Contents
1. Introduction
This set of guidelines serve to assist you in navigating the NSCC Projects Portal (https://projects.nscc.sg/). The Projects Portal is meant for all NSCC users to view and create your project application for the use of NSCC’s supercomputing resources.
All project applications will be processed by the Projects Admin and reviewed by the Technical Resource Allocation Committee (TRAC) and the Policy & Resource Allocation Committee (PRAC).
2. Login
Please login to the Projects Portal using your NSCC user account. If you belong to one of the stakeholder organisations (A*STAR, NUS, NTU, SUTD and TCOMS) and do not have an account yet, please click on “Register” to apply for one.
For NEA users, please contact [email protected] for account creation.
If you do not belong to one of the stakeholder organisations and you wish to make use of NSCC’s resources, please write to [email protected] for more information.
3. Homepage Interface
4. Project Application
4.1. New Project Application
The applicant should be the Principal Investigator (PI) or the supervisor of the project. If required, the PI may authorise a team member to submit the application on their behalf.
Step 1: Click on the “Create” button to create a new application.
Step 2: Read the Note to Applicants, then click on the “Go” button.
Step 3: Complete and submit the application form. Please refer to section 4.3. Application Form for the guide to complete the application form.
4.2. Project Renewal Application
You will need to renew your project before the end of the project cycle if you wish to extend your project beyond the project end date.
Step 1: Update the project deliverables achieved in the “Deliverables” tab. Please refer to section 5. Deliverables for the guide to complete the deliverables section.
Step 2: Click on the “Renew” button for the project you wish to renew.
Step 3: Read the Note to Applicants, then click on the “Go” button. Please note that you will be re-directed to the Deliverables page if you have not updated your project deliverables.
Step 4: Complete and submit the application form. Please refer to section 4.3. Application Form for the guide to complete the application form.
4.3. Application Form
This section provides the guidelines to assist you in completing your application form with adequate details to ensure that you receive the resources allocation required for you to successfully complete your research project. Inadequate justification for the requested resources may result in reduced or rejected allocations.
You may toggle between the different sections by clicking on the buttons at the top of the page.
4.3.1. Basic Information
4.3.1.1. Project Name
In this section, you are requested to specify the project title (in the exact form as approved in your grant proposal, if applicable).
4.3.1.2. Project Description
Please provide a summary that accurately describes your project, including the following information:
- project objectives;
- scientific rationale;
- innovation potential;
- expected outcomes and scientific advances.
If you are supported by a grant from a funding agency, please use the exact form of your project abstract in your research grant proposal.
4.3.1.3. Scientific Area
Please specify the scientific area of research for your project, selecting from the dropdown menu.
4.3.1.4. Software/Applications
Please specify all the software or application packages that will be used in the project, including post-processing packages.
You may refer to the software list available on NSCC ASPIRE 1 here https://help.nscc.sg/software-list.
4.3.1.5. Organisation
Please select the organisation that you belong to by selecting from the dropdown menu.
4.3.1.6. Project Start Date/End Date
Please fill in the expected start and end date of your entire project.
4.3.1.7. Type of Computation
Please specify the type of computation involved in your project.
Example: CFD, Modelling Simulation, Density Functional Theory (DFT) etc.
4.3.1.8. Principal Investigator/Project Supervisor
The Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for the management and supervision of the project. All project-related requests through email must be sent by the PI, or in the case where the requestor is not the PI, the PI must be copied in the email in order to verify the legitimacy of the request.
If you are a PhD student, the PI will be your Project Supervisor.
4.3.2. Project Type
This section requires you to fill in the information regarding the type of your project. Please select at least one project type.
- Grant Project: projects supported by institutional, national or international grants.
- Stakeholder Industry Project: projects that are part of an industrial collaboration.
- National Initiative Project: projects that contribute to national interest.
- General Project: all other projects, including individual and group research.
4.3.2.1. Grant Project
You are required to provide the following details of the grant:
- Main grant scheme: select from the dropdown menu
- Main grant ID: as given by your funding agency
- Information of the contact person of your funding agency
- Duration of the grant approved by your funding agency
For users with more than one funding agency, please provide the grant scheme, grant ID and contact details under “Additional Funding Agencies”.
If you are unable to provide the full details as required above, please state your reasons under “Additional Information”.
4.3.2.2. Stakeholder Industry Project
For projects with industrial collaborations or partnerships with users from our stakeholder organisations (A*STAR, NUS, NTU and SUTD), please provide the details of your project in this section.
