IDBR: Information and Guidance for Providing Feedback

June 8, 2016

In BIO’s fiscal year 2017 (FY17) budget request, plans were included regarding the evaluation of smaller Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) programs, such as the Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR) program, with the goal of informing the FY18 budget request. The BIO Directorate is currently performing an internal evaluation of DBI research resource programs, including IDBR. This internal evaluation is an opportunity to assess the important role of IDBR in supporting instrumentation and technology needs across a broad range of biological sciences.

The evaluation will be performed by an internal working group, comprising representatives from each of BIO’s divisions and NSF’s Office of Evaluation and Assessment. The internal evaluation will be completed in November, 2016; therefore, IDBR will not be accepting new project proposals in response to the current solicitation (NSF 13-561) in 2016.

The IDBR program welcomes helpful feedback from all stakeholders regarding the role of IDBR in supporting instrumentation and technology needs. In particular, the IDBR program welcomes responses to the following questions:

• Is the breadth of instrumentation innovation currently supported by IDBR appropriate to address the biological sciences research community needs?  If there are gaps in instrumentation support, please provide examples.
• How have innovations in instrumentation supported by the IDBR program impacted research outcomes in the community and catalyzed instrumentation technology innovation?
• How can the program best enable dissemination and access to prototype instrumentation?
• What other issues or metrics related to the IDBR program affect you as a stakeholder; e.g., access to instrumentation, dissemination of prototypes or instrumentation blueprints, societal benefits (such as environmental impacts, education/workforce development, and economic benefits), etc.?

Responses to these questions should be directed to dbi-idbr@nsf.gov. Thank you!