Once a project has received its allocation, the PI has a number of options to ensure the flexibility needed to complete their research objectives.
In all cases, management actions are subject to resource availability on the target resource and Resource Provider concurrence. A Resource Provider may decline requests for reasons including resource-specific eligibility requirements, lack of alignment with a resource's posted recommended use, the resource not being able to support the planned applications, and so on.
A PI may share their allocation by adding collaborators' user accounts to their project. Collaborators may be graduate or undergraduate students as well as colleagues based outside of the U.S., with the exception of researchers based in countries on the U.S. State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism. Some Resource Providers may have additional restrictions on international collaborators.
Exchanges are the mechanism by which PIs convert their ACCESS Credits to specific resource allocations. At any tier, PIs can also request that specific resource units on one platform be transferred to another. All exchanges and transfers are subject to conversion of units according to established exchange rates.
Exchanges and transfers can only be made within a project; credits or resource units cannot be moved from one project to another.
During an allocation award period for an Explore, Discover, or Accelerate ACCESS project, a PI may request a one-time increase to their ACCESS Credits via a supplement request. The supplement may ask for up to half the current ACCESS Credit limit for that tier. Projects that need more resources should submit a request for the next larger tier (see Project Upgrades). Supplement requests for these tiers are accepted at any time and are generally decided within two weeks of submission.
For Maximize ACCESS projects, supplement requests have no limit, although Resource Providers may limit supplemental awards based on resource availability. The supplement request should describe why more resources are needed to complete the work in progress and justify those additional resources according to the review criteria. During periods of high resource demand, supplement requests may be declined or held for review during the next AARC opportunity.
For projects supported by a funding award, extensions can be requested for Explore, Discover, or Accelerate ACCESS projects if the end date of the funding award changes through a no-cost extension or other means. A single extension of up to six months past the end of the funding award may be requested to wrap up the project.
For projects not supported by a funding award, Explore, Discover, or Accelerate ACCESS projects can be extended in 12-month increments for up to five years. Projects associated with an educational opportunity (university course or training event) are typically not extended, so that ACCESS and RPs can close unused accounts to reduce any latent cybersecurity risk.
Maximize ACCESS projects that encounter problems in consuming their allocations, such as unexpected staffing changes, can request a one-time extension to their allocation end date of a maximum of six months.
Note that extensions apply to all current resource allocations on the same project; PIs cannot extend some allocations and submit overlapping renewal requests for other resources. If a project still has unused allocation units at the end of the extended allocation period, the PI must submit a renewal request to continue their ACCESS project. The renewal request should explain the reasons for the unused allocation as part of the accompanying progress report.
Note: Existing XSEDE projects, such as “Startup”, “Educational” and “Campus Champion” allocations, may renew their allocation early in order to get into one of the tiers.
When an Explore, Discover, or Accelerate ACCESS project reaches the end of its associated funding award, a PI may choose to renew their ACCESS project to pursue work supported by a subsequent funding award. With a renewal, the project is entitled to the full ACCESS Credit limit for that tier; however, unused Credits and resource units associated with the prior allocation will be forfeited. (For overlapping funding awards, a PI may submit a separate project request if additional resources are needed.)
To continue a Maximize ACCESS project beyond its initial allocation period (including any extension applied), the PI should submit a renewal request to the AARC for consideration. In most cases, this request should be submitted approximately one year after the initial request submission, so that it can be reviewed and awarded to avoid any interruption. In general, the appropriate submission period is approximately three months prior to the expiration of their allocation. Maximize ACCESS awards may support efforts spanning more than one funding award. However, a PI with an active Maximize ACCESS award may choose to request a separate allocated project at an appropriate tier to encompass the work of a separate funding award.
If a PI exhausts the maximum amount of ACCESS Credits available at a given tier and determines that more resources are needed to complete the project, they may submit a request to a larger tier. The proposal document for the larger-scale tier should describe any progress made at the smaller-scale tier. The initial allocation of ACCESS Credits will be half of the total amount for the new tier minus the amount consumed at the smaller-scale tier. When moving to the Maximize ACCESS tier, projects will be awarded according to the AARC process. The PI will be entitled to proceed according to the rules governing the new project tier.
Progress reports are required in order to receive the second half of the available ACCESS Credits for Explore, Discover, and Accelerate tiers. In no more than three pages, a progress report should summarize the work accomplished to date, describe how the ACCESS resources were used to support the work, identify any publications in progress, and summarize how the project will be completed with the remaining ACCESS Credits (or plans to move the work to another tier). Published citable works should be entered separately via the supplement submission interface.
Progress reports are also essential to successful renewal requests at the Maximize tier. The progress report should summarize the work accomplished to date, describe any deviations from the originally proposed work, identify any publications in progress, and explain why any resource allocations were substantially underused (if applicable). For resources without accounting charges, a PI must describe how the resources were used effectively and justify any continued need for resources in subsequent years. Failure to discuss the resource utilization may result in a reduced or declined allocation. Published citable works resulting from the prior allocation should be entered via the renewal submission form.
Upon the completion of any project, the PI must submit a final report that summarizes the work accomplished with the awarded allocations and describe how the ACCESS resources were used to support the work. Significant deviations from the originally planned work or reasons for being unable to accomplish the work should also be briefly described. Publications or citable works resulting from the allocations should be added separately via the renewal submission interface.
An acknowledgement of support from the appropriate Resource Providers and ACCESS should appear in any publication of material, whether copyrighted or not, that describes work that benefited from access to ACCESS cyberinfrastructure resources. For suggested language, see How to Acknowledge ACCESS.
PIs should report all articles or other citable works that benefited from support by ACCESS-allocated resources. These research products can be reported via the ACCESS allocations interface as part of a PI's allocation requests, progress reports, or final reports.
For more information, please refer to the ACCESS Allocations Policies.
