How to Get a NERSC Allocation

• Applying for your first NERSC Allocation
• Starting a new Allocation Request
• Renewing an Allocation Request
• Tips and Instructions for Filling out Allocation Request Form

Requests to use NERSC resources are submitted annually via a web form known as the ERCAP (Energy Research Computing Allocations Process) Request Form. ERCAP is accessed through the NERSC Information Management (NIM) web interface and is available year-round.

There are two additional allocation programs for NERSC resources:

1. NERSC Initiative for Scientific Exploration
2. ASCR Leadership Computing Challenge (ALCC)

Applying for Your First NERSC Allocation

Before you begin the application process, make sure you meet the eligibility requirements.

If you already have a NERSC login name and wish to become a new PI, login to NIM and skip to the instructions for "Starting a New Application" on this page. Prospective Principal Investigators without a NERSC login need to fill out two forms:

1. The online ERCAP Access Request Form. If you wish to designate another person to fill out the request form you may designate a "PI Proxy" on this form.
2. The Computer Use Policies form. Download and complete all the questions on this form and fax it to NERSC. (The fax number appears on the form.)

Within two working days NERSC's Account Support office will contact you with the login name and password you will need to fill out and submit the allocations request form.

Many new NERSC projects begin with a "Startup Account" allocation, particularly if they are new to HPC or are not yet ready to run production codes on thousands of CPU cores. Startup awards are limited to 15,000 MPP hours (Cray XT4 equivalent hours) and are good for up to 18 months, by which time a continuing project is expected to have applied (or renewed) for a "Production" award. See Overview and Eligibility.

Starting a New Application

1. Once you have received your NERSC login name and password, point your browser to nim.nersc.gov, and login to NIM.
2. Scroll down the NIM main menu frame (upper left) and click the ERCAP requests link.
3. In the bottom frame which appears, click on the link Start a new request. Note: existing NERSC users who are not yet registered as a PI will see instead a button labeled "Click here to start a new ERCAP request as a PI".

4. Now the ERCAP application form will load in the bottom frame. The questions on the application form are divided into several pages. Each page is grouped under a tab. You will be in the first page, called Project Overview. If you are applying for a Startup Account, select the Project Class of Startup from the pull-down menu on question 6.

   The other tabs are not clickable until you have saved the Project Overview; after which you can click on any tab in any order.

   You MUST click the "Save" button at the bottom of each section in order to save your work on that page before selecting another tab.

5. If you are applying for a Startup Account:

   • Select the Allocation Type of Startup from the pull-down menu on the Resources Requested page.
   • For information on available resources and maximum startup awards, see Allocated Resources.
   • Answer the questions to the best of your ability; detailed code descriptions and performance information are not required for startup requests.
   • To continue working on a proposal you have previously saved click on its edit icon.

   Startup requests may be made at any time. Decisions for Startup requests are made within one to three weeks after applying.

6. When you have finished writing your request, be sure to select "Finished" for the Current Request Status question on the Other Info / Finish page.

Renewing a request

Point your browser to nim.nersc.gov, and login to NIM. Then scroll down the NIM main menu frame (upper left) and click the ERCAP requests link. You will see a list of your ERCAP requests in the bottom frame.

To renew an existing project for the next allocation year click on its renew icon.

To continue working on a proposal you have previously saved click on its edit icon.

Image of request list

General layout of the Request Form and using its tabs

The questions on the ERCAP Request Form are divided into several sections. Each section is grouped under a tab.

When you first renew a previous year's request, or when you first create a new request, you will be in the first tab, called Project Overview. The other tabs are not clickable until you have saved the Project Overview, after which you can click on any tab in any order.

Note that the request number, PI name, and request title are not displayed in the tab title area until you have saved the Project Overview.

To save a section of the ERCAP Request Form, click the Save button, located at the end of the section.

Image of save button

Using the tabs to navigate between sections

Once you have completed the Project Overview you can edit the other sections in any order. Just click on a tab to edit the corresponding section.

Warning: each tab area must be saved before moving to a new tab. After you have finished your work in one tab area you must click the Save button located at the bottom of that tab area to save your changes in the database.

