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Applying for Academic Accounts

Statewide academic allocation of computing resources and services is a peer-reviewed account process governed by the Allocations Committee of the Statewide Users Group and subject to the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) Code of Ethics for Academic Users.

The procedures described enable services to be available to approved projects conducted by Principal Investigators (PIs) at Ohio academic institutions. A Principal Investigator must have a full-time appointment at a college, a university, or a research organization administered by an Ohio academic institution. Students, post-doctoral fellows, visiting scientists, and others who wish to use the facilities may be authorized users on projects headed by an eligible PI.

All first-time principal investigators must submit a hard copy of their signatures to the Center for our files. Please send a copy of the signature page to the attention of the Allocations Committee, OSC, 1224 Kinnear Road, Columbus, Ohio, 43212.

OSC's online account application is part of an electronic system that leads you through the process step by step. Before you begin to fill in the application form, especially if you are new to the process, look at the Account Application Help pages. Have all information and materials (suggested reviewer names and addresses, proposal text file names, etc.) at hand before you begin the application form. You cannot save a partially completed account application form for later use.

Online Account Application Form

If you need assistance, please contact account@osc.edu or a consultant.

Letter of Support for Outside Funding Proposals

OSC will provide a letter of support users can include with their account proposals for outside funding, such as from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. This letter details OSC's commitment to supporting research efforts of its users and the facilities and platforms we provide our users. [Note: This letter does not waive the normal OSC account application process; it merely states that OSC is willing to support such application.] The information users must provide for the letter is:

• address to which the letter should be directed (e.g. NSF, Department, mailing address
• name of funding agency's representative
• name of the proposal and names of the Co-PIs and their institutions
• number of RUs per year you would apply for if you were to receive funding
• number of years of proposed research.

Send e-mail with your request for the support letter to account@osc.edu; include your fax number in your e-mail. We will fax a sample support letter for your approval and then fax you the final version by an OSC official.

Applying for Commercial Access

Researchers from commercial organizations who wish to use the OSC's resources should contact the office of the director at (614)292-9248.

Applying at NSF Centers

Researchers requiring additional computing resources should consider applying for allocations at National Science Foundation Centers. For more information, see:

National Computation Science Alliance (Alliance)

National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI)

Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC)

The OSC requires acknowledgment in any publications or reports that result from projects supported by OSC accounts of resources.