals may be for a single instrument, a large system of instruments, or multiple instruments that share a common or specific research focus.  Computer systems, clusters of advanced workstations, networks, and other information infrastructure components necessary for research use are encouraged.

MRI Engineering Directorate FY 2004 Summary

In FY 2004, the Engineering Directorate received 163 MRI proposals.  Of these, 72 were awarded, for an overall success rate of 44%.  Distribution of the MRI proposals went into one of two separate categories -- based on whether the applicant institution was classified as a "large," PhD-granting school, or as a "small" school, with relatively small or non-existent PhD programs as defined by the Carnegie Institution classification system.  The rationale for separating schools in this fashion was because the NSF MRI program received an additional $25 million (as was the case also in FY 2001, FY 2002 and FY 2003) beyond the normal funding for FY 2004, for the express purpose of broadening the national reach of the program.  A summary of proposal and funding distribution follows.

Instrument Development

NSF is stimulating the development of the next generation of research instrumentation by encouraging institutions to submit proposals that target instrument development.  Individual investigators and teams of researchers are encouraged to apply for instrument development support.
 
The academic research enterprise relies on and produces new generations of sophisticated research instrumentation and software simulations thereof.  The right design, development, and manufacturing processes can yield new instruments that are more widely used, open up new areas of research and research training, and have potential as commercial products.  This competition seeks to expand the research community's capabilities by supporting the development of new instruments (or their software simulations) with enhanced performance.  "Performance" includes accuracy; reliability; resolving power; throughput speed; sample capacity; flexibility of operation; breadth of application; user-friendliness; and cost of acquisition, operation, and maintenance.

MRI Engineering Directorate MRI Award Grants

Information on past MRI competition activities, related to the Engineering Directorate, is provided below.

Fiscal Year     |   2001   |   2002   |   2003   |   2004   |   2005   |

Questions ?

Please feel free to contact Dr. Robert Wellek, at: rwellek@nsf.gov, the Engineering Directorate MRI Coordinator, if you have any general questions concerning the Engineering Directorate MRI Program.  Questions about specific technical areas, for the FY 2003 program, should be addressed to the NSF Division Coordinators listed below: