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Sponsored Research Incentive

Sponsored Research Incentive (SRI)

The Sponsored Research Incentive (SRI) program provides incentives that are intended to encourage units and their faculty and researchers to seek external support for their research/creative activities. These funds are distributed annually by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships (OVPRP).

 

The current OVPRP procedure is to distribute SRI funds based on the indirect costs (IDC) recovered by the university. The annual distributions are a percentage of the indirect costs generated by expenditures from the prior fiscal year.

 

SRI distributions are transferred to the appropriate Dean’s office for further distribution and/or investment, along with the IDC recovery data including College, Department, and PI. It is expected that these funds will be utilized and aligned to further the university’s “Lead On” Strategic Plan and support the university’s Research Mission, as outlined in the VPRP Strategic Framework. An annual report from each Dean detailing how these funds were utilized is due September 1st of each year.

Deans have discretion to distribute SRI funds in a way that best serves the research mission of their colleges, in alignment with the “Lead On” Strategic Plan and with the Vice President for Research and Partnerships’ Research Strategic Framework.

SRI funds are to be used to directly facilitate and augment research productivity. Among examples of allowable uses of these funds are the following scenarios:

  • a research team has an opportunity to compete for a large external grant but needs to demonstrate the availability of cost-sharing funds
  • an emerging research team has the opportunity to compete for the first time for funding on a very large scale, but requires an additional investment of funds to purchase the necessary equipment to be competitive

SRI funds are not to be used for academic program-oriented costs, either at the college or department level. However, it is important to note that SRI can be used for the expenses that directly impact research and creative endeavors:

  • travel to conferences
  • foreign travel outside the U.S.
  • purchase of computer or electronic equipment of any kind
  • purchase of data storage, software, or software licenses
  • purchase of maintenance-type supplies, replacement parts, or equipment repairs
  • publication costs

If you have any questions about a faculty member’s credit/SRI split, reach out to Cindy Clark (ris@ou.edu).  Financial questions may be directed to Dianna Crissman (dcrissman@ou.edu).