The National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation program missed its planned Oct. 15, 2026, submission opening, Adam Kovac reported for Scientific American on Oct. 20. An NSF statement from the previous year had laid out a planned application window through Nov. 16. An NSF spokesperson told the magazine the agency was “currently working to update this funding opportunity” but gave no date for submissions to begin.
The program funds research equipment. Applicants can request up to $4 million, but must show that several groups or experiments would use the equipment, Scientific American reported. This is a separate application period from the one NSF suspended in 2025 for fiscal year 2026, when the agency said it would instead consider a backlog of meritorious proposals from the preceding year.
Several people involved in applications told the magazine they had received no word from NSF about when submissions might open. “Nobody knows when the deadline will be or if it will even happen, so the act of planning to apply is a gamble,” an anonymous university grant specialist told Scientific American.
An anonymous scientist with an NSF proposal pending said MRI requests often involve four to six scientists, adding to the work of coordinating a proposal. As an example of what a delay might mean, the scientist said it “could have significant consequences” for a team with a broken instrument or one nearing the end of its useful life. Researchers might put projects on hold or pay for temporary repairs, the scientist told the magazine.
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