Each fall, the Federation invites researchers to apply to our annual Resource Allocation Competitions (RAC) and request storage and compute resources beyond what can be obtained via the Rapid Access Service.
Questions about the Resource Allocation Competitions are welcome at any time by emailing rac@computecanada.ca.
You may also find it helpful to consult our RAC – Frequently Asked Questions page. If you have questions about the terminology, please consult the Technical Glossary.
Key dates
|
Event |
Date |
|
Fast Track Submissions *by invitation only |
September 23 to October 27, 2021 |
|
Resources for Research Groups (RRG) Competition |
September 23 to November 4, 2021 |
|
Research Platforms and Portals (RPP) Competition |
September 23 to November 4, 2021 |
|
Q & A Sessions – Everybody welcome |
September 29, 2021 (English) – View Slides & Watch Recording |
|
RPP 2021 Progress Report submissions |
November 9 to December 9, 2021 |
|
Announcement of RAC 2022 results |
Late March 2022 |
|
Implementation of RAC 2022 allocations |
Early April 2022 |
Eligibility
To be eligible to submit an application to any of the Resource Allocation Competitions, Principal Investigators (PI) and co-PIs must:
- be a faculty member at a Canadian academic institution, and
- have an active CCBD 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 have not yet applied for a new faculty role in 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 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 rac@computecanada.ca.
Questions about the Resource Allocation Competitions are welcome at any time by emailing rac@computecanada.ca.
You may also find it helpful to consult our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. If you have questions about the terminology, please consult the Technical Glossary.
Competition Guides
For RAC 2022, researchers can apply to the following resource allocation competitions:
- Resources for Research Groups (RRG) Competition
Opens September 23, 2021, and closes November 4, 2021, at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time
Extension of this deadline is not possible.
This competition is aimed at applications from individuals or small groups of researchers in need of compute, storage or cloud resources at a scale beyond that available from local institutional or provincial resources. It is intended for faculty members from all disciplines and their sponsored users. Allocations are awarded typically for 1 year.
A Fast Track application process is available (by invitation only) for users with existing RRG allocations who meet specific criteria.
- Research Platforms and Portals (RPP) Competition
Opens September 23, 2021, and closes November 4, 2021, at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time
Extension of this deadline is not possible.
This competition enables communities to develop research projects that improve access to shared datasets, enhance existing online research tools and facilities, or advance national or international research collaborations. The RPP Competition is focused solely on scientific gateways. RPP allocations can be awarded for a maximum of 3 years.
Note:
- Resources provided by the Federation are limited; therefore, applications are scaled based on supply and demand.
- Refer to each Guide (either RRG or RPP) for the evaluation criteria specific to that competition.
Pre-Submission Consultations
If you are applying for the first time to the RAC, we strongly encourage you to consult with us prior to submitting your application. Consultations should happen prior to October 31, 2021, to allow adequate time for support by Federation technical staff.
The goal of the consultation is to:
- Determine whether the resources needed for your project justify submitting a RAC application;
- Verify the project’s eligibility to the right program (RPP vs RRG);
- Provide technical assistance with the calculation of the resources needed.
To schedule a consultation with technical staff, please send an email to rac@computecanada.ca or contact your regional support team.
Assessment Process
We established our annual Resource Allocation Competitions (RAC) in response to the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) requirement to award advanced research computing (ARC) resources based on the scientific merits of the research proposed. In addition to this, we must evaluate the technical requirements of all applications. To meet these two requirements, RAC involves two review processes each year:
- a scientific review, which is a peer-review process involving experts from Canadian academic institutions in 10 discipline-specific committees. 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 Program Administrative Committee, which includes representatives from each of the national system host sites.
Scientific Review Committees
|
Committee |
Chair |
Institution |
|
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology |
Natasha Ivanova |
University of Alberta |
|
Bioinformatics |
Robert Beiko |
Dalhousie University |
|
Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics |
Stacey Wetmore |
University of Lethbridge |
|
Computer Sciences and Mathematics |
Katarina Grolinger |
Western University |
|
Engineering |
Siva Nadarajah |
McGill University |
|
Environmental and Earth Sciences |
Laxmi Sushama |
McGill University |
|
Humanities and Social Sciences |
Raymond Siemens |
University of Victoria |
|
Nano, Materials and Condensed Matter |
Tom Woo |
University of Ottawa |
|
Neurosciences, Medical Imaging and Medical Physics |
Anne Martel |
University of Toronto |
|
Subatomic and Space Physics |
Isabel Trigger |
TRIUMF |
Guiding principals
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.
- The challenges arising from the shortage of resources and other constraints within the system are shared among all applicants.
To schedule a consultation with technical staff, please send an email to rac@computecanada.ca.
Resource scaling
Resources provided by the Federation are limited; therefore, applications are scaled based on supply and demand.
A scaling function, endorsed by the Chairs of the Expert Review Committees, is applied to compute requests to provide a means by which decisions on RAC allocations in a context of insufficient capacity can be made.
For the RAC 2021, this function was set so that only applications with a science score of 3.0 or higher received an allocation. Visit the 2021 Resource Allocations Competition Results page for more details about the scaling function and other RAC stats.
Past Competitions
To view the results of past Resource Allocation Competitions, please click here.