Research | ECRAC | Equipment Funding Opportunities

Business objective

The Research Executive Council (REC) and the Equipment and Core Resources Allocation Committee (ECRAC) support the purchase of research equipment for individual laboratories and institutional and departmental cores.

Funding priorities

1. Equipment that is to be used by multiple departments/divisions/programs, with priority to institutional core facilities.
2. Equipment targeted for areas of science that are innovative, under-represented at BCH and cross-cutting in nature.

Applicant criteria

1. Applicants must hold a faculty appointment at the instructor level or higher or be an Institutional Core Facility.
2. Applicants must be a principal investigator on at least one federal or peer reviewed award with full overhead.
3. Applicants who previously submitted an equipment request to REC but were not funded may resubmit the same request once.

Application content

Funds may be requested for equipment in the following cost brackets:

Small equipment: Items that cost $5,000 - $60,000
Award amount: Maximum award is $30,000, e.g., if a piece of equipment costs $40,000, you can request the maximum of $30,000.

1. Equipment justification statement:
   • Summary of science being supported (not longer than 1 page)
   • Replacement vs new equipment
   • Documentation of identified users and departments/divisions/programs
2. Primary Investigator NIH bio-sketch
3. Letter(s) of support for equipment purchase from collaborators
4. Letter of support from Chairman or Division Chief with assurance that space is available
5. Itemized quote for proposed equipment (fixed and recurring costs)
   • Service contract included on initial purchase and plan for continuing service contract, if needed (this Equipment fund will not be available to fund service contracts except at the time of the initial purchase)

Large equipment: Items that cost more than $60,000
Award amount: 50 % with matching funds, e.g., if a piece of equipment costs $100,000, you can request $50,000.

In addition to the above content, please include the following:

1. If applicant is an individual investigator, please include:
   • Business plan for enabling access to users outside of home department/division/program
2. If applicant is an individual investigator, partnering with an Institutional Core Facility, please include:
   • Letter of support from the Core Director
   • Business plan describing the management of the equipment (please note, if funded, the core will be the awardee)
3. If applicant is a Departmental or Institutional Core, please include:
   • Business plan describing the management of the equipment
   • Rate calculation, if not in place.
4. List actual/potential users across the enterprise, if available.
5. Depreciation of capital equipment is not required; however, partial depreciation is highly encouraged (e.g., 20% of equipment cost over 5 years). Depreciation funds will be returned to REC equipment fund (50%) and to the department/division/program that provided the Cost Share (50%).

Submission dates and times

If applicant needs a letter of support from ECRAC for grant application deadline, please contact ResearchCoreResources-ECRAC@childrens.harvard.edu.

1. Application Opens: December 9, 2024
2. Submission Deadline: February 17, 2025
3. Award Notification: May 2025

For any questions, please email ResearchCoreResources-ECRAC@childrens.harvard.edu.

Previously awarded equipment

Cycle IV

Equipment Funding Cycle IV Awardees

Cycle III

Equipment Funding Cycle III Awardees

Cycle II

Equipment Funding Cycle II Awardees

Cycle I

Equipment Funding Cycle I Awardees