Allocations Overview
Most allocations of NERSC computer time and archival storage are awarded by DOE and managed by NERSC. There is no monetary charge to the project that receives the award. The awarded research groups are given project accounts, known as repositories, with a given amount of computing hours and an archival storage allocation. Resource usage (computer time or archival storage) is charged against the repository, like a withdrawal from a bank account. Once the account is exhausted, users can no longer charge against that account.
NERSC supports several allocation programs:
| Allocation Type | % of DOE Allocation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DOE Production | 80% | Awards are made by DOE program managers in the six offices of science. Applicants need to be part of a research project funded by the DOE Office of Science or show that their work meets the DOE mission. |
|
ALCC |
10% | ASCR Leadership Computing Challenge: a DOE program run by ASCR to promote areas of interest to DOE. See the ALCC web page. |
| NISE | 10% | NERSC Initiative for Scientific Exploration: used to allocate the NERSC Director’s reserve. This year the focus is on large scale and data intensive proposals. See the NISE web page. |
| Education, Startup | N/A |
Small awards made by NERSC from NERSC overhead time. |
Requests to use NERSC resources are submitted annually via a web form. The process is known as ERCAP (Energy Research Computing Allocations Process). The ERCAP form is accessed through the NERSC Information Management (NIM) web interface. While the majority of DOE Production awards are made once a year, the ERCAP process is open year-round. In particular, Startup and Education allocation requests may be submitted at any time.
