Applying for a compute project

If you want to use UPPMAX, access to some kind of compute project is always needed. This page will help you submit a proposal for a new compute project.

Note that we have a different page of instructions for researchers working with sensitive personal data on the Bianca secure cluster. See the page about sensitive personal data at UPPMAX if you wonder if this applies to you.

Every compute project comes with 128 GB of storage. Projects are allocated on a 12-month basis; if your work continues for a longer period you should submit a proposal for a new project near the end of the year.

Background

The NAISS infrastructure is funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) and participating Universities. NAISS funds some resources at other universities, and UPPMAX hosts two of these. Allocations are granted according to rules set down by the NAISS Allocations Committee (NAC).

There are 3 different kinds of NAISS projects, NAISS SMALL, NAISS MEDIUM and NAISS LARGE and the requirements of the PI are stated by NAISS (and listed below).

NAISS Small is intended for small scale projects and will give you 2000 core hours per month and 128 GB of storage. The PI has to be employed at a Swedish University/University College at the level of PhD student or higher.

NAISS Medium and NAISS Large are for larger projects (up to 100,000 core hours per month and higher, respectively) and this requires that the PI is employed at a Swedish University/University College at the level of Assistant professor (forskarassistent) or higher.

Compute Policy

As a NAISS provider, UPPMAX provides computational resources to any member of Swedish academia. In addition, UPPMAX acts as a compute and storage facility for SciLifeLab. Other activities, both local and national, are also facilitated. This user guide contains information about all the different resources and projects that current and potential users can apply for.

Policy and Instructions for Compute Time Applications

Before submitting a proposal for a compute project

Decide whether you need a new compute project? More projects mean more administration for you and for us. In general, one PI should have one compute project. One reason for having multiple projects is if you need to prevent one group of collaborators from seeing the data that another group keeps in its 128 GB storage area.

Submitting a proposal for a compute project

1. Figure out how much computation time you'll need, in core-hours per month.
   • If you're doing analyses on NGS data, a rule of thumb is that you will consume on average 1000 core-hours per month for every TB of data (1 TB = 1000 GB) in your project.
2. Go to SUPR. Log in.
3. Select a round.
   • If you need less than 10,000 core-hours per month, choose NAISS Small Compute. Anyone employed at a Swedish institution can act as PI for a SMALL project. Uppsala University staff can apply for projects on Snowy in the Uppmax Local round.
   • If you need between 10,000 - 200,000 core-hours per month, choose NAISS Medium Compute. The PI for a MEDIUM project must be a senior researcher.
4. Create a new proposal. Complete and submit.
   1. Project Title should be the topic of your activity.
   2. Edit Basic Information.
      1. Abstract should summarise your research plan.
      2. Resource Usage should describe the computations you're going to do, which softwares, etc. Show how you estimated your projected needs (in Step 1).
   3. Add co-investigators (if any).
   4. If someone other than the PI needs control over the project, assign a co-investigator the role of proxy.
   5. Add the Rackham resource to the proposal. Set the Requested Capacity to your compute needs. You may ignore the other fields. 128 GB of storage on Crex will be allocated for you automatically.
   6. Submit the Proposal.
   7. Uppsala University staff may contact UPPMAX support and request additional compute resources on Snowy.

Last modified: 2023-01-10