Research Equipment/Instrumentation Investment (REI) Funding Opportunity
Modeled from the successful teaching-focused Tech-Fee program, the research-oriented REI program follows similar protocols for submission and review. Funding for the program comes from a variety of sources including the VPRTT office, which this year (spring 2025) is providing $80,000 from cost return funds for REI equipment purchases.
Eligibility and award criteria are aligned to support Mines research goals per the Mines@150 targets.
Proposal Review Committee: A review committee comprised of three or more faculty from the Research Council, three Mines equipment managers, and a VPRTT representative will review proposals. Based on recommendations from the committee, final award decisions will be decided by the full Research Council. The committee has the power to recuse members who are not self-recused because of COI.
Timeline: Instructions for submission of spring 2025 proposals will be available in late January and proposals will be accepted until February 28th. Reviews of proposals and award decisions will be made by April 11, 2025. Funding award notifications will be announced by the Research Council chair to the submitting PI and their department head. A purchase order for the requested equipment will need to be sent to Research Council for payment of equipment, which must be spent within six months of the award notification. Unused funding cannot be used for other purchases or roll over.
Eligibility
1. Mines faculty and lab managers may submit a funding request as PI.
2. Research associates, staff and PhD students who are not lab managers may submit a request with faculty as co-PI.
3. Total funding requests for each round must fall between $5,000 and $30,000. For larger amounts we suggest external or crowd funding (https://research.mines.edu/crowdfunding/). Single research supporting equipment such as batteries, chillers, pumps and uninterruptible power supply systems should not apply. In certain cases, software requests may be considered. If no funds are available to bring a down or at-risk machine to full operation, please contact the RTT office directly.
4. REI funding requests must not be eligible for Mines Tech-Fee requests.
5. REI funding is mainly intended for PI/CO-PIs who do not have other forms of flexible funding (startup, discretionary, etc.) for the proposed purchase. Otherwise, applicants must provide strong justifications for not using such funds for the requested equipment.
6. Applicants must determine if similar equipment exists on campus, and if so must justify the purchase of similar equipment.
7. Applicants must detail potential conflicts of interest clearly.
8. Unsuccessful proposals from previous years may be resubmitted together with responses to reviews.
Criteria
1. Document the existence of follow-on funding opportunities.
2. Indicate if previous REI funding was awarded. If so, state any research impact achieved to date.
3. Describe potential cross-disciplinary impacts on faculty, departments, and centers.
4. Demonstrate Mines need for this equipment or add-on module for an existing equipment.
5. Provide a budgetary analysis that includes the purchase and ongoing maintenance costs.
6. Must include a plan for long-term maintenance (consumables, service contract, repairs, user fees).
7. Describe the lifetime and anticipated research impact of the equipment.
8. Some percentage of cost-sharing is strongly encouraged and will be viewed favorably by reviewers. Regardless, a clear explanation of whether or not there will be cost-sharing is required.
9. Detail if the equipment will be shared or not shared and why.
10. Priority will be given to requests for equipment that will be placed in a shared facility or used by a significant number of faculty.
Requests for Spring 2025 are now open!
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
1. Download and complete the Research Equipment/Instrumentation (REI) Template.
2. Submit completed Research Equipment/Instrumentation (REI) template by February 28, 2025.
SPRING 2024 REI Funded Requests
SPRING 2024 Funded Requests
An Automated High-Sensitive Tubidity Intervalometer ($16,000) – PI John Spear (CEE) and Co-PI David Vuono (Research Assistant Professor, Environmental Microbiology)
3kg Vacuum Induction Melter ($30,000) – PI Craig Brice (ME)
Substrate Polishing System for Nanofabrication Lab ($18,614) – PI Patrice Genevet (PH) and Co-PI Alexander Dixon (Lab Manager, Materials Characterization, Nanofabrication, Thin Film Deposition)
Monochromator Upgrade for Empyrean X-Ray Diffractometer ($17,194) – Megan Holtz (MME) and Co-PI Dagny Sacksteder (Graduate Student, CCAC)
Acquisition of an Electropointer for Efficient Atom Probe Specimen Preparation ($6,000) – David Diercks (MME)
Shared Instrumentation on Facility Load Frames Software Upgrade ($10,191) – Garrison Hommer (ME) and Co-PI Mitchell Anderson
FALL 2022 REI Funded Requests
FALL 2022 Funded Requests
Digital Microscope for Cleanroom Nanofabrication ($29,992) – PI Alexander Dixon (Lab Manager, Materials Characterization, Nanofabrication, Thin Film Deposition)
Microscope Vibration Isolation Table ($7,689) – PI Garrison Hommer (ME) and Co-PI Nathan Fennell (Lab Coordinator, ADAPT)
Acoustic Measurement Equipment ($5,408) – PI Derrick Chambers (PhD Student – Center for Wave Phenomena) and Co-PI Eileen R. Martin (GP)
Spring 2022 REI Funded Requests
Spring 2022 Funded Requests
Composite Core Holder for NMR/MRI and X-Ray Imaging ($22,700) – PI Kurt Livo (GP) and Co-PI Manika Prasad (GP)
A Robust Multi-Drone Testbed ($25,702) – PI Qi Han (CS)
Fall 2021 REI Funded Requests
REI Process and Fall 2021 Decisions
Results were compiled and rankings and written comments were discussed in the meeting. Two proposals ranked substantially higher than the other 7. Three proposals had a large variety of rankings by committee members and were discussed in more detail than the others. The top two proposals were recommended for funding.
Results were reviewed and voted on by the Research Council on November 10. Awardees were notified after.
As a measure of success, the Research Council, with the help of this committee, will write an annual evaluation report to send to the office of VPRTT including the number of requests, the number of equipment purchased, diversity of initiatives, new capabilities opened up, frequency and number of uses and a summary of outcomes. Awardees will be expected to provide information for this report.
Fall 2021 Funded Requests
An ultraviolet light source for photoemission studies ($14,360) – PI Angus Rockett (MME) and Co-PI Xerxes Steirer
High-Speed, 3D, Femtosecond Laser Micromachining Platform ($24,034) – PI Jeff Squier (PH) and Co-PI Alexis Sitchler