Introduction

Before you can gain access to any of the SURFsara computer systems an administrative procedure has to be followed. On this page we will tell you how you can apply for access to Cartesius. Once access is granted, you can have a look at the second part where we explain how you can access Cartesius from your laptop or desktop computer.

How to get an account

Affiliates of one of the Dutch Universities or Grand Technology Institutes can submit an application for computing capacity on the Cartesius system to NWO. Furthermore, several universities have a direct contract with SURFsara enabling access in a more direct manner.

Access via NWO

The scope of the 2020 Compute call of NWO is described here: https://www.nwo.nl/en/news-and-events/news/2020/01/computing-time-call-2...

The procedure for application has been split, depending on the amount of resources you want to request

• For small requests up to 500,000 core-hours on Cartesius you choose the fast lane via SURFsara: https://www.surf.nl/en/applying-for-access-to-compute-services. These requests will only be assessed on technical feasibility and should be handled within 2 weeks.
• For larger requests above 500,000 core-hours Cartesius, you have to submit your application directly to NWO (https://isaac.nwo.nl). These proposals will be peer reviewed and be discussed within the scientific committee (WGS), which has been mandated by the NWO board to grant CPU time. The number of referees depends on the actual amount of computing time you apply for. NWO may ask you for clarification of your request, based on comments of the referee(s). During the following WGS meeting, a granting decision will be taken. This procedure may take 4-8 weeks, since referees and a meeting of the WGS are involved. The NWO office (to be confirmed by the WGS) is in general able to provide you with a preliminary amount of computing time, which is around 10-20% of what you applied for.

If your proposal is accepted, you will receive a granting letter. SURFsara will receive a copy of these, and will contact you with directions on how to obtain your account(s) on Cartesius.

In case of further questions, contact NWO (rekentijd@nwo.nl) or the SURFsara helpdesk.

Adding logins to Cartesius accounts

An account gives you the capability, a "budget", to use compute resources of the system. But to access the system you need a user name, a login. Multiple logins can use the same account and consume the same budget. Logins are personal and associated with personal responsibilities that are listed in the usage agreement that is to be agreed to at the SURFsara user portal before the login can be effectively used. If multiple persons are involved in a project, each must have their own login.

New logins for users on granted, Cartesius accounts must be requested by means of a ticket to the the SURFsara helpdesk by the principal investigator (PI) of the project / account. Unless you are the PI you cannot request your personal login yourself. It is e.g. NOT sufficient to file a ticket for a personal login with a CC to the PI. The ticket must be filed by the PI (him| her)self.

The ticket requesting a login must specify the following details of the requested login and the person the login is for:

• SYSTEM : (required, always "Cartesius" for logins on Cartesius)
• PROJECT / ACCOUNT : (required)
• TITLE : (optional)
• FIRST NAME / INITIALS : (required)
• NAME : (required)
• NATIONALITY : (required)
• E-MAIL : (required)
• TELEPHONE : (required)
• SUGGESTED USERNAME : (optional, 3-8 characters long, can contain letters [a-z] and digits [0-9], but cannot start with a digit)

Note that the optional suggested username may or may not be used, depending on availability and already existing name schemes on the system.

Access to Cartesius directly

Several universities have a direct contract with SURFsara, please check the list here to check whether your institution already has such a contract.

Access through European programs

Several European programs offer access to Cartesius:

• Compbiomed offers access to participating supercomputers, including Cartesius, for computational biomedical research. See https://www.compbiomed.eu/high-performance-computer-allocations/ for details.

• HPC-Europa3 offers scholarships for visits for scientific collaboration, and includes access to participating supercomputers, including Cartesius.