Major Instrumentation Initiatives

Purpose of Funding

In the context of major instrumentation initiatives it is possible to apply for expensive major equipment with outstanding, innovative technology and the goal of promoting particular scientific and technical issues.

Ideas and suggestions for the establishment of a major instrumentation initiative come from the research community and are submitted in the form of structured concepts. A concept provides justification as to why the DFG should fund a particular technology in the framework of a major instrumentation initiative. It explains the importance of the proposed instrument technology for knowledge-driven research and defines the target group within the research community. A concept describes the extent to which this technology is distinct from currently available technologies and instruments and explains the particular relevance, originality and topicality of research that would be made possible through a major instrumentation initiative.

The concept for a major instrumentation initiative comprises a PDF document of no more than ten pages, which must be based on the template below:

Supplementary and supporting letters (e.g. from researchers, university leaderships, learned societies or companies) can be combined in a second PDF document. The person responsible for the suggestion submits the concept documents (max. 10 MB) by e-mail to wgi@dfg.de.

The DFG’s statutory bodies regularly make decisions on the issuing of calls for and the implementation of major instrumentation initiatives on the basis of submitted concepts. If a suggestion for a major instrumentation initiative is selected for implementation, the DFG issues a call for proposals. All eligible universities can then submit proposals for funding of the corresponding major instrumentation in accordance with the specific guidelines of the call. Proposals received for an initiative are then jointly reviewed and decided upon.

Further Information