STFC’s Resource Allocation Committee puts out an annual invitation to the UK theory and modelling communities in astronomy and cosmology, astrophysics, solar system physic, particle astrophysics, particle physics and nuclear physics to apply for computational resources on the DiRAC HPC Facility.
The most recent RAC16 Call for Proposals closed on 14th September 2023. Successful awards will be scheduled to begin on 1st April 2024 and all applicants will be informed by STFC of the results in early 2024.
Each new Call for full Proposals is widely advertised amongst All DiRAC Users, through STFC’s mailing lists and via DiRAC’s social media channels. DiRAC welcomes applications from Early Career Researchers.
16th
Proposals for both short and thematic projects are accepted. Applicants must submit both a scientific application via the UKRI Funding Service and a technical application directly to DiRAC in order to be considered. In addition, applicants requesting Research Software Engineer (RSE) support must complete the RSE application form and return it to DiRAC. More information on how to submit these applications can be found below.
For the 16th call, there is now a new submission process which can be found below:
For each Call, the RAC produces a set of documentation that includes a number of forms that every applicant must complete. The RAC also provides a comprehensive set of guidance notes.
Please note that all applicants must submit a technical case (technical application form) otherwise a full proposal submission will not be accepted.
The Announcement, Forms and Guidance Notes for the 15th Call can be accessed at the links below are below.
For each Call the RAC produces a set of documentation that includes a number of forms that every applicant must complete. The RAC also provides a comprehensive set of guidance notes.
In addition to the scientific proposal application form, applicants must also submit a technical case (one per proposal) and an RSE Support application.
The Announcement, Forms and Guidance Notes for the 14th Call can be accessed at the links below are below.
14th Call for Proposals Webinars
The DiRAC RSE team is a group of Research Software Engineers who have experience and training in all areas of HPC and Research software engineering methods, tools and techniques. Their mission is to help research groups to achieve good levels of development, management and coding practise in their research software. The RSE team can provide help with code optimisation, porting, re-factoring and performance analysis. Applications for Research Software Engineering Support time can be made via the DiRAC annual RAC process.
For researchers who would like to get a feel for HPC, test and benchmark codes, or see what DiRAC resources can do for you before making a full application, an application can be made for seedcorn time. Existing users may also apply for seedcorn allocations to enable code development/testing on a service that is not currently part of their project allocation. You can apply for Seedcorn Time at any time.
The maximum allocation of seedcorn time will be 100,000 x86 core hours or 1,000 GPU hours. Your hours can be used at any time within three months from the date it is allocated. If you require a larger seedcorn allocation in order to carry out the necessary testing of your code, please contact the DiRAC Director to discuss your requirements.
An overview of the DiRAC hardware resources can be found here.
If you would like to apply please fill in this simple DiRAC Seedcorn application form and send it to diracseedcorn@jiscmail.ac.uk
You will need to provide your personal details, the codes that you intend to run and what libraries and tools are required for you to run the code, if known. We also would like to know what you intend to achieve with your allocation and of course which of the four DiRAC systems you would like to use.
You should be able to complete the form in around 15 minutes.
The decision process for Seedcorn applications is streamlined and should take no more that 1 week.
From time to time the DiRAC Director invites the UK theory and modelling communities in astronomy and cosmology, astrophysics, solar system physics, particle astrophysics, particle physics and nuclear physics to apply for discretionary allocations of computational resources. Discretionary time can also be applied for if you find you will be using your code at a larger scale than was previously requested in a full call for proposals.
Applications may be made at any time. For more information please email DiRAC’s Director, Mark Wilkinson, miw6@leicester.ac.uk
The Resource Allocation Committee (RAC) is responsible for overseeing the allocation process on DiRAC Resources, including compute time, storage and Research Software Engineering effort. Following an annual Call for Proposals, STFC’s Resource Allocation Committee (RAC) oversees time allocations. The RAC has two sub-panels, one for Particle Physics & Nuclear Physics and one for Astronomy and Cosmology, each of which consider proposals within their respective remits. An RAC meeting with representatives from both sub-panels then determines the overall allocation of DiRAC time across the whole portfolio of proposals.
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Title
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Name
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Host Institution
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Prof
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Robert Crain (Chair)
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Liverpool John Moores University
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Dr
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Katy Clough (Deputy Chair)
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Queen Mary University of London
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Dr
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Rowan Smith
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University of Manchester
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Dr
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Heather Ratcliffe
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University of Warwick
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Dr
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Rebecca Nealon
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University of Warwick
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Dr
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Ingo Mueller-Wodarg
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Imperial College London
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Dr
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James Wurster
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University of St Andrews
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Dr
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Daniel Verscharen
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UCL
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Dr
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Dimitris Stamatellos
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University of Central Lancashire
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Dr
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Payel Das
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University of Surrey
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Dr
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Harley Katz
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Oxford University
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Dr
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Anna Lisa Varri
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University of Edinburgh
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Prof
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Baojiu Li
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Durham University
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Title
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Name
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Host Institution
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Dr
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Christopher Bouchard (Chair)
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University of Glasgow
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Prof
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Maurizio Piai (Deputy Chair)
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University of Swansea
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Prof
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David Colling
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Imperial College London
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Dr
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David Schaich
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University of Liverpool
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Prof
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Jacek Dobaczewski
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University of York
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Dr
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Antonin Portelli
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University of Edinburgh
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Dr
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Vera Guelpers
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University of Edinburgh
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Prof
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Christopher Thomas
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University of Cambridge
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