I've just received a request from Dr. Marjorie Tingle at the NCRR
requesting that the following information be passed along to you. The U.S.
President's proposed budget for fiscal year 1999 includes a proposed large
increase in the NIH appropriation for the Shared Instrumentation Grant
(SIG) program of $13 million dollars. The FY1998 budget for this program
was $22 million, so this is a great proposed increased. I would also like
to note that it is possible that the House budget proposal may include an
even larger proposed increase, since the House and Senate proposals for
NIH, and the final budgets as well, are usually higher than that of the
President.
There is a single annual deadline for receipt of SIG grants, March 20,
1998. There is concern that without a sufficient increase in the number of
proposals received, the increased funds could be withdrawn for the
following fiscal year. This is an important NIH program, increasingly
necessary because of the rapid changes in technology and equipment. The
program began in the mid-1980s with an even larger budget, but was cut back
to $8.5 million during critical, lean years. The ABRF is working together
with FASEB to help restore the original levels of SIG funding, desperately
needed in the years ahead.
This is good news from Washington. The complete instructions for preparing
proposals for the SIG program are available at
http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-98-018.html
On behalf of the ABRF Executive Boar, good luck with your proposals.
Ruth