The overhead return structure for the CSERI has been designed to provide the funds required to make the CSE a viable program. These funds cover operating expenses (administrative staff, hardware and software maintenance, licenses, etc.), direct and indirect student support, and support for professional activities (travel, workshops, invited speakers, etc). The overhead structure is also designed to provide an incentive to PI's and their department chairs. Faculty are encouraged to participate in the institute and to contribute to multidisciplinary teams that can compete for larger projects that are now being funded by the national agencies.
We the following procedure are used to determine whether or not a grant or project is appropriate for the CSERI. The PI for the grant will write a memo, usually email, to the CSERI Director. The CS&E committee will forward its recommendation along with the memo to the V.P. of Research. The V.P. of Research will make the final determination. This memo should address the fact that either the characteristics or the objectives of the project should be aligned with the mission of the Institute. Such characteristics or objectives include: the multi-disciplinary or cross-college composition of the research team, the requirement computational resources that are otherwise beyond their means, the application of advanced computational techniques, the development of computational tools and techniques, the application of novel computational methods to new areas of science or engineering research and education. Once approved, the transmittal forms will be marked to indicate proposal will result in a CSERI project.
The overhead return structure for CSERI grants or contracts is as follows:
| Unit | Percentage return | ||
| MTU | 40.0 | ||
| Principal Investigator | 9.0 | ||
| Department Chair | 15.0 | ||
| College | 7.3 | ||
| CS&E | 28.7 |
A budget outline is given below that shows the proportions in which CS&E funding is be allocated to various activities. Note that most funding for CS&E computational equipment comes from external funding. However, some of the CS&E budget is allocated for miscellaneous computing needs that are not covered by major external funding.
| 45% | Graduate Program |
| direct support (e.g., fellowships) | |
| bridge support, travel, seminars, recruiting, matching funds | |
| 20% | Computational Support |
| hardware, software, licenses, maintenance | |
| network charges, Internet 2 | |
| 35% | Personnel |
| Director | |
| Systems administrators | |
| Staff |