Opportunity Overview
The University of Arizona Office of Research & Partnerships (ORP) is accepting applications for the Catalyst for Research Infrastructure Enhancement Grant, an internal research-development program supporting acquisition or enhancement of shared research equipment and other infrastructure. Strategic priority areas include AI-driven Health Innovation, Space Science, Technology and National Security, Fusion Energy, Sustainable Mining and Critical Minerals, and Arid Lands Agriculture and Water.
Funding and Deadline
Investigators may request $75,000 to $200,000. Requests below $75,000 may be considered but are not prioritized. For resources placed in an ORP Core Facility, applicants may also request up to $30,000 in U of A Core Facility use credits for approved user fees.
The current solicitation page lists the next due date as October 21, 2026. ORP’s current Proposal Preparation Guide states that Catalyst proposals must be submitted through Arizona Cultivate by no later than 5:00 PM MST on the deadline date shown on the solicitation page. However, a separate official University of Arizona WEES funding page still lists September 16, 2026 as the next due date. Because the two current University sources conflict, Atlas is holding publication and outreach until Arizona Cultivate or ORP provides a reconciled controlling fall-cycle deadline.
Deadline-control note: the opportunity page still displays a September 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM MST business-officer routing deadline that corresponded to the previously listed September 16 fall deadline. Because the current ORP and WEES pages conflict on the fall application date, applicants should verify both the controlling application deadline and the corresponding business-officer or research-administrator approval deadline directly in Arizona Cultivate before package production or submission. Atlas does not infer a replacement approval date.
Eligible Applicants
Catalyst Grants are open to eligible University of Arizona Principal Investigators, Project Directors and Co-Principal Investigators. For TRIF funding, the current guide identifies Tenured or Tenure Eligible Faculty, Continuing or Continuing Eligible faculty, Career Track faculty and Research Scientists as the four generally eligible investigator categories. An individual may participate as PI on one Research Infrastructure Enhancement grant per cycle.
Core Facilities may also submit with approval of the Director or Associate Director of Core Facilities. For equipment proposed for an ORP Core Facility, the Core Facility Manager must be listed as PI or Co-PI.
Infrastructure and Collaboration Requirements
Proposed equipment must be located in an approved U of A Core Facility or another shared, accessible space. The solicitation expects multiple committed users from at least two departments and preferably two colleges. A single-department request may be considered only with strong justification. Requests must explain how the purchase adds or refreshes research capacity and improves competitiveness for identified external funding opportunities.
Required Proposal Elements
The solicitation-specific proposal narrative is limited to two pages and must address the need and capabilities of the requested resource, intended location, research activities to be enhanced, a management and access plan, why the PI or team is positioned to be competitive, and the connection to TRIF and institutional research priorities.
Required supplemental materials include a table of confirmed collaborators with title, department and college, with at least three users; a vendor quote that includes applicable shipping and tariffs; and a budget that includes installation costs or identifies committed facility cost share for those installation expenses. The general ORP guide also requires the applicable cover-sheet fields, references, PI CV or biographical sketch, budget and budget justification, and applicant-driven routing for business-officer or research-administrator budget approval.
Review and Atlas Fit
Review considers overall impact and significance, fit to research strategic priorities, budget and return on investment, feasibility of pursuing external funding, and investigator or research-team qualifications.
Atlas Opportunity Score: 84/100. N9+ Fit Score: 40/100, conditional. The program clearly supports specialized research equipment and includes AI-driven Health Innovation among its strategic areas, but the solicitation itself does not establish a shared/core research use for the Nonagon N9+ device and platform. A legitimate N9+ role would require an eligible University of Arizona investigator or core facility to independently establish a multi-user research use involving clinician-guided remote physical examination or connected physiologic data. QC Healthcare fit is conditional vendor or implementation support only; Dr. Miltie is not an eligible direct applicant under the published internal eligibility rules.
Submission
Applications are submitted through Arizona Cultivate. Applicants should use the current solicitation page, Proposal Preparation Guide and live Arizona Cultivate application as controlling sources, particularly for the corrected fall-cycle routing timeline.
Official source: University of Arizona Office of Research & Partnerships — Catalyst for Research Infrastructure Enhancement Grant.