Accessing the ERCAP Allocation Request Form

The ERCAP request form is accessed from NIM at http://nim.nersc.gov. See Browser Requirements for the required browser settings to use with NIM.

• ERCAP Web Navigation
• ERCAP Questions
• Help
• ERCAP Authorizations:
who can access the ERCAP Request Form
• Browser Requirements

ERCAP Web Navigation

After you have logged into NIM select My ERCAP Requests from the My Stuff pulldown menu.

If you currently have a NERSC project, you will see it (them) listed in the ERCAP requests frame. To renew an existing project for the next allocation year click on its renew icon.

To continue working on a proposal you have previously saved click on its edit icon.

If you have a new project and want new project accounts (repositories) scroll to the bottom of the ERCAP requests frame and click on the link Start a new request. You will then be prompted to select 2009 (the default) or the remainder of 2008 as the target allocation year for your new request.

(Note: existing NERSC users who are not yet registered as a PI will see instead a button labeled "Click here to start a new ERCAP request as a PI".)

ERCAP Questions

The questions on the Request Form are divided into several pages. Each page is grouped under a tab. When you first renew a previous year's request, or when you first create a new request, you will be on the first page, called Project Overview. The other tabs are not clickable until you have saved the Project Overview; after which you can click on any tab in any order.

You MUST click the "Save" button at the bottom of each section in order to save your work in that section before selecting another tab.

ERCAP Help

Note that some of the questions on the Request Form have an (for information) icon associated with then; you can click this icon to get more detailed instructions for that question. If you need additional help answering the questions please contact a consultant at consult@nersc.gov, 1-800-66NERSC, menu item 3, or 1-510-486-8611.

For more help see Help for the ERCAP Request Form.

ERCAP Authorizations

New Principal Investigators

In general, Principal Investigators on projects allocated at NERSC are also PIs on a DOE Office of Science research grant. Senior researchers whose research is relevant to the Office of Science may also become new Principal Investigators. See Eligibility.

An existing NERSC user may apply for a new project allocation as a new PI by logging into NIM, selecting My ERCAP Requests from the My Stuff pulldown in the NIM main menu, and following the instructions there.

A Principal Investigator who is new to NERSC and does not yet have a NERSC login should follow the instructions in Applying for Your First NERSC Allocation.

PI Proxies

A Principal Invest1gator can designate one or more "PI Proxies" who help to to fill out the request form. You can check whether one of your existing projects has a PI Proxy associated with it by entering your repo name in the box under Repository in NIM's main menu and clicking Go.

• To Designate a PI Proxy for a New Project

  To designate a Proxy before making a request for a brand new project: fill out the ERCAP Access Request Form. This will allow the Proxy to make the request on behalf of the PI.

• To Add a new Proxy to an Existing Request

  Once a request has been started (and the Project Overview tab saved), a PI or Proxy can add a new Proxy for that request by clicking the Add a preparer (PI Proxy) link on question 2 on the Project Information page.

• To Delete a Proxy

  Before renewing a request, the PI and Proxies can delete a Proxy from a current project by following the instructions at Changing a User's Project Role. This will immediately delete the proxy from the project.

  Once a request is renewed for the next allocation year all Proxies are "renewed" as well. You can delete a Proxy from the user list of the renewed request by clicking the Validate User List tab. The proxy will remain active for the remainder of the current allocation year.

Browser Requirements

To use NIM you need a Web browser that can process tables, frames and Javascript. Your browser also needs to accept cookies (for authentication). The three popular browsers listed here are freely available and are compatible with NIM:

• Mozilla
• Internet Explorer 6
• Netscape Browser 8.0

You must set your browser to enable Javascript, accept cookies and not use stale, cached data.

• For Mozilla click Preferences from the Edit menu.

  1. Select the Advanced category and make sure that Enable Java is selected.
  2. Select Scripts % Plugins and make sure that Enable JavaScript is enabled for Navigator, and that Read Cookies is selected.
  3. Select Cache and make sure that the page in cache is compared to the page on the network "Every time I view the page:.

• For Internet Explorer select Internet Options from the Tools menu.

  1. Under the General tab click the Settings button for Temporary Internet Files, and then for Check for newer versions of stored pages select "Every visit to the page".
  2. Under the Security tab select Medium (or less) as the security level for the Internet. Or you can set the custom level to allow Java, Javascript and cookies.