RAC FAQ

The advanced research computing (ARC) needs of the Canadian research community continues to grow as the next generation of scientific instruments is deployed, as ARC becomes relevant to answering key questions in an ever broader list of disciplines, as new datasets are gathered and mined in innovative ways, and as technological advances allow researchers to construct ever more precise models of the world around us. The current infrastructure must keep pace with the needs of Canadian researchers. Demand for resources has grown each year and our systems are currently running at maximum capacity.

To be eligible to submit an application to any Resource Allocation Competition, Principal Investigators (PI) and Co-PIs must:

• be a faculty member at a Canadian academic institution; and
• have an active Alliance account with an Academic Principal Investigator role (Faculty, Adjunct Faculty or Librarian).

Important:

• You must apply with your primary, most up-to-date position. If you recently moved to a different institution and you have not yet applied for a new faculty role on the CCDB, please do so before submitting your RAC application.
• If you have more than one active faculty role on the CCDB, please make sure that your most up-to-date position is set as your primary role. On the CCDB, go to the your Home page to see which of your roles is currently set as primary and, if needed, click on the Make this role primary button next to the new role that you want to set as primary.

Failing to do any of the above could create problems if your application is successful. If you have questions or concerns about any of the items above, please contact allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.

The RAC involves two review processes each year:

• a scientific review, which is a peer-review process involving more than 80 discipline-specific experts from Canadian academic institutions. These volunteers assess and rate the merits of the computational research projects submitted. The scientific review results in a single score that provides a critical and objective measure to guide allocation decisions; and
• a technical review that is undertaken by Federation staff who are responsible for verifying the accuracy of the computational resources needed for each project based on the technical requirements outlined in the application and for making recommendations about the national system to which the resources should be allocated to meet the project’s needs.

The overall process is overseen by the Resource Access Administrative Committee, which includes representatives from each of the national system host sites.

Learn more about our Resource Allocation Competition.

No, we are not a funding agency. Through our Resource Allocation Competition, we offer access to computing time, storage space and cloud resources in our systems.

This application process gives eligible PIs access to an easy and lightweight multi-year application mechanism for the Resources for Research Group (RRG) competition. Only those PIs who receive an invitation will be able to apply through this process.

In certain situations, there are researchers and small groups who wish to maintain their existing allocation with no change to the scientific approach or minimal to no changes to the amount of resources needed. To reduce the need to re-evaluate these proposals, we created a ​“Fast Track” process.

Applying through the Fast Track process DOES NOT guarantee you will receive the same allocation as last year. Fast Track requests are subject to resource scaling. This could lead to either an increase or a decrease in allocated resources for your project compared to last year.

Requested allocations may be scaled by a different factor than it was last year, according to resource demand and availability constraints.

To know more about eligibility for this process and other details about the Fast Track process, visit this page.

We provide a broad spectrum of advanced computing services in support of research, including technical support, training and application. In this call for proposals, you will be able to request access to:

• General-purpose systems
• Large shared memory systems
• General-purpose computing on graphics processing units
• Storage
• Cloud

See more information on the available resources for the RAC page.

Our team of experts is available to assist researchers in making use of their allocations. This may include installing and configuring software packages, assistance in code optimization and detailed advice on how to solve technical issues. While Federation staff may end up writing some code for your group, your allocation does not entitle you to deep “embedded” programming support. As a rule of thumb, our staff will help solve problems requiring a few days of their effort, not a few months of their effort.

Yes. It is strongly recommended that all applicants consult with technical staff responsible for the clusters they intend to use. This ensures the technical aspects of the proposals match well with the requested clusters, to the PI’s benefit. PIs who have not previously used our clusters should discuss their proposal with technical staff before submission. All consultations with staff should take place in advance of completing your proposal to allow time for discussion or revisions if needed. If you do not know the appropriate technical staff to contact, please email allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.

Any researcher interested in applying to the RAC must be registered with the CCDB. Instructions for registering with the CCDB can be found here. All applications must be submitted electronically through the CCDB’s Resource Applications section.

