School of Medicine Office for Research recently completed the inaugural application cycle for the new Shared Instrumentation Program. The Shared Instrumentation Program seeks to expand the core model to include both centralized and decentralized equipment to better provide resources where they can be best fully utilized. The program will accomplish this by strategically adding equipment that represents new technology or replacement of essential resources based upon requests by departments for the benefit of all SOM researchers.
This program will be funded by Equipment Transfer Fund (ETF) dollars provided by the state. The initiation of the program is made possible by an increase in total ETF funding apportioned to the School of Medicine by the Provost and a more strategic reallocation of ETF funds by the Dean’s Office to support the growing research mission. The program hopes to provide value to a broader group of researchers by:
- Purchasing equipment that is most valuable to users within a given area,
- Providing ready access to all users in convenient locations,
- Developing a maintenance plan for each instrument so that it remains available over its lifespan.
The plan is for SOM Cores to be involved to help manage and maintain the equipment, but most of the equipment purchased will be housed in departmental spaces rather than Core space. The idea is to establish local satellite cores that provide resources where they can best be fully utilized.
During the application cycle, departments submitted requests, and the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) performed the review. The peer-review performed by the RAC is an integral part of the new program that helps ensure the requests are weighed fairly against each other, and the program achieves best value for the investment. Each item that was awarded will be added to the Core Equipment Database on the SOM website so it can be easily found and used by all SOM Researchers.
The Dean’s Office allocated a budget of $1.9 million to fund the program, and received equipment requests for over $4 million from departments. While investments in essential replacement equipment were a significant component of the portfolio of awarded items, investments in new technology that would benefit multiple departments were a primary theme of the awards. Specific examples of investments in new technology include: a CryoProbe that increases sensitivity of in vivo MRI scans of small animals, a PacBio genome sequencer that brings long-read DNA and RNA sequencing capabilities in-house, and MALDI imaging system that will add to capabilities in the field of spatial biology. All of the requests chosen in this round of funding will be available to all researchers. And 95% of the funded requests represent either a joint effort request from multiple departments, or equipment to be included within a core facility in which there was a defined, multi-department user-base.
Call for Applications – FY2026 Shared Instrumentation Program
A second round of applications for the FY2026 Shared Instrumentation Program is currently open. Applications can be submitted via InfoReady at the following link: InfoReady.
Deadline to apply is January 2, 2025. Items requested in this second round will be budgeted for FY2026, with funds becoming available in July, 2025.
Filed Under: Call for Nominations, Research