Application Process

Any qualified Canadian researcher may apply for a SciNet account at any time after having successfully registered with the Compute Canada Database. In general, a faculty member applies. Accounts have default limits but those users with especially large resource requirements may apply to the Local or National Resource Allocation Committees for larger allocations.

Here is a synopsis of the application process:

1. faculty member (PI) registers with the Compute Canada Database
2. faculty member (PI) applies for a default SciNet account for his/her research program
3. faculty member (PI) applies to the National Resource Allocation Committee or to the SciNet Local Resource Allocation Committee for an allocation that is larger than the default.

After the user obtains his/her CCRI (Compute Canada Role Identifier) the user may request an account with SciNet. This is done directly from the CCDB site:

Simply login to the CCDB site, click on the link at the bottom that says "Link or Apply for Consortium Account", and then click on the "Apply" button for SciNet. You will then be put on the SciNet portal, and asked to fill a form. Your account will then be set up within a day or two. If the user already has a local SciNet account then all that is required is to "link" the CCRI to the existing account.

Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other research staff follow the faculty member, who must approve the requests by his/her students and postdocs. Students and postdocs must use their professor's CCRI in their application for membership in the CCDB. Once their CCDB membership is approved, then they follow the same procedure outlined in the previous paragraph in order to obtain their SciNet account. Note that supervisors must have a SciNet account before members of their group can get theirs.

The user will be notified, by e-mail, when the account has been set up, and will be instructed to contact SciNet staff for further details.