Office of Research

Faculty Resources

Policy on Matching Funds for Equipment


The Office of Research is committed to partnering with academic units to obtain major equipment which will facilitate research and catalyze not only a single research project, but which also can form the infrastructure base for future research programs.

When matching funds are needed, two cases should be considered.

  1. Total equipment acquisition cost less than $50,000. In this case, institutional cost share will not be provided by the Office of Research. Departments and Colleges may, however, decide to provide cost share according to the policies of the various units involved. Such commitments must be identified on the REX form.

  2. Total equipment acquisition cost greater than $50,000.
       a. The Office of Research will automatically approve, at
           the time the proposal is delivered to OGRD with an
           approved REX form, 1/2 of the total required
           university match, provided that the following
           conditions are met:
             i. University match (Institutional, College, and/or
                Department) is required by the funding
                agency. Appropriate pages from the Request
                for Proposals (RFP) which indicates that the
               match is required must be provided by the PI
               and must be submitted with the REX  form;
            ii. The total university match is no more than 1/2
                of the total equipment acquisition cost;
            iii. The total requested match from the Office of
                 Research is no more than 1/2 of the university
                 match;
            iv  The total requested match from the Office of
                 Research is no more than $25,000;
             v.  Appropriate Departmental and College
                 administrators commit, via appropriate
                 notations on the REX form, to provide at least
                 1/2 of the required university match.
       b. Office of Research contributions to items which do
           not meet the criteria in 2(a) must be negotiated
           with the Vice Provost for Research by the cognizant
           Dean(s). In preparing for this negotiation,
           consideration should be given to the extent to which
           the equipment will enhance WSU's ability to attract
           additional grants and contracts, the extent to which
           the item is integral to the unit's strategic plan, and
           the extent to which the item impacts multiple
           departments and colleges (as evidenced by support
           from other units).



For those proposals meeting the criteria outlined in 2(a) above, the commitment for matching funds will be provided at the time that the proposal is submitted. For those proposals falling into item 2(b), written confirmation of the agreement must be obtained prior to proposal submission, and the commitment must be clearly stated on page 2 of the REX form, with the commitment from each Department/College and the Office of Research supported by memos attached to the REX form or signatures on the REX form. Requests for matching funds will not be considered after the proposal has been submitted.

I hope that the clarification of this policy will encourage faculty to write successful proposals, and build the infrastructure of our research institution.

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Office of Research, PO Box 641033, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-1033, 509-335-9141, Contact Us