NSCC Call for Project
Summary:
| Cycle | Application Period [1] | Notification of Application Results [2] | Resource Allocation Period | Project Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Call | 3 Apr – 2 May 2023 | 26 – 28 Jun 2023 | 1 Jul 2023 – 30 Jun 2024 | Expired |
| 2nd Call | 29 Sep – 30 Oct 2023 | Research: 26 Dec 2023 Education: 16 Jan 2024 | Research: 1 Jan 2024 – 31 Dec 2024 Education: 15 Jan 2024 – 14 Jan 2025 | Ongoing (closed on 31 Dec 2024) |
| 3rd Call | 17 Apr – 17 May 2024 | Renewal confirmation: 21 to 26 Jun 2024 Resources allocation: Aug to Sep 2024 | 1 Sep 2024 – 30 Jun 2025 [3] | Ongoing |
| 4th Call | 12 Nov – 5 Dec 2024 | 27 Dec 2024 | From 2 Jan 2025 onwards [3] | Open for Applications |
| 5th Call | 1 Apr – 25 Apr 2025 (Tentative) | 9 to 30 Jun 2024 (Tentative) | From 1 Jul 2025 onwards [3] (Tentative) | Upcoming |
[1] Applications received after the application period will not be considered.
[2] Note that details of the application results will be notified via the PI’s respective Research Offices.
[3] Approved projects will be awarded for their entire project duration.
Table 1: Application and resource allocation period for project cycles.
1. Overview
Updated 11 November 2024
The National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore has revised its Strategic Resource Allocation policy to align with its role as a National Research Infrastructure (NRI). We will support key national R&D programmes and research projects to achieve significant economic outcomes and scientific imperatives for Singapore.
Prioritisation and allocation of resources will fall under the purview of the Strategic Resource Allocation Committee.
Important Note
- As a National Research Infrastructure (NRI), NSCC Singapore‘s new strategic resource allocation policy will allocate HPC resources to support key research projects to achieve significant economic outcomes and scientific imperatives for Singapore.
- Projects will be prioritised according to these key criteria:
- National Priorities: NRF and SRAC will advise NSCC Singapore regarding projects of national priority.
- Complexity: The complexity of a project refers to its ability to use significant HPC compute resources to accelerate research innovation. For this call, we expect the jobs to routinely and efficiently utilise a minimum of 4 GPU cards or 256 CPU cores.
- Track Records: PIs’ track records in utilising their resources based on their projected resource demand will be taken into consideration.
All HPC Resources allocated are subjected to charges to encourage responsible usage of national resources. The charges will be based on NSCC Singapore’s RIE-funded projects rate.
For more information on Strategic Resource Allocation Policy and FAQs, please refer to https://www.nscc.sg/srapolicy/
Refer to Table 1 for the project categories that will be supported by NSCC Singapore. All applications for Call for Project are evaluated under the RIE-funded project category.
| S/N | Categories | Recommended Resource Allocation |
| 1 | RIE Funded Projects | 60% |
| 2 | Young Investigator Seed Project | 7.5% |
| 3 | HPC Research | 7.5% |
| 4 | Training and Promotion | 5% |
| 5 | SME/Startups | 5% |
| 6 | Non-RIE Funded Projects | 15% |
Note: The percentage allocated may be reviewed and revised in the future by the SRAC to ensure alignment with the rapidly evolving landscape of HPC technology and evolving research needs.
2. Key Points for Researcher
- HPC Compute Budget
- All approved RIE-funded projects must have a HPC Compute Budget
- Include a HPC Compute Budget for the entire project cycle.
- Estimating the HPC Compute Budget
- Budgeting should be based on commercial Cloud Service Provider (CSP) rates of the respective institutions/organisations’ existing contracts.
- This ensures that PIs have sufficient HPC Compute Budget for the CSPs, should their Call for Projects application be unsuccessful.
- All HPC resources allocated are subjected to charges
- This is to encourage prudent and efficient usage of national resources.
- The charges will be based on NSCC Singapore’s RIE-funded projects rate.
- During Call for Projects application
- PIs are to submit projected resource demands on a quarterly basis.
- Realistic projection of resource demand
- Plan realistically for the amount of HPC resources requested in the Call for Projects application.
- Support for resource estimation
- NSCC Singapore will provide support to assist PIs in the resource estimation, through training, and in-house experts who can provide advice.
- Accountability and PI track record
- PIs are expected to utilise their resources based on their projected resource demand.
- PIs can update their projected resource demand after the initial 6 months. Deviation from the projected resource demand will affect the PI’s application in future Calls for Projects.
3. Role of the Research Office
- Point of contact
- NSCC Singapore will liaise with the Research Office of each institution for the receipt and verification of the applications to the Call for Projects. The Research office will also be responsible for the pre and post-award management of compute resources allocated.
- Research Office Contacts:
- A*STAR: [email protected]
- NUS: [email protected]
- NTU: [email protected]
- SUTD: [email protected]
- SIT: [email protected]
- For Research Offices not listed above, please check with your respective organisation/institution.
- Letter of Award
- NSCC Singapore will consolidate the approved Call for Projects applications and prepare a Letter of Award to the Research Office.
