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Office of Research and Innovation
Research Development Office

METRIC Pilot Project Program (MPPP)

Scientific discoveries and hypothesis testing require access to modern research instrumentation. The Molecular Education, Technology, and Research Innovation Center (METRIC) is an NC State Shared Core Research Facility that provides access to state-of-the-art equipment capable of addressing a diverse range of scientific questions.

Program Information

METRIC offers NC State faculty, staff, student and university partners access to a range of research platforms — from mass spectrometry and magnetic resonance (NMR and EPR) to X-ray crystallography — but some may be reluctant to apply these powerful technologies to their research due to costs-of-entry. 

The Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science (KIETS) is addressing this gap in funding by providing matching funds under the MPPP.

MPPP supports research efforts of single investigators as well as multi-investigator teams. The overarching goals of MPPP are to (1) stimulate interdisciplinary research, (2) enable NC State researchers to access METRIC platform technologies and (3) secure preliminary data to be used to attract extramural research funding from a variety of agencies (e.g., NIH, DOE, NSF, DOD, USDA).

Timeline

  • Next Proposal Deadline: September 15, 2022 by 5:00 p.m.
  • Project Start Date: October 15, 2022

Eligibility

Proposals for MPPP may be submitted by a single principal investigator (PI) or teams of investigators where the lead PI is an NC State faculty or staff member. Proposal teams can include investigators from external research organizations (e.g., other universities, government agencies, private research organizations); however, all MPPP funds must be expended at NC State. An individual can serve as PI for only one MPPP application per funding round (March or October) but can participate as a team member on other proposals. An individual PI can not receive more than two awards within a one-year period.

Funding

KIETS funds must be matched one-to-one with funds from other non-federal sources (“in-kind” matches are not allowed). For example, $2,500 must be provided by another source for an MPPP proposal that requests $2,500 from KIETS (to achieve a final budget of $5,000). Award amounts, depending on the nature of the project, will range between $2,000 and $10,000 including the required matching funds.

KIETS will make decisions regarding future funding for this program each year, based on progress and successful leveraging of internal and external funds. The Kenan Fund supports KIETS on an annual basis and funding in future years will be subject to approval by the Kenan Fund based on their available budget.

Resources

Questions?

Contact the Research Development Office at research-development@ncsu.edu.