The Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) is pleased to announce the Call for Proposals for the 2025-2026 Equipment Loan Program Cycle. Annually, the FUN Equipment Loan Program (ELP) works through collaborations with equipment vendors to develop opportunities for neuroscience faculty to offer their products, services, and trainings on their equipment for up to a two-year loan with the intent to purchase the equipment at the end of the grant program. The vendors are always willing to work with the scientists so please apply even if you want a different version of the equipment listed here.

Through generous donations from (Vendor Information Coming Soon!), we are now accepting applications for proposals requesting a loan for equipment supporting neuroscience faculty research and/or teaching for FUN members. A complete list of equipment that will be available for loan during this grant program cycle can be found below. Please note that only single versions of the equipment listed below are available for loan at this time – it is not possible to request multiple pieces of a single item (unless otherwise noted or the awardee is seeking to purchase these additional pieces of equipment beyond the terms of the FUN ELP).

All current dues-paying members of FUN are eligible to apply for this program. Members include graduate students and postdocs.  Graduate students and postdocs can apply as a Co-PI so long as their mentor is listed as the PI on the application.  If you are not a member and would like to become one, please visit our member application page to register.

Applications will be submitted electronically as a single PDF file to the Co-Chairs of the ELP program:
Dr. Lorenz S. Neuwirth - email
Dr. James H. Peters - email

The deadline for the FUN 2025-26 ELP application submission is: APRIL 15^th, 2026 by 11:59 pm (EST). Awards will be announced by the second week of May 2026 and equipment will be sent in late May or early June 2026 unless specified by the vendor.

The FUN 2024-2025 ELP awardees are:
 

Amie Severino Kauzlarich, Mount St. Mary’s University - Equipment Requested: Noldus EthoVision XT System for a one-year loan period.

Tiffany Rogers & Caitlyn Wells, Middle Tennessee State University - Equipment Requested: Stoelting Stereotaxic package along with the Kent Scientific SomnoFlow® low-flow anesthesia System for a two-year loan period.

Melanie P. Leussis, Emmanuel College - Equipment Requested: Med-Associates Wireless Running Wheel System of 4 for a two-year loan period

Kinning Poon, The State University of New York at Old Westbury – Equipment Requested: San Diego Instruments (SDI) two chamber SR-Lab System with Pre-Pulse Inhibition for a two-year loan period

Terms of the FUN 2025-2026 Equipment Loan Program:
•    Awardees will be given full use of the neuroscience equipment granted for a period of up two years. For this cycle, all equipment can be requested for a two-year loan period unless otherwise noted (see vendors below).
•    Awardees will absorb all costs associated with shipping the equipment to and from the equipment vendor/supplier.
•    If an awardee is unable to purchase the equipment after the loan period has expired, they will be required to return the neuroscience equipment at the end of the loan period cleaned, sanitized (if/when appropriate or requested specifically by the neuroscience equipment vendor/supplier), and in good working order to the vendor/supplier. Please note that some equipment cannot be returned and will have to be outright purchased at the end of the loan period (see vendor information regarding these details). Additionally, if parts of the equipment that are returned to the vendor are not in working order, the awardee is responsible for costs to remedy these repairs.
•    Any publications, presentations or grants, resulting from the use of the equipment that was loaned through this program will acknowledge the neuroscience vendor/supplier company providing the equipment, as well as the FUN two-year Equipment Loan Program (ELP) grant. Notification of these publications are to be submitted via email the Co-Chairs of the ELP annually during the course of the grant:
Dr. Lorenz S. Neuwirth - email
Dr. James H. Peters - email
•    Any software that is included with a FUN two-year ELP grant will require that the grantee sign a provision that all software will be removed from their computers at the end of the grant program period.
 
HOW TO APPLY:
Applications should be no more than 5 pages in length (i.e., excluding cover page and reference pages). Applications may be single spaced, with font size no less than 11, top and bottom margins of 1” as well as right and left margins of 0.75”. Applications should be organized in the following manner:
•    Application Cover Page (i.e., Name, Position/Title, affiliation, and equipment requested)
•    Research proposal (i.e., including specific neuroscience equipment requested to be loaned, the proposed research, description of how the equipment will be used to complete the study proposed, and the expected outcomes from the research through the loaned equipment). This section should be between 3-4 pages.
•    Impact of the neuroscience equipment loaned on seeking future research grant funding (i.e., intramural and extramural to purchase the equipment), and the long-term development of the neuroscience faculty member’s research program. This section should be between half a page and a page.
•    Role of undergraduate students in the classroom or undergraduate student research assistants in the research proposal outlining the training to be provided. This section should be between half a page and a page.
•    Institutional support for the proposal. This may include such things as matching grants from the institution (i.e., cost sharing or covering the purchase costs for the loaned items at the conclusion of the two-year equipment loan grant period, undergraduate research stipends, additional supply money, salary support for the faculty member, etc.) or other forms of institutional support.
•    Reference page(s) must be included. It is encourages to highlight undergraduate students in the reference page for all publications and presentations noted as evidence for the faculty training and supporting undergraduate student involvement.
Factors to be considered when reviewing the proposals will include:
•    The scientific merit of the proposed research and use of the requested neuroscience equipment
•    Some preference is given to faculty in the early stages of their career, although awards may also be made to more senior faculty, for example, if a faculty member is developing a new area of research or changing their research focus
•    Evidence that the loan will enhance the faculty members long-term research and/or teaching efforts
•    Demonstrated institutional support for the project.

Dr. Lorenz S. Neuwirth - email
Dr. James H. Peters - email

History:
See the sub-page linked from the FUN website menu for a list of previous ELP winners: https://www.funfaculty.org/equipment_loan_program_winners

Available Scientific Equipment for the 2025-2026 FUN Equipment Loan Program