Project Extensions and New Allocations on Existing Projects

NeSI recognises that research programmes often continue over several years before coming to an end. To reduce administrative overhead, we allow most project teams to extend their projects rather than applying for a new project to carry on the same work.

We currently offer two sorts of extensions:

A new allocation of computing resources (usually compute units on Mahuika or node hours on Māui)
A project extension without a new allocation of computing resources.

Will my project qualify for an extension?¶

Usually, yes. There are a few circumstances in which a project will not qualify for an extension:

If there has been a substantial change to the research programme's goals.
If there has been (or is about to be) a substantial change to the computational methods the project team plans on using to carry out the project work, such that we decide a new technical assessment is warranted.
If the project team is no longer eligible to receive computing resources from NeSI. For example, the grant funding the research programme has come to an end and the host institution does not wish to purchase computing resources from NeSI (or allocate computing resources from its subscription or collaborator share if it has one).
If the project's host institution has changed (or is about to change).
If the project's owner is no longer employed by or studying at the project's host institution, and there is no-one at the host institution who has agreed to take over project ownership responsibilities.
If the project's owner (or supervisor if the project has one) is not authorised to access NeSI facilities due to a refusal to accept or failure to abide by the NeSI Acceptable Use Policy.

Who may request a project extension?¶

A request for a project extension should come from the project owner. If the project owner is a student, we will include the supervisor on the extension correspondence. The project supervisor may disallow an extension request.

How do I request an extension?¶

You can submit a request for an extension using https://my.nesi.org.nz or by Contact our Support Team.

Please see Requesting to renew an allocation via my.nesi.org.nz for more details.

You will receive a series of automated emails inviting you to apply for a new allocation (or, alternatively, clean up your project data) in the following circumstances:

In the lead-up to the end of the call window immediately before your currently active allocation is scheduled to end.
In the lead-up to the end of your allocation.
If your allocation ends before your project is scheduled to end, in the lead-up to the end of your project.

Requests for new allocations¶

If you are requesting a new allocation of computing resources, we will look at your usage history and come up with an estimated allocation size and duration based on that history. If you think your rate of usage will be substantially higher or lower than we estimate, you should let us know what you think your rate of usage will be and why you expect it to differ from our forecast.

Please be aware that:

First and subsequent allocations are subject to the NeSI allocation size and duration limits in force at the time they are considered by our reviewers.
An allocation from an institution's entitlement is subject to approval by that institution.

Requests for project extensions without a new compute allocation¶

In some circumstances, you may wish to extend your project without receiving a new allocation of compute units or node hours for the project. Typically this occurs in cases like a PhD thesis under examination when the project team would like to keep the research data for a few months while waiting to find out whether more computational work will be needed.

If this is your situation, please let us know when you request your project extension. Please note that we are unlikely to let a project continue without a compute allocation for more than six months at a time. If you expect that your project will be suspended for more than six months, we encourage you to enquire about our Long-Term Storage Service or to move your research data off our facility and make arrangements with your project's host institution for long-term data storage.