Yes. A PI can apply as a lead submitter for only one RRG application but can be involved in multiple RRG submissions as a participant. PIs may simultaneously hold lead positions on one or several RPP projects and one RRG project. Read the competition guide here.

Prior to submitting a proposal, you should review each competition’s criteria to ensure your project aligns with the focus. If you still have questions or concerns after reviewing the competition guide, please contact us at allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.

Yes. PIs and all Co-PIs of a RAC application are required to submit a CCV. Integrating CCV into the CCDB makes it easier for applicants to upload their CVs and standardize their format. It also helps the Scientific Review Committees evaluate the quality of each project’s research team. For instructions on how to submit a CCV, read the CCV Submission Guide.

To update a CCV on the CCDB, Co-PIs can do so by clicking on the ​“Update CCV” button in the Resource Applications page, or by going to My Account → View Reporting. Once Co-PIs have updated their CCV, the status of the CCV will be automatically updated in the RAC online application form.

Yes. A list of key terms used in the competition and application process is available. Please consult the Technical Glossary when preparing your application.

Our Resource Allocation Competition only grants access to ARC infrastructure. If you have questions about whether the infrastructure you are using is part of the national platform, please contact us at allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.

Yes. Academic PIs (see Question 2) can apply for an allocation, irrespective of the size of the research team or the funding received.

No. The published deadline for submitting final applications to the RAC is final. There will be no extensions and late submissions will not be accepted. Any concerns with this policy may be directed to allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca.

All applicants will be notified of their competition results in March. You will be contacted by email with any additional information you may need or action items required of you to finalize your allocation. Once all recipients have been privately notified, we will publish a list of recipients, project allocation amounts, and allocation values on our website.

It is possible to assign a monetary value to each allocation. This is useful for researchers to assign an in-kind value of the contribution of the Federation to their research program (please note: this in-kind valuation cannot be used as match for a CFI award). These values represent an average across all of our facilities and include the total capital and operational costs incurred by the Federation to deliver the resources and associated services. These are not commercial or market values.

The table below shows the monetary value associated with our resources.

Each year, our infrastructure is heavily oversubscribed. A scaling function, endorsed by the Chairs of the Scientific Review Committees, is applied to compute requests to provide a means by which decisions on allocations in a context of insufficient capacity can be made.

For RAC 2022, this function was set so that only applications with a science score of 3.0 or higher can receive an allocation. Visit the Past Competition Results page for more details about the scaling function and other RAC stats.

Any user can access modest quantities of compute, storage and cloud resources through our Rapid Access Service. Unlike the RAC, the Rapid Access Service is not a guaranteed allocation of certain computational resources. It is a shared pool of unallocated resources.

For compute allocations, generally speaking, we allocate our batch processing priority based on a fair-share algorithm. Each user is allocated a share of the total system resources, which effectively translates into priority access to the system. If you have used a large fraction of the system recently (i.e., larger than your fair-share), your priority drops. However, the scheduling system has a limited time window over which it calculates priority. After some time (e.g., weeks) of reduced usage, it gradually ​“forgets” that you overused in the past. This is designed to ensure full system usage and not to penalize users who take advantage of idle compute resources. A consequence is that your total allocation is not a limit on how many compute resources you can consume. Rather, your total allocation represents what you should be able to get over the course of the year if you submit a constant workload to the system and it is fully busy. In other words, once your ​“total allocation” is used, just keep working.

For more information, visit the Allocation and compute scheduling page.

All applications submitted to the RAC are peer-reviewed and scored.

Applicants can select a peer-review committee of their choosing; however, we reserve the right to move the application to a different committee following consultation with the Committee Chairs. Applications will be reviewed in one of the Committees below:

• Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
• Bioinformatics
• Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics
• Computer Sciences and Mathematics
• Engineering
• Environmental and Earth Sciences
• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Nano, Materials and Condensed Matter
• Neurosciences, Medical Imaging and Medical Physics
• Subatomic Physics, Nuclear Physics and Space Physics

Scientific reviewers are required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement and accept the Conflict of Interest Policy prior to accessing any RAC application.

