Strategic Equipment Investment Program

The Strategic Equipment Investment Program (SEIP) is administered by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships. Awards from the SEIP can be used to support the purchase of all types of equipment, ranging from scientific to creative arts. The SEIP provides funding on a competitive basis for the purchase of truly strategic equipment that will have significant impact on enhancing a team’s capabilities and competitiveness in research and/or creative activities at a national level. The expectation is that acquiring the proposed equipment will provide new opportunities for advancing the team’s ability to achieve new goals in terms of creativity, discovery, innovation, and securing external funding. 

A proposal team must be led by a tenured or tenure-track faculty member. Research faculty and permanent professional/technical staff may serve as co-PIs on proposal teams. Funding received from the SEIP may not be used to renovate facilities or for infrastructure enhancements. Financial commitments from a proposing team’s parent units will be considered favorably. How these units’ funds will be used should be clearly articulated in the proposal, e.g., infrastructure renovations and/or assisting with the cost of the equipment.

Written proposals must not exceed two pages (single-spaced, 12-point font, Times or Times New Roman) and will be evaluated by a selected team of OU peer reviewers. The written proposal should include:

• A brief executive summary that articulates the need for a new piece of equipment and how it will help enhance creative activities, produce new data, and possibly new proposal opportunities.
• Briefly define your team and the departments/colleges the acquisition of this equipment will benefit. You may choose to attach an appendix with a list of team members and departments if needed.
• A brief description of the unmet needs and the benefit this equipment will bring to your team.
• What are the goals, expected outcomes, and possible impact that this equipment will bring to the university? How do the activities being conducted align with the Lead On, University Strategic Plan, particularly Pillar 5; Strategic Research Verticals; Strategic Vertical Institutes, and/or Cross-Cutting Foundations?
• Provide a description of the equipment and at least one price quote. Please ask for a three-year service agreement to be included in the price of the equipment. If you need assistance with the quote, contact Meghan Bomgaars (mbomgaars@ou.edu).The vendor quote can be placed in an appendix.
• Provide a statement related to available infrastructure and space to house the equipment. We understand that there could be a need for items like electrical upgrades, exhaust, etc., but do not include these costs in the proposal. Contact OVPRP Associate Vice President Melany Dickens-Ray (mdickens@ou.edu) if you have questions or need assistance related to matters of space or infrastructure requirements. 

At least one equipment quote must be included with each submitted proposal. Financial commitments from your department, college, or research units will be considered as favorable, and this support should be articulated in the proposal.

We are planning two proposal solicitations for Fiscal Year 2023 — one in Fall 2022 and the other in Spring 2023. For each solicitation, we expect to be able to support about four SEIP proposals in the $50K range. Due to budget constraints, we do not anticipate being able to fund individual proposals in excess of $100K.

If you have any questions, you may reach out to OVPRP Senior Associate Vice President John Antonio (antonio@ou.edu) who serves as the point of contact for the SEIP.

Proposals should be submitted as one PDF file using the submission portal provided below.

• October 3, 2022 – Written proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. CST
• November 4, 2022 – Notification of selected proposals for awards

• February 24, 2023 – Written proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. CST
• March 24, 2023 – Notification of selected proposals for awards

Fall 2022 SEIP Awardees

Spring 2022 SEIP Awardees

2021 Awardees, SSHA and SEIP