Objectives of the NHMFL
User Collaboration Grants Program

The National Science Foundation has charged the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) with developing an in-house research program that:

• utilizes the NHMFL facilities to carry out high quality high field research at the forefront of science and engineering; and
• advances the NHMFL facilities and their scientific and technical capabilities.

To this end, the NHMFL envisions a research program that not only guides and stimulates magnet and facility development, but additionally provides intellectual leadership for experimental and theoretical research in magnetic materials and phenomena.

The User Collaboration Grants Program (formally called the NHMFL In-House Research Program) seeks to achieve these objectives through funded research projects of normally 1-2 years duration in the following categories:

• small, seeded collaborations between internal and/or external investigators that utilize their complementary expertise;
• bold but risky efforts which hold significant potential to extend the range and type of experiments; and
• initial seed support for new faculty and research staff, targeted to magnet laboratory enhancements.

The User Collaboration Grants Program strongly encourages collaboration across host-institution boundaries and between internal and external investigators in academia, national laboratories and industry, as well as interaction between theory and experiment. Projects are also encouraged to drive new or unique research, i.e., serve as seed money to develop initial data leading to external funding of a larger program. In accord with NSF policies, the NHMFL cannot fund clinical studies. Funding will only be provided for research taking place at NHMFL facilities, and funded projects generally cannot send research funds to non-NHMFL institutions.

Budget Levels

While the User Collaboration Grants Program has no stated limits with regard to project awards, any two-year budget over $200k will need to be especially justified. Any two-year budget over $240k will be regarded as requiring truly extraordinary justification, and can only be considered for proposals of extraordinary scientific merit.

For the pre-proposal stage only, reviewers will be instructed not to allow budget levels to affect their ranking, but to comment on appropriateness of budget levels.

2008 User Collaboration Grants Program Solicitation
Key Dates