Yes, applicants may choose the Scientific Review Committee they would like to review their proposals; however, we reserve the right to assign the proposal to another Committee if necessary.

The Resource Access Program Administrative Committee oversees the entire competition process and provides technical support. While the scientific review committees determine the merit of the proposal and the appropriate resource allocation, the Resource Access Program Administrative Committee is responsible for making those allocations “fit” on existing ARC resources. This may involve applying a scaling to all allocations, which is endorsed by the Chairs of the Scientific Review Committees, but that scaling will be based on the overall score, not an evaluation by the Resource Access Program Administrative Committee. The Resource Access Program Administrative Committee is composed of individuals who are knowledgeable of our computational resources and are significantly experienced in the RAC process. It is comprised of technical and administrative leaders representing each region (BC DRI Group, Prairies DRI Group, Compute Ontario, Calcul Québec, and ACENET).

RAC is guided by the following principles:

• all applications are given fair consideration through both a scientific and technical review process;
• resources are awarded based on the merits of the computational research project presented, rather than the merits of the overall research program;
• there is no direct correlation between the amount of computational resources needed and the quality (excellence) of the research outcomes of a project – important research can be done with a small amount of computational resources; and
• the challenges arising from the shortage of resources and other constraints within the system are shared among all applicants.

The resulting RAC score is based on the following:

• the scientific excellence of the specific research project for which computational resources are being requested;
• the scientific and technical feasibility of the proposed research project;
• the appropriateness of the resources requested to achieve the project’s objectives; and
• the likelihood that the resources requested will be efficiently used.

In short, RAC does not re-evaluate a researcher’s complete research program: instead, it focuses on the scientific and technical merits of the specific computational project(s) for which ARC resources are requested.

The growing demand for our resources is reflective of global trends of increased data-intensive research. Within Canada’s research community, we are seeing computational tools and services increasingly being used to identify patterns, undertake modelling and simulations, and support the collection and distribution of massive volumes of data. The following table illustrates well the difficulty to satisfy the needs of the researchers.

The RRG is a peer-reviewed application process for projects whose primary purpose is to conduct research requiring compute, storage and cloud resources to meet their goals. However, projects primarily needing persistent instances in the cloud to provide a service through a platform or a portal should apply through the RPP application process instead.

Visit the RAC application guide for more details.

If you require resources that are less than the minimum amount required to apply for the RAC, you do not need to submit an application. Instead, you should make use of the Rapid Access Service (RAS), which allows PIs and their research groups to access modest quantities of storage and cloud resources after they register for an account. Opportunistic access to compute resources is also possible through RAS, but priority is only given to those with an allocation. Many research groups can meet their needs through RAS only.

No. While Principal investigators (PIs) can participate as collaborators on other projects submitting RRG proposals, they can only be the lead applicant for one RRG application.

If you are eligible to Fast Track, you can either accept the invitation to Fast Track or decline and submit a new RRG application. You should accept the invitation to Fast Track if your needs for resources will remain the same, knowing that all allocations are still subject to scaling based on supply and demand and on the amount of resources requested in your previous RRG full application. 

If you need more resources than what you currently have allocated (especially compute or cloud), then you should submit a new application.

No. A Notice of Intent (NOI) is not required for any RAC application process.

No. Due to the imbalance of demand versus available resources, the RAC has increasingly become a more competitive process.

2022 RAC Applications – Submitted vs. Granted

The evaluation criteria for both the RRG and RPP application processes are available in the RAC application guide. We strongly encourage applicants to read it carefully.

The RPP is a peer-reviewed application process for projects whose primary purpose is to provide a service through scientific gateways that improve access to shared datasets, enhance existing online research tools and facilities, or advance national or international research collaborations. However, projects primarily needing compute resources in a cluster to conduct research should apply through the RRG process instead.

