Equipment Grant Program (EGP) | USDA NIFA OP 007473

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA OP 007473

The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Equipment Grant Program (EGP) is a discretionary grant opportunity designed to improve research capacity in the food and agricultural sciences by helping eligible higher-education and affiliated systems obtain access to shared-use, special purpose research equipment. The main goal is to strengthen the quality of both fundamental and applied research, and to broaden what eligible institutions can do by funding the purchase of one major piece of equipment or a single instrument that supports research, teaching/training, and extension objectives. This program is particularly geared toward equipment that is important for an institution's work but may be too expensive, or not a good fit, for support through other NIFA grant programs.

A core feature of EGP is its focus on infrastructure improvement rather than funding scientific studies themselves. The award is meant to help an institution upgrade or expand its capabilities by adding a significant piece of equipment that multiple users can share. At the same time, EGP draws clear boundaries around what it will not support. It does not fund research projects, even if the proposed research would use the requested equipment. It also does not support the operation or maintenance of facilities. In addition, EGP is not meant to outfit entire laboratories or facilities: it will not fund suites or packages of equipment intended to run multiple independent experiments at the same time. Likewise, it does not cover common, general-purpose lab items or routine ancillary equipment that most labs already have or can readily purchase through normal institutional procurement or other NIFA programs. In short, the emphasis is on a single, specialized, higher-impact piece of shared-use equipment that meaningfully upgrades an institution's research infrastructure.

Eligibility is limited to (a) colleges and universities or (b) State Cooperative Institutions as defined in federal statute (7 U.S.C. 3103). The eligible categories include 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions; state-certified Schools of Forestry under the McIntire-Stennis Act; State Agricultural Experiment Stations authorized under the Hatch Act (including those in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and insular areas); Cooperative Extension Services established under the Smith-Lever Act and related authorities; accredited schools or colleges of veterinary medicine or state agricultural experiment stations engaged in animal health and disease research under the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977; Hispanic-serving institutions as defined in federal education law; and eligible institutions located in insular areas. The insular area eligibility specifically includes Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

From an application compliance standpoint, applicants must meet all requirements described in the request for applications (RFA) by the deadline; failing to meet eligibility criteria by the closing date can lead to the application being excluded from consideration or prevent NIFA from making an award. The program also prohibits duplicate or multiple submissions from the same applicant: if an applicant submits more than one application (including duplicates), NIFA will disqualify both. For organizations new to federal assistance, NIFA points applicants to its Grants Overview resources as guidance for understanding the federal awards process.

Key opportunity details from the posting include: Funding Opportunity Title: Equipment Grant Program (EGP); Funding Opportunity Number: USDA NIFA OP 007473; Agency: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture; Assistance Listing/CFDA: 10.519; Funding Instrument: Grant; Activity Category: Agriculture; Award Ceiling: $500,000; Original Closing Date: June 23, 2020; and Creation Date: April 30, 2020.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Equipment Grant Program (EGP)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.519.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-04-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-06-23. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA OP 007473

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