Limited Competition: Basic Instrumentation Grant (BIG) Program (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The Basic Instrumentation Grant (BIG) Program encourages applications from groups of NIH-supported investigators to purchase a single piece of new, costly, specialized, commercially available instrument or an integrated instrumentation system.

The BIG Program is limited to institutions that have not received S10 instrumentation funding of $500,001 or greater in any of the preceding 3 Federal fiscal years (FY).

Use the following to determine applicable funding periods: for submission in CY 2026, consider S10 funding in FYs 2023-2025; for submission in CY 2027, consider S10 funding in FYs 2024-2026; for submission in CY 2028, consider S10 funding in FYs 2025-2027. The minimum award is $25,000. There is no maximum price limit for the instrument; however, the maximum award is $350,000.

Instruments supported include, but are not limited to, basic cell sorters, confocal microscopes, ultramicrotomes, gel imagers, or computer systems.