The RRG is a peer-reviewed application process for projects whose primary purpose is to conduct research requiring compute, storage and cloud resources to meet their goals. However, projects primarily needing persistent instances in the cloud to provide a service through a platform or a portal should apply through the RPP application process instead.

Visit the application guide for more details about this competition.

Projects applying through the RPP must:

1. Provide resources to a larger research community via a set of cloud-based tools, applications, and/​or data, thus enabling them to access national resources via a common interface.
2. Be able to develop, operate and manage the proposed portal or platform with minimal support from Federation staff.

Generally, an RPP project will involve cloud resources, usually through the development of a front-end gateway on persistent virtual machines, with possible backend compute either through cloud compute nodes or job-based submission to the large national clusters. Additionally, many platforms and portals include large databases.

Applicants for RPPs are expected to have sufficient experience within their team to develop, manage and operate their platform or portal. We provide support to RPP teams on a best-effort basis.

Yes.

An Academic PI may:

1. apply as a lead submitter for only one RRG application (either through the full application process or the Fast Track one) at a time but can be involved in multiple RRG submissions as a participant; and
2. be the lead submitter for one RPP application per competition round and be involved in other RPP applications as a participant.

No. A NOI is not required for any RAC application process.

No. Research groups that are awarded multi-year allocations are required to submit an annual progress report; however, they do not need to submit a new application each year to renew. This annual progress report must be uploaded directly on CCDB.  For more information on what is required for the RPP Progress Report, click here.

Yes. Only those projects that requested and were awarded resources for 2 or 3 years will be exempted from re-applying.

The evaluation criteria is available in the application guide. We strongly encourage applicants to read it carefully.

Please visit the RPP Annual Progress Report page for details.

A compute allocation corresponds to a target for use over a period of time, usually a year. For storage, and for certain cloud resources, this is a maximum amount. Allocations are usually made in terms of core years, GPU years or storage space.  

Storage allocations are the most straightforward to understand: research groups will get a maximum amount of storage that they can use exclusively throughout the allocation period. 

Core year and GPU year allocations are more difficult to understand because these allocations are meant to capture average use throughout the allocation period – typically meant to be a year – and this use will occur across a set of resources shared with other research groups. To learn more about compute allocations, read the Allocations and compute scheduling documentation.

One core year is the equivalent of using one CPU core continuously for a full year. Using 12 cores for a month, or 365 cores for a single day are both equivalent to 1 core year. Definitions for other technical terms can be found in the Technical Glossary.

The score is determined following the evaluation criteria described in the RAC application guide.

The resulting RAC score is based on the following:

• the scientific excellence of the specific research project for which computational resources are being requested;
• the scientific and technical feasibility of the proposed research project;
• the appropriateness of the resources requested to achieve the project’s objectives; and
• the likelihood that the resources requested will be efficiently used.

All successful allocations are activated in April. The exact starting date will be confirmed in your notification letter.

No. Use of your total allocation cannot be fully guaranteed and is contingent to the availability of our systems. You should receive the full allocation if you run in a reasonably constant manner over the year. If you expect to have an uneven workload, please contact our support team at support@tech.alliancecan.ca so that they can ensure you have access to the resources you require.

PIs can access modest quantities of storage and cloud resources through the Rapid Access Service. Compute resources are also available for opportunistic use without priority.

For compute allocations, generally speaking, we allocate our batch processing priority based on a fair-share algorithm. Each user is allocated a share of the total system resources, which effectively translates into priority access to the system. If you have used a large fraction of the system recently (i.e., larger than your fair-share), your priority drops. However, the scheduling system has a limited time window over which it calculates priority. For more information, read the Allocations and compute scheduling documentation.

Each annual RAC is handled as a separate process. The current projects have an advantage in that they have demonstrated usage and success stories, but not an advantage by policy.

Yes. Please visit the Accessing Resources page for more details.