Proposal Deadline: March 31, 2008

Research Equipment Funds (REF) may be used to acquire, repair, renovate, or improve capital equipment directly used for research. The formal definition of capital equipment is any article of non-expendable, tangible property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition, or valuation cost of at least $5,000. Any additions, or improvements to an existing stand alone piece of equipment will be capitalized if the improvement is greater than $5,000 and/or increases the original equipment’s value by more than or equal to 25%.

Eligibility
Tenured or tenure track faculty are eligible to serve as Principal Investigator. The College of Engineering is interested in supporting new faculty. However, new faculty members with uncommitted start-up funds are not eligible for consideration, and a faculty member must have been employed at UTA for at least two full academic years. Principal Investigators must be research active with a substantive funded research record and record of scholarly achievement in the previous three years. Principal Investigators may receive an award from the REF only one time in a 24-month period. Those Principal Investigators that have received internal funds (other than startup funds) for capital equipment from COE within the previous 18 months are ineligible for funding.

Award Information
The College of Engineering has budgeted approximately $260,000 for the 2007-08 solicitation. Funding will be available immediately upon notice of award to a PI. Funds must be either encumbered or expended by 8/31/2008 and cannot be carried forward.

Applicants will be notified via email of award decisions by the announcement date listed at the top of this page.

Matching Funds
Each application must show at least 20% cash cost sharing from the department or other funds. Proposals with substantially greater percentage of matching funds will be given greater priority. The cost sharing is for covering 20% of the total cost of equipment/upgrade. Grant funds may be used for cost sharing, but REF money may not replace funds originally budgeted in the grant to purchase the requested piece of equipment. Vendor discounts will not count towards this matching fund requirement.
REF funds may not be used in part with any grant funds contracted with an external sponsoring agency which requires ownership of capital equipment such as certain National Laboratories and some types of EPA Cooperative Agreements.

Use of Funds
The following provides common examples of eligible and ineligible items that may be submitted to this program:

Budget items ELIGIBLE for support

• Equipment that will be valued at $5,000 or more in value once it is repaired or renovated.
• Multi-user workstations and larger computers may be eligible. For computers, the intention is to support specific strategic research thrust objectives, while avoiding general purpose computer laboratories, or individual personal computers.
  

Budget items NOT ELIGIBLE for support

• New equipment that has been previously purchased, encumbered or already on-site.
  Software, regardless of cost.
  
  (In most cases, software (excluding the operating system if it is included in the base price for the system) and peripherals, (i.e. printers, plotters, scanners) cannot be purchased using REF funds unless the individual peripheral fits within the definition of "capital equipment").
• Personal computers/workstations (regardless of cost).
• Construction and building renovations.
• Labor costs to set up or build an instrument or piece of equipment.
  (If the investigator is proposing to build/fabricate an instrument or piece of equipment, REF funds cannot be used to cover labor costs, nor can labor costs be used to meet the matching requirement of the REF program.

Application Procedure
The REF application form is available in MS WORD format on the Grants & Contracts Services website. http://www.uta.edu/ra/GCS/limited_sub/documents/REFApplication.rtf.

A. Complete all sections of the application form.

• Complete items 1-7 within the space provided.
• Items 8-13, limit to 3 additional pages (single-spaced, 12 pt font, 1 inch margins) to provide the information requested.

B. Attach the following supporting documentation to the end of the proposal packet or as attachments on online submission website.

• Item 14, provide equipment specifications, descriptions and cost quotes for the proposed equipment (limit to 4 pages).
• Attach a two-page summary resume for the Principal Investigator.

C. Obtain signatures.

• Item 2, from each and every Co-PI that has agreed to the project.
• Item 4, from individuals that will also be benefiting from this acquisition (if applicable)
• Item 5, from the individuals authorizing matching funds.
• Item 7, from the Principal Investigator and Department Chair.
  

D. Email the completed electronic proposal packet to the Grants & Contracts Service at grantadministrator@uta.edu by 5:00 PM by the appointed deadline.

Application with all supporting materials should be submitted as a single pdf document.
Incomplete proposal packets will not be considered for funding.

Deadlines
All application materials, including supporting documentation, must be received at the Grants & Contracts Services email address grantadministrator@uta.edu by the deadline indicated at the top of this page.

Review Procedure
Grants & Contracts Services reviews all proposals for eligibility. Requests, or eligible portions of requests, that qualify as capital equipment are then given to the Engineering Research Committee for competitive review and evaluation. PIs should provide a paper copy of their proposal to their Department Chair or Center of Excellence Director for a preliminary ranking of proposals. These preliminary rankings should be made available to the Associate Dean of Engineering Research. The Research Committee provides a prioritized list of recommendations for funding to the Associate Dean of Engineering Research based on the quality of the proposals as reflected in the review criteria. The Associate Dean of Engineering Research will award equipment grants based on available funds.

Review Criteria
Proposals that describe the research equipment needs to the Engineering Research Committee audience, providing clear explanations of the purpose, importance and justification of the need for this equipment, and avoiding the use of jargon and unexplained acronyms, will fare better than those written to reviewers from a highly focused discipline perspective. In addition, greater priority will be given to those proposals that exceed the minimum match requirement, and do not have exorbitant installation costs charged to the REF funds (some installation costs may be charged to REF). Finally, equipment awarded through the REF must be easily accessible to all faculty in the COE. Failure to do so may result in removal of equipment from the awardee and placed in an open site where faculty may have easy access.

The Engineering Research Committee evaluates each proposal using the following criteria: (Not in Order of Importance)

Scientific Merit

• Does the proposal provide a compelling argument for both the equipment and resulting research?
• Is the research method appropriate and adequate to the proposed application?
• Is the requested equipment crucial?
• Does the equipment provide a new/unique capability, previously unavailable at the University?
  

Leverage

• Does the equipment support other opportunities for funding? If so, list the potential funding sources.
• Does it improve chances for funding from existing sources?
• Does it allow researchers to change directions towards work that is likely to be funded?
• Does the PI have a track record of using UT Arlington funding to obtain additional grants and contracts?
• Does the proposal meet or exceed the minimum cash match requirement. If so, by what percentage?
  

Multiple Uses

• Will the equipment benefit more than one investigator, or more than one research group?
• Does the equipment resolve a need of a large group of engineering and/or science faculty?
  

Need

• Does the equipment replace obsolete, but essential equipment?
• Is the request for emergency repairs on high priority equipment?
  

Reporting

• If the investigator(s) has received previous funding from the Research Committee, have all required reports been appropriately completed?
  

Industrial Collaboration

• Does the equipment promote collaboration with industry?
  

Other Requirements
For those investigators receiving awards, a final report will be due within 3 months of equipment procurement / repair / construction. The report should contain a brief summary of activities performed using REF support, and it should provide a final budget statement describing how all funds were used. Recipients who fail to submit the required report will be ineligible to receive future funding from the UT Arlington Incentive Programs. The final report should be emailed to the Associate Dean of Engineering Research.

For More Information
Contact Richard E. Billo, College of Engineering at: richard.billo@uta.edu or 272-2708

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