NSF has announced the FY2002 competition for the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program and has allocated approximately $75 million to this program. The overall funding rate for last year’s cycle was about 42 percent.

The MRI Program assists in the acquisition or development and maintenance and technical support of major research instrumentation not usually available through other NSF programs. Proposals may be for a single instrument, a large system of instruments, or multiple instruments used for a common research focus.

Awards will range from $100,000 to $2 million. Lesser amounts will be considered only from non-Ph.D.-granting institutions, from the mathematical science community, or from the social, behavioral and economic science communities. The MRI Program will provide funds for instrumentation used for any NSF-supported field of science, mathematics, science education, and engineering. However, instrumentation used in the conduct of disease-oriented research is not eligible for support through this program. Cost sharing at a level of 30 percent of total eligible project costs is required.

An institution may submit up to three proposals to the MRI program. An institution may submit up to TWO PROPOSALS for INSTRUMENT ACQUISITION. If an institution submits three proposals, at least one must be for INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT, but two or all three may be for INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT.

Anyone interested in responding to this solicitation should send a letter of intent to Kris Hobson, Office of the Provost, 106 Gillis Building by Tuesday, November 20. The letter of intent must include the following information:

1. Indicate if the proposal is for Instrument acquisition or Instrument development;
2. PI name and names of other researchers involved;
3. A two-page description of the research/research training to be conducted and why the equipment is important to this research;
4. A budget-itemized total instrument cost, anticipated recurring costs (such as maintenance, operating cost and technical support for the life of the equipment), anticipated renovation costs for site (if appropriate), and cost-sharing from all sources, including the specific dollar amount that is being requested from the University.

The provost, senior vice president, and vice president for Research will notify the individuals selected to be UK's applicants and provide additional information.

If you would like a copy of the NSF guidelines for this program, contact Margot McCullers at 257-8293 in the Office of Sponsored Program Development or access the MRI program at NSF: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/nsf01171/nsf01171.html.

NIH Revises Policy on Review of Unsolicited Applications Requesting $500,000 or more in Direct Costs

Effective with the Jan. 1, 2002 receipt dates, applicants must seek agreement to accept assignment from Institute/Center staff at least six weeks prior to the anticipated submission of application requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs for any year (NOT-OD-02-004). This notice clarifies and revises the policy published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts on March 20, 1998. This policy does not apply to applications submitted in response to RFAs or in response to other Announcements that include specific budgetary limits.

The minimum of a six-week advance notice enables NIH to consider such awards as early as possible in the budget- and program-planning process. Regardless of the merit of the application or the budget justification, unanticipated requests for unusually high amounts of direct costs are difficult for NIH to manage. It is in the best interest of all parties if applicants anticipating large direct costs contact the appropriate NIH program staff member as early as possible to ensure that an Institute/Center will accept the application. If the request is significantly greater than $500,000, then approval should be sought even earlier.

The Principal Investigator must include a cover letter with the application submission. That cover letter must identify the program staff member and Institute or Center that has agreed to accept assignment of the application.

An application received without indication of prior staff concurrence and identification of program staff contacted will be returned to the applicant without review.

[The following is a statement by Dr. Rita R. Colwell, director, National Science Foundation.]

I am so pleased to congratulate this year’s Nobel laureates in science for their much-deserved recognition. Their accomplishments also reflect the foresight of the American people who, through the National Science Foundation, supported decades of their ground-breaking work.

Of the 12 Nobelists announced this week, eight were supported by NSF at some time in their careers and five currently receive NSF funding. All eight — physicists Carl Wieman, Eric Cornell and Wolfgang Ketterle; chemist Barry Sharpless; economists George Aklerlof, Joseph Stiglitz and Michael Spence; and geneticist Leland Hartwell — received the prize for work funded by NSF.

The impact of the Nobelists and their NSF support extends beyond the research itself, into the network of people who support or benefit from it. Most of the laureates serve regularly as reviewers of NSF proposals. All three physicists play key roles in NSF-funded centers which integrate various groups behind a common research goal. Wieman was honored earlier this year as a recipient of the 2001 Director's Awards for Distinguished Teaching Scholars, NSF’s highest honor for excellence in both teaching and research.

Another past award foreshadowed this week's announcement: Cornell was honored by NSF in 1997 with the Alan T. Waterman Award for outstanding young scientists."

The NSF connection spans the history of the awards; of Nobelists named since 1960, 118 have received NSF funding. As the only federal agency to fund fundamental research across all fields of science and engineering, NSF is the agent of the American public to invest in a more secure and productive future. We are honored with this stewardship, and honored by the accomplishments of this year’s NSF-supported Nobel laureates.

• For a list of 2001 Nobel laureates, see: http://www.nobel.se/
• For historical context on NSF's connection to the Nobel prizes, see: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/media/2000/nsfnobels.htm
• For more information on this year's NSF-funded Nobelists, contact:
  • Economists: Bill Noxon, 703-292-8070, wnoxon@nsf.gov
  • Physicists and chemists: Amber Jones, 703-292-8070, aljones@nsf.gov
  • Geneticists: Andrea Dietrich, 703-292-8070, adietric@nsf.gov

The Training Program in Reproductive Sciences at the University of Kentucky will sponsor a visit by James Hyde, Ph.D., Director of Training and Career Development Programs in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

Topic: NIH: Training and Career Development Opportunities
Date: Nov. 27, 2001
Location: Medical Sciences Building Room 363
Time: Noon

Hyde will discuss:

• Fellowship and career-development award grant mechanisms available at NIDDK and NIH for predoctoral students (F31), postdoctoral fellows (F32) and senior postdocs/junior faculty (K01, K08, K23, K25, R03, R21, R01)
• Grant-writing strategies for these funding mechanisms

Faculty interested meeting with Hyde about these or other grant mechanisms (e.g., T32 - institutional training grants) should contact Thomas Curry or Sarah Wheeler (sewhee0@uky.edu or 3-6166).