The National Institutes of Health S10 Shared and High-End Instrumentation Grant programs support purchases of state-of-the-art shared instruments that enhance the research of NIH-funded investigators. Vanderbilt investigators who intend to apply for either program need to submit an internal proposal for review.
Vanderbilt investigators are eligible for two instrumentation programs offered by the NIH:
- Shared Instrumentation Grant Program – The SIG Program funds grant awards in the $50,000 to $750,000 range.
- High-End Instrumentation Grant Program – The HEI Program funds grant awards in the $750,001 to $2 million range.
Update for 2025: NEI, NIMH and NIGMS are co-funding a subset of applications of the SIG program. See SIG – Section 1 NOFO Description for specific details about their Areas of Interest.
The NIH submission deadline for both programs is June 2, 2025.
For all VU faculty, including those in the Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences, S10 submissions require institutional approval to avoid duplicate applications or proposals that significantly overlap. VBS manages this process for proposals coming out of the School of Medicine, while the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation OVPRI oversees it for other research departments.
Researchers should start the pre-proposal process by sending a brief email stating their intent to apply to selene.colon@vanderbilt.edu (VBS investigators) or janice.m.ascano@vanderbilt.edu (other Vanderbilt investigators). Emails should include:
- Name of principal investigator
- Where instrument will be installed if funded
- Equipment description of fewer than five sentences
The next step is to submit a pre-proposal to OVPRI using a REDCap survey. The VBS S10 webpage provides guidelines and requirements for submitting S10 proposals. Investigators should read the full procedure carefully before trying to complete the survey.
The deadline to submit pre-proposal S10 VU REDCap surveys is Tuesday, April 1, to ensure enough time for institutional review and preparation of full proposals before the NIH deadline June 3.
The pre-proposal is complex, but it simplifies overall process because much of the same material is required for the application to the NIH. Researchers should begin gathering required information and documents as soon as possible, as outlined in the standard operating procedure.
OVPRI’s Research Development and Support can provide institutional-level information required by NIH for each application. For example, all applications must include a table with information about the performance of all S10 awards to Vanderbilt within the past five years. The majority of fully completed pre-proposals are submitted to the NIH.
NOTE: Vanderbilt University Medical Center has a separate S10 process and set of guidelines, which are on the VUMC S10 Internal Proposal Form. Please email vumcresearchenterprise@vumc.org in the VUMC Office of Research with any questions about the VUMC S10 program. Please do not use the Vanderbilt University guidelines or S10 REDCap survey.
