How to ... Get an Account

Before you can use NERSC facilities, you need a user account. Each user account belongs to a group account, also known as a repository. See the Accounts web pages for more information.

Group Accounts (repos)

Group accounts, known as repositories, are allocated by the Department of Energy to support projects sponsored by the DOE Office of Science. Each repository has one or more users, each with their own user account.

Each project is given a repository of computer time and archival storage, which is managed by the project's Principal Investigator, or designated Account Manager(s).

Principal Investigators apply for repositories through a process known as ERCAP, which stands for Energy Research Computer Applications Process. Proposals are submitted through a World Wide Web interface. See the NERSC allocations web page for more information.

Startup awards are available for new projects that wish to investigate using NERSC resources, or who wish to port or develop new codes. The maximum Startup award is 50,000 IBM POWER3-equivalent hours and 10,000 Storage Resource Units. A request for a Startup repository can be made at any time during the year, and decisions for Startup requests are made by NERSC within one to three weeks after applying. See Applying for Your First NERSC Allocation.

User Accounts (user names or login names)

Each person using NERSC must have their own user account; sharing of accounts is not allowed. All new users must sign the Computer Use Policies form.

A user name may be associated with multiple repositories. Each user is allotted some share of a given repository's resources by the PI or a designated account manager. If a user belongs to more than one repo, he or she can choose which repo to charge a job. See MPP Accounts and Charging.

The PI or repo manager must request user accounts for members of their repository. The PI or manager makes the request online via the NIM web accounting interface. NIM is also used for adding and deleting users from repositories. PIs and Project Managers should read the NIM Guide for PIs, PI Proxies and Project Managers.