The charging model for the Compute Service for the 2019/20 academic year has been revised to 1.5p per CPU Core hour to ensure access to the service remains sustainable.

The service is free during the 2018/2019 academic year, but researchers are asked to add the cost of the services to all future research bids.

Changes to the funding model
Cost recovery for this service will now be based on a contribution-based budget model with a commitment from schools to ensure academics cost the service into any future funding applications.
Schools will be allocated a Compute Service budget determined by their previous use of the HPC. Any cost over and above historic usage, not recharged to grants, will need to be covered within the operating envelope of the relevant unit allowing funding decisions to be made locally. A process for managing School usage and budgets will be agreed in the coming months. More information about school budget allocation can be found on the Digital Research pages.

Free access
An agreed amount of the service will be “free at the point of use” i.e. part of the core services and therefore not charged to Schools. The free service will be reserved for digital initiatives and for developing the service among non-traditional users. Free use of the service by Schools without a budget allocation will contribute to developing a budget allocation in the following year. Information about funding support for costed use of the Compute Service is available on our Digital Research pages.

Additional improvements to the Compute Service
Based on user feedback we are reviewing the route to access the compute service as well as the Digital Research pages. In addition, engagement and support activities are being planned, including workshops, clinics, and drop-in-sessions.  If you have further questions, please contact the Digital Research Specialist for your Faculty.