Tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible, as well as full-time staff whose positions are funded from the BioMed division’s core budget. These are typically administrative staff positions.

Staff positions funded from other sources (such as grants, the Grant Incentive Program (GIP), startup funds, etc.) are not eligible. These positions are typically for research personnel, and their computers should be funded from the same source that funds the research.

The program does not cover equipment for center-based faculty and staff because their computer needs are expected to be covered by the indirect cost recovery that centers receive.

New faculty who receive startup funds are expected to make their initial computer purchase using those funds. Assuming they are otherwise eligible, faculty will receive a replacement through the program once their original computer is old enough (see next question). Incoming faculty members must still order their initial computer through Biomed ITSC.

Our budget currently provides one new computer for each eligible faculty and staff position when their assigned system is at least four years old and either no longer meets the needs of their position or is experiencing degraded performance.

Please email BioMed-ITSC@brown.edu and provide the serial number or service tag of your device. We will reply promptly!

No, not if it was originally provided under the equipment replacement program. There is a high demand for used but still functional computers, and we refurbish and redeploy them, typically providing them to labs experiencing significant funding shortfalls and part-time or temporary staff.

If the equipment replacement program did not fund the old computer, you may keep it. If you’re unsure what the old computer’s funding source was, we can look it up.

No. BioMed IT must process all purchases of computer systems to ensure Brown's inventory, security, and compliance standards are met.