NIMH Instrumentation Program (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA MH 20 555

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 20 555

The NIMH Instrumentation Program (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed), Funding Opportunity Number RFA-MH-20-555, is a discretionary NIH grant opportunity under CFDA 93.242 that supports the purchase or upgrade of major research instruments used in mental health-related biomedical research. The central aim is to strengthen shared research infrastructure by helping NIH-funded investigators acquire a single, commercially available instrument or assemble a set of components into a functional instrument when an equivalent system is not commercially available. The program is focused on instrumentation (not clinical trials) and is meant to expand or modernize the technical capabilities available to research teams, typically through shared-access models that benefit multiple NIH-supported projects and investigators.

The types of equipment this program is designed to fund are high-impact, specialized instruments that materially improve the ability to collect, image, measure, or analyze biological or biomedical data. The announcement explicitly cites examples such as light microscopes, electron microscopes, spectrophotometers, and biomedical imaging systems, which reflects an emphasis on sophisticated platforms that are often too expensive for a single laboratory budget but can substantially increase productivity and scientific reach when made available as a shared institutional resource. In addition to straightforward purchases, the FOA allows proposals that combine multiple components to create a custom instrument configuration, as long as the resulting system addresses a research need not met by a single off-the-shelf product.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations that can manage federal grants and support scientific research capacity. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and a range of nonprofit and for-profit entities (including small businesses, but excluding foreign organizations). The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant categories that often align with capacity-building and inclusion goals, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign participation is tightly restricted. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic (non-U.S.) foreign institutions are not eligible to apply. Likewise, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply, and foreign components (as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are not allowed. In practical terms, applicants need to structure the project so that the instrument, its installation, and the supported activities remain fully within eligible U.S.-based organizational settings, without foreign subcomponents.

Administrative details in the source information indicate the opportunity was posted by the National Institutes of Health, created on 2019-11-25, with an original closing date of 2021-10-08. The listing does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided fields, so applicants would typically need to consult the full FOA text for budget limits, instrument cost thresholds, cost-sharing expectations (if any), and review criteria. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as an NIH/NIMH infrastructure investment mechanism intended to keep NIH-funded mental health research programs technically competitive by enabling the acquisition or modernization of major scientific instruments, while explicitly excluding clinical trial activities and any foreign organizational components.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIMH Instrumentation Program (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-11-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-10-08. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA MH 20 555

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: