In this article
Start with one concrete resource and a bounded task. A page covering configuration, authority and pilot results is more useful than promises to monetise a whole cluster.
A laboratory can find external GPU cooperation difficult to start because participants need different information. Management asks about objectives, technical staff about configuration and finance about expenses. A short agreed proposal connects these questions before access and commitments are discussed.
Its purpose is a decision about the next step. It should neither pretend to be a contract nor replace a grant-terms review. It helps establish whether a joint technical assessment has a concrete subject.
Describe the resource clearly
State GPU, memory, host, location and available schedule. Identify the owner and person responsible for preliminary discussions. If commercial-use authority is still being checked, say so explicitly.
Do not attach account lists or internal addresses. Initial assessment needs capabilities and constraints rather than machine access. Detailed documents can later be requested from authorised parties through an agreed channel.
Name the task and reason to act now
Replace “we want the servers busy” with a test: assess one node for a particular model during a free research window. Explain why: idle time between projects, maintenance funding or a new use case.
Preserve the laboratory’s primary purpose separately. External work should not silently outrank the research for which equipment was purchased. The owner and applicable approvals determine usage priority.
Show a minimal plan
A proposed short-note structure:
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Resource | One server and its configuration |
| Task | Model and test-request profile |
| Availability | Working window and research priority |
| Support | Power, network, maintenance and owners |
| Result | Measurements and continuation decision |
| Completion | Revoke access and restore the environment |
Adapt it to organisational requirements and the test’s scale.
Connect expenses to results
Show existing resources and those needing funding. Do not combine new-card procurement and a short pilot into one indivisible amount. Management can then assess the smallest useful next action.
UKRI recommends accounting for necessary expenses without omitting material items. Completeness is a useful internal-proposal principle, while the actual funding rules remain those of your programme.
Share the proposal with the right participants
Before approaching an operator, confirm the technical lead and owner’s representative understand the task consistently. Check grant agreements: the European Commission describes rights and obligations through the grant agreement.
An ideal business plan is unnecessary: state a testable hypothesis and open questions.