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Our university has bought a device, and I'm writing a research proposal in which I want to mention that I will be using that device. So should I mention it like,

we are going to use the instrument available in the university

or

we are going to use the instrument available by the university?

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It would be the first one. You say you're going to use the instrument available (meaning "able to be used or obtained"), then specifying the location it can be obtained from: inside the university. (you could also use "from" here, which would sound more natural).

Your second sentence has two possible interpretations: one is that you'll use an instrument which can be obtained next to the university (using "by" as a locative, which is obviously not what you want); the other interpretation is that the university (in this sense talking about its faculty, not the building itself) allowed you to use it, in which case you need an active verb to clarify this, so the sentence would be:

We are going to use the instrument (which was) made available by the university.

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  • Thanks, available from the university also correct?
    – Rash
    Commented Mar 15, 2016 at 22:23
  • Yeah, that would be fine. I would honestly recommend in this case including the "which is" before available to avoid any ambiguity in parsing, it makes your meaning clearer.
    – John Clifford
    Commented Mar 15, 2016 at 22:24

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