Validating your User List

As part of the ERCAP renewal process PIs (or PI Proxies) must certify their current user list. This means: review, correct and certify contact information, citizenship, and project role for your active users. DOE requires this to be done once a year.

The ERCAP system will not let you submit (finish) your request until you have certified your user list (renewed requests only).

For instructions see User List Validations.

Finishing your request

When you have completed answering to your satisfaction all the questions on the Request Form click the Other Info / Finish tab and select the Finished for the Current Request Status question. Reviewers can see all finished requests (once they have been validated by NERSC staff).

Note that the status of your request is displayed in the tab title area ("Not Yet Finished" or "Finished" or "Validated"). Once a request has been validated you may no longer edit it.

Pasting from one request into another request

If you want to copy and paste text from one request into another request you should bring up the request you want to copy from in a separate browser window. Here's how to do that:

1. Select My ERCAP Requests from the My Stuff pulldown menu.
2. In the resulting ERCAP requests frame click on the view PDF icon for the request from which you want to cut and paste.
3. After the ERCAP PDF form is displayed, click on the PDF Select Text Tool and highlight the text you want to copy.
4. Then you can paste the text into the request you are working on in your NIM browser window.

Printing and saving to disk

1. Select My ERCAP Requests from the My Stuff pulldown menu.
2. In the resulting ERCAP requests frame click on the view PDF icon for the request you want to print.
3. Then use your browser's Print... option to print the request.

When you have finished your request it is a good idea to save a copy to disk. Click on the view PDF icon for the request you want to save and use your browser's Save option.

Getting help for specific questions

Some of the questions have an information icon you can click to get help on answering that specific questions. Questions that are self-explanatory do not have the info icon.

Advice on answering long text questions

It is not recommended that you directly type in long answers. Rather, compose your answers elsewhere, and paste them into the ERCAP text boxes.

Note for Internet Explorer users: some Explorer browsers interpret a carriage return (the Enter or Return key) in the short text boxes (the text boxes without a scroll bar) as a Save: if you enter a carriage control in a short text box it is as though you had clicked the Save button. Also note that you can use the Tab key to jump to the next text box.

Most of the text boxes have a maximum of 4,000 characters associated with them. If your answer exceeds 4,000 characters you will get an error message when you click Save. You should remove some of your text and try to Save again. See ERCAP error messages.

Starting with ERCAP requests for allocation year 2010 the ability for uploading PDFs is provided. Long answers can be provided in the PDFs.

Using HTML tags

We recommend that you use only a limited set of HTML tags in your answers. The HTML tags below are the ones that are recommended. Note that when you are editing your ERCAP request you will see the HTML tags; when you display the form in read/only mode (by clicking the the Show Complete Request tab) you will see your text as it should appear. If you need any help inserting HTML tags, contact a NERSC consultant.

<pre> and </pre>

Use these around sections of fixed width text to preserve column alignment.

^and; _and

Use these in formulas for superscripts and subscripts.

<img>

Use this to display an image. This can be useful for formulas: compose your formula with latex or word or some other tool. Save it as a GIF or JPG file at your home site. You can then display it with the <img> tag in an ERCAP text box. Example:

<img src="http://hpcf.nersc.gov/images/IBMSPphase2.jpg">

ERCAP error messages

If you enter invalid data into a text box, ERCAP will detect the error situation when you click the Save button. You will see the following red error message on top of the tabs:

FOUND ERRORS ! Please scroll down to correct.
This form cannot be saved until errors are corrected.

You should scroll down until you find another red error message adjacent to the text box that contains the invalid data. Correct the error and click the Save button again. Your work cannot be saved until you have corrected the error.

A common error is entering more than 4,000 characters into a text box. In that case you would see the error message:

Correct your error and try saving your answers again by clicking the Save button.

If you try to Finish your request without first validating your user list (this applies to renewals only) you will see the following message:

Please validate your user list before submitting your request. Request has been saved, but not submitted.

Deleting a request

If you need to delete a request contact the Account Support Office for help: 1-800-66-NERSC menu 2, 1-510-486-8612, or accounts@nersc.gov.