Instrumentation for Teaching/Training: RIF funds arise from indirect cost reimbursements from research contracts and grants and are for research purposes. Instrumentation that will primarily be utilized for teaching/training purposes will not be considered for funding. If requested instrumentation will be used for teaching/training, the fraction of use for teaching/training must be provided alongside the funding for that fraction of the acquisition, maintenance, and use. Matching funds for teaching/training purposes are independent from the matching funds for research purposes.

Equipment Verification: RIF is designed to provide new research instrumentation, OR to replace/upgrade existing research instruments. Applicants must attempt to verify that similar instrumentation is not currently available on campus. If similar instrumentation is available, the applicant must justify why additional instrumentation is needed.

Prohibited Equipment: RIF is not able to fund personal computer or data collection/storage hardware. Furthermore, due to the recurring global UHP Helium shortage, RIF is unable to fund any new research equipment requiring UHP Helium.

The Research Instrumentation Fund is available to:

• Tenure-line faculty and career-line faculty who hold at least a .50 FTE appointment at the time of submission. One application per applicant only.
• Recognized University of Utah core facilities. Important Note: Only core facility directors can initiate core equipment requests. Only one request per core facility each cycle.

• Fund matching is required at a minimum of 30% to be considered for a RIF award.
• Matching funds can be provided from any source.
• The source of matching funds should be identified in the application. Failure to provide amount and source information for all matching funds may negatively affect the RIF application.
• Manufacturer discounts and in-kind donations are not considered matching funds.

• Applicant/Equipment Overview (to be collected by InfoReady portal)
  • Applicant Information
  • Name of Requested Equipment
  • Summary/Overview of Equipment
  • Equipment Total Cost
  • Matching Funds Total
  • Matching Funds Source (including $ committed per source)
  • Installation or Training Costs (must be itemized/justified)
  • Total Amount Requested from RIF Program
    Note: Applications with total request amounts exceeding $250,000 are unlikely to be funded without meaningful justification and exceptionally strong demonstration of support.
• Equipment Information
  • Verification that equipment is unique/new to the University, OR a replacement or upgrade to existing equipment
  • How the equipment will be managed and maintained (including anticipated lifespan and continued maintenance needs of equipment) expected recurring costs for the equipment (including service and maintenance) and how those recurring costs will be supported
  • Plan to provide access to other researchers, including those in other departments/colleges (timeline, reservation system, costs/recharge, etc.)
  • Where equipment will be housed (core directors must provide justification if equipment will not be housed within a core facility)
  • Faculty applicants must provide letter of support from core director if housing equipment within a core facility
  • Impact of equipment/RIF award on scholarship and productivity (as result of equipment)
  • Impact of equipment/RIF award for obtaining external funding (as result of equipment). This should be a detailed plan that includes timeline, target agency, target funding opportunity, target deadline, for all extramural applications that would be supported by this equipment
• Letters of Support
  Applicants must include:
  • (One) letter of support from the college dean
  • (One) letter of support from EACH source of matching funds. Sources are required to provide a minimum of $1,000. Strong proposals typically have letters of support from at least 5 faculty members who are contributing $1,000+ each for the equipment.
  • (One) letter of support from the core director if housing in the core. Note: Applicants intending to house equipment in a core facility must include a letter from the director of the core facility indicating support of the equipment, how the facility is prepared to manage/maintain the equipment on behalf of the PI, and how the equipment could impact the strategic priorities of the facility.
•  Instrumentation Quote
  • All applicants must upload a price quote for requested equipment. Quotes cannot be more than three months old.
• Resubmission Statement (if applicable)
  • All resubmissions must include a response to all previous reviewer comments, stating how the new proposal has addressed reviewer comments. This should be included under the "Resubmission Statement" upload box in the InfoReady competition. New proposals are not required to complete this step.
• Appendices & Attachments (up to 3 pages max – optional)
  • Please use this section to upload any additional information/documentation that should be considered during review (one-page max). Appendices & Attachments should be kept to a minimum. Equipment Replacement Usage Documentation can be uploaded under this section (two-page max).

RIF applications are reviewed by the RIF Review Committee. The RIF Review Committee is composed of applicants’ peers, past recipients of RIF funding, and University leadership. RIF funding recommendations are presented to the SVPR. The SVPR reviews and approves funding recommendations from the committee.

In General, RIF applications are evaluated on the criteria listed below. Reviewers may also comment on other strengths and weaknesses of the proposal overall. This is to ensure your application receives a thorough review of its quality, merit, impact, and feasibility.

• Overall quality and feasibility of the application
• Impact of the requested equipment on scholarship and research activity
• Articulated need for the requested equipment
• Cost-to-benefit ratio of the requested equipment
• Proposed plan for housing and providing shared access to the equipment
• Quality of the equipment management/maintenance plan (including plan for ongoing/recurring costs associated with the equipment)
• Proposed plan for utilizing the equipment to promote/facilitate external funding opportunity submissions from UofU Faculty
• Support from dean or core director
• Alignment with the U Research strategic plan.

Research Misconduct: The SVPR Office has a zero-tolerance policy for research misconduct and unprofessional behavior in the research environment, i.e., harassment, bullying, discrimination, etc. Failure to comply with established policies on research misconduct and unprofessional behaviors in the research environment will lead to automatic termination of the awarded project AND automatic ineligibility for all future SVPR funding, program, and resources. Interaction with SVPR staff is considered the research environment and conduct toward SVPR staff before, during, or after the submission process is covered by this policy.

The recipient of any U Research Internal Grant mechanism is required to submit a Final Report identifying a summary of the project, outcomes, next steps, etc. Final Report information will be shared in the award letter to the selected applicants. Final reports demonstrate impact and are essential for continuation of the program. Given that, colleges with outstanding final reports will not be eligible for future funding.