- Approved projects receive 100% of their requested HPC resources for their entire projects’ duration. (For e.g. if the approved project has a duration of 3 years, award will be given for 3 years. PI does not need to apply for renewals every year.)
- Acceptance/Rejection
- Upon receiving the Letter of Award, the Research Offices will respond to NSCC Singapore if they accept or reject the award, and subsequently communicate to their respective PIs.
- Invoicing via Research Offices:
- Projects successfully approved to use NSCC Singapore’s HPC resources will be invoiced via the host institution’s research office for each project cycle.
- PIs with approved projects need to ensure that their HPC Compute Budget is sufficient for the requested HPC resources.
- If the HPC Compute Budget for the project is insufficient, PIs can utilise the (insufficient) HPC Compute Budget to commence their research. However, PIs should approach the funding agency to secure additional HPC Compute Budget for the required resources.
- If there is no HPC Compute Budget, PIs should approach the funding agency to secure a HPC Compute Budget.
4. Allocation and Billing Process
- Quarterly resource demand projection
- PIs are required to submit their projected quarterly resource demand for their entire project cycle.
- First two quarters are adjustment period
- NSCC will not penalise or invoice PIs for unconsumed HPC resources based on their projections.
- For the first two quarters of each call:
- PIs are allowed to roll over unused allocated resources to the next quarter but not beyond the 3rd quarter.
- PIs are only charged according to their usage, not allocation.
- After the adjustment period:
- PIs are required to submit an updated projected quarterly resource demand for their entire project cycle which may be multi-year (3 or 5 years), through their respective Research Offices.
- PIs are allowed to revise and submit their projected quarterly resource demand (1 quarter in advance) to encourage responsible and prudent usage of scarce HPC resources.
- PIs will be charged according to their revised HPC allocation from the 3rd quarter onwards, based on their updated projected quarterly resource demand and not based on consumption. Any unused HPC resources will be invoiced.
- Additional resource request are subject to resource availability and SRAC approval.
- Invoices will be sent via the Research Office at the end of every two quarters.
- Refer to Table 2 for RIE-funded rates (approved as at 21 August 2024)
- Rates apply to the projects awarded under the 4th Call for Projects.
- Rates may be subjected to revision for future Calls for Projects.
| Rates for RIE-Funded Projects (before GST) | |
| (S$) | |
| CPU Core hrs | 0.006 |
| GPU Card hrs – A100 (40GB) | 0.79 |
| GPU Card hrs – H100 (Only applicable for projects allocated to ASPIRE 2A+ system) | 1.26 |
| HDD Storage GB-mth | 0.021 |
Table 2: RIE-funded rates
5. Information and Instructions
Please refer to the Call for Projects Information and Instructions before you apply.
6. Guideline for Application Form
Please refer to the Guideline-for-Application-Form on how to apply.
7. Project End
- Approved projects receive 100% of their requested HPC resources for their entire projects’ duration.
- The PI should inform NSCC via the Research Office if they are ending their projects before their project end date (at least 1 quarter in advance). Else, NSCC will continue to invoice for the rest of the resources in the quarterly projection.
- When projects end:
- The project quota will be set to zero (0) hours, and no jobs will be dispatched.
- All project data will remain in the system for 30 days.
- After 30 days, all project data will be archived.
- All archived data will be retained for 5 months from the date of archival.
- A charge of $0.022/GB will be imposed for retrieval of archived data. This charge is inclusive of GST.
- All data remaining in the system will be purged 6 months from the date of project expiry.
- Kindly plan your resource utilisation thoughtfully and endeavour to utilize your allocated resources promptly to mitigate the risk of encountering resource bottlenecks towards the conclusion of the project cycle.
8. Acknowledgement
- Projects that have been awarded are obliged to acknowledge NSCC in any published work. A sample of the text can be found in the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), which details can be found below.
- Citation: All academic journal or conference papers shall cite NSCC with the following:
“The computational work for this article was (fully/partially) performed on resources of the National Supercomputing Centre, Singapore (https://www.nscc.sg).”
- Users are required to update a brief report of deliverables achieved from utilising NSCC’s resources on the Projects Portal at the end of the project.
- Selected users may also be required to partner with NSCC to present a talk, article, paper or poster at NSCC-organised events (e.g., SupercomputingAsia conference, use case studies or other occasions where NSCC has a presence).
9. Apply for Call for Projects
- The Project Applicant should be the PI or the supervisor of the project. If required, the PI may authorise a team member to apply on their behalf.
- All applications for Call for Projects must be submitted via the Projects Portal (https://projects.nscc.sg/).
- To access the project portal, applicants must create a NSCC user account.
- For the creation of an NSCC user account:
- For users from NUS, NTU, A*STAR, SUTD, TCOMS, SMU, SIT, SP, TP and RP – Create an account via the NSCC User Portal. This is a self-service portal and your account will be created automatically. You may access the system via your organisation’s login nodes.
- For all other users – Request for an account via https://new.nscc.sg. Note that the account request is subject to approval (up to 3 working days).
- Note that only the PI or their appointed project applicant may submit the application.
- All submitted applications will be further verified by the institutions’ respective research offices for authenticity and accuracy.
- Any application that is found to be submitted without the PI’s authorisation shall be rejected immediately.
Updated 28 November 2024