UT Internal Competition for NSF MRI '08

NSF Solicitation for MRI '08
The National Science Foundation is soliciting proposals for its 2008 Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. See http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08503/nsf08503.htm for the full text of the solicitation.

Limits on UT Participation
The University of Tennessee may submit or be included as a partner or subawardee in no more than three proposals. If three proposals are submitted, at least one of these proposals must be for instrument development.

UT Internal Competition
The UT Office of Research is conducting an internal competition to choose the proposals that will be submitted to the NSF from the university. Faculty who (a) want to submit an MRI proposal to the NSF or (b) plan to participate in a proposal from another institution must submit a preproposal to the UT Office of Research internal competition.

Individual colleges will determine which proposals from their faculty will qualify for the UT internal competition and can advance no more than three proposals to the internal competition (including one for instrument development).

DEADLINE for Internal Competition
Preproposals must be submitted to the UT Office of Research by
12:00 Noon, 19 Nov 2007.

Guidelines for Internal Preproposals
Preproposals should include

1. A completed NSF cover sheet prepared using the NSF FastLane.
2. A two-page project summary clearly stating
(a) Goals of the proposed project
(b) Participants from UT and other institutions
(c) A brief description of the research to be accomplished.
3. A budget summary prepared from the NSF FastLane budget section (submit summary only).

For information about UT internal competitions, see https://my.tennessee.edu/portal/page?_pageid=43,304351&_dad=portal&_schema=portal.

FINAL proposals through the UT Knoxville Office of Research
must be submitted by
8:00 a.m., 17 Jan 2008.
Proposers from other UT entities should consult their research officers about deadlines.

UT Entities Covered by This Internal Competition
UT Knoxville, Health Science Center, Institute of Agriculture, Space Institute, & Institute for Public Service.

Notable Changes in the MRI '08 Solicitation

1. Cost-sharing of 30 percent is required on all MRI '08 proposals from the University of Tennessee.
2. The upper limit on the cost of instrument acquisition has been raised to $4 million. Request from more than $2 million must be for the acquisition of a single instrument.
3. Requests above $2 million require a letter of intent, which is due to the NSF on 21 December 2007.

See the NSF solicitation for detailed instructions.