State Major Instrumentation
Aim of the Programme
In this programme, DFG reviews on behalf of the federal states proposals for major instrumentation at German universities and university hospitals. The major instrumentation of interest is funded by the federal states and/or universities and is intended for use in research, training and teaching, or clinical care or any combination thereof. It may serve these specified purposes either directly or indirectly. Central IT systems are in this programme also considered major instrumentation. The positive outcome of the DFG evaluation is a prerequisite for procurement. The DFG does not contribute to the financing of the instrumentation in this programme.
Eligibility Criteria and Submission Procedure
- German public universities and university hospitals are eligible to this programme.
- The gross acquisition cost must be at least €200,000 for “Universitäten” and university hospitals and at least €100,000 for all other universities (such as Fachhochschulen, HAWs, universities of arts etc).
- The state and/or university and/or hospital must guarantee financing.
- Proposals for state major instrumentation can be submitted to DFG at any time by the state/university/hospital in accordance with the respective state guidelines.
- The university or university hospital appoints a person to be responsible for the proposal. This person prepares the proposal and submits it electronically via the elan portal. Upon submission he or she receives an automatically generated so-called “Quittungsdokument”, the legal submission document, which may not be altered or amended in any way. This document must be signed by the responsible person (signature 1), a person autorized to sign on behalf on the university or university hospital as institution (signature 2) and, finally, a person autorized to confirm the financing of the full investment costs from state budget (signature 3). The fully signed paper document must be sent as original to the DFG. Only on receipt of the signed document, DFG will consider the proposal submitted and begin processing it.
Definition of “Major Instrumentation” in this Programme
- Major instrumentation is the sum of the components, including accessories, that form a functional state for the intented operational application. An appropriate relationship should exist between the base unit (including software) and its accessories, which can include methodological and measurement-related expansions or supplements that are not directly required for operation.
- Construction work or renovation is not considered part of the equipment and is not eligible.
- General IT concepts will be evaluated if they include specific investments.
- Proposals for IT networks are reviewed as long as the investments are not purely infrastructural.