You are required to provide the name of your industry partner and the estimated dollar value of the collaboration. If you are not allowed to disclose the name of the partner, please provide a description of the company.
Examples of descriptions of the company: “A large multinational engineering company”; “A leading aviation firm”.
4.3.2.3. National Initiative Project
You are required to provide the collaborating organisation and elaborate on the contribution to national interest of your project.
4.3.2.4. General Project
You are required to provide a justification for the need for an allocation of large-scale resources.
Please note that for individual projects, you can request for additional resources only if you have depleted your personal quota or if your project requires resources that exceeds your personal quota. (Note: all NSCC users are entitled to a personal quota of 100,000 core hours)
4.3.3. Project Deliverables
This section requires you to provide the expected deliverables throughout the full duration of your project. Please indicate the number of manpower involved in the project only and not the entire research lab/institute.
4.3.4. Project Team
This section allows you to add users to the project using their NSCC user IDs. You may add users to the project at a later date by sending an email to [email protected] by specifying the user’s NSCC ID and project ID.
4.3.5. Project Resources
This section requires you to select the checkboxes of the respective resources that you need. You need to select at least one resource type.
Kindly note that projects approved will be provisioned resources for a 1-year period. (For example: 1 Jul 2020 – 30 Jun 2021/ 1 Jan 2021 – 31 Dec 2021).
Resources requested should be at least 50 GB of storage space and 50,000 CPU core hours.
Please apply for resources only on the system that you require. NSCC currently has 2 systems:
1. ASPIRE 1 – Resource types: CPUs and GPUs
2. AI System – Resource type: DGX-1s
4.3.5.1. ASPIRE 1: CPU
The amount of CPU resources required should be specified in core hours. Please request for resources that reasonably reflect the needs of your jobs.
You are required to estimate your usage distribution for each quarter, ensuring that the percentage sums up to 100%.
CPU Calculation of Requirements:
Minimum number of core hours = (total number of runs) x (number of cores used in a single run) x (elapsed time of a single run)
Example:
If you anticipate running x instances of Gromacs with each instance using y-cores and lasting z hours per job instance, you will need:
CPU core hours = (x runs) x (y cores) x (z hours)
4.3.5.2. ASPIRE 1: GPU (Tesla K40)
The amount of GPU resources required should be specified in device hours. Please request for resources that reasonably reflect the needs of your jobs.
You are required to estimate your usage distribution for each quarter, ensuring that the percentage sums up to 100%.
GPU Calculation of Requirements:
GPU device hours = (x runs) x (y GPU nodes) x (z hours)
4.3.5.3. AI System: DGX-1
The amount of DGX-1 resources required should be specified in GPU card hours. Please request for resources that reasonably reflect the needs of your jobs.
1 GPU card hour refers to occupying 1 GPU card for 1 hr. There are 8 GPU cards in 1 node.
Note:
- Jobs cannot be more than 8 cards.
- This is a time shared system, and the hours requested should reflect the actual compute time.
You are required to estimate your usage distribution for each quarter, ensuring that the percentage sums up to 100%.
DGX-1 Calculation of Requirements:
DGX card hours = (x runs) x (y GPU cards) x (z hours)
4.3.5.4. Storage (High Performance Storage System)
Please indicate the amount of disk storage required. Please request for resources that reasonably reflect the needs of your jobs. Please note that this is a high performance storage system and should not be used to store transient data.
Temporary storage should be stored using the scratch disk.
Storage Calculation of Requirements:
Storage = Number of runs x Estimated storage requirement per run
4.3.6. Complete and Submit
Step 1: Ensure that all the mandatory fields are filled and click on the “Next” button at the bottom of the page.
Step 2: At the summary page, verify that all the details submitted are accurate.
Step 3: Read the NSCC acceptable use policy. By clicking on the “Submit” button, you will have agreed to the terms and conditions. If you need to make any changes to the form, please click on “Edit Project Information” to edit the form.
Step 4: Check that you have received the email to confirm the successful submission of your application form.
5. Deliverables Update
Please update your project deliverables on our Projects Portal. You are required to update your deliverables achieved by the end of the project cycle, or when your project ends.
Step 1: Click on the “Deliverables” tab to update your deliverables achieved.
Step 2: Fill up the relevant fields accordingly. Please indicate “N.A.” if the field is not applicable.
Step 3: Click on the “Submit” button to complete the update.
Updated 21 Oct 2020
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