Letter From the Director: Important Information About ICER’s Next Cluster Acquisition

Dear Colleagues,

I'm writing to provide an update on ICER's computing hardware acquisition plans for the coming year, including changes to our buy-in program and our anticipated procurement timeline. We plan to purchase a new cluster this fall, but this purchase will differ from previous cycles due to MSU's current financial environment and unprecedented increases in the cost of research computing hardware.

MSU continues to face significant financial pressures, and the resulting university-wide budget reductions have also affected the Office of Research and Innovation and ICER. At the same time, our new Vice President for Research and Innovation has made strategic investments in new initiatives. Together, these changes mean substantially less funding is available for new computing hardware than in previous acquisition cycles.

Rapid growth in generative AI has dramatically increased demand for the same computing hardware used in research computing while manufacturing capacity remains constrained. As a result, CPU prices have increased roughly four- to five-fold over the past year, while GPU prices have increased by approximately two- to three-fold. Consequently, our funding will purchase substantially less computing capacity than in previous years, and we do not expect these market conditions to improve significantly in the coming year.

Despite these challenges, ICER still plans to purchase a new cluster this year. However, the system will necessarily be smaller than in previous acquisition cycles. ICER will only buy the hardware necessary to support specific initiatives, as well as hardware needed to support individual research groups through our buy-in program. As a result, researchers who do not participate in the buy-in program should not expect a significant increase in available computing capacity. To that end, I strongly encourage researchers to work with ICER’s Research Consultants to improve efficiency and reduce “time to science.”

Second, we are instituting a fractional node buy-in program, where researchers can buy fractional-node allocations at proportional cost. This provides a more affordable way for researchers to invest in dedicated computing capacity under current market conditions. Under an agreement with the Comptroller's Office and the Office of Sponsored Projects, these purchases will be treated as equipment and therefore will not incur Facilities & Administration (F&A) costs, providing substantial savings for researchers.

Our expected timeline is as follows:

• Late July/August: Survey of computing needs and buy-in interest.
• Late August/September: Request for proposals issued to vendors.
• Late October/November: Vendor selected and order placed.
• January 2027: System delivered.
• February 2027: System available to users.

We recognize that ICER's computing resources are essential to the work of many researchers at MSU and our partner institutions. Although current financial and market conditions limit what we can purchase this year, we remain committed to providing the best possible computing environment and support. Thank you for your patience, and I encourage you to work with ICER's research consultants to make the most effective use of available resources (including national resources through the NSF ACCESS program), and to participate in the buy-in program.

Sincerely,
Professor Brian O’Shea
Director, Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research
Interim Director, MSU Bioinformatics Core