XSEDE Resources & Allocations

Allocation Request Steps

POPS is a website for submitting project allocation requests which request compute and storage resources at TeraGrid resource provider sites. You begin on the POPS Welcome page , where you'll find a summary of steps for filling out a request form and (re-)uploading a allocaiton request (PDF) document.
If you need more help in making selections or filling out the form fields, refer to this User Guide, the Allocations overview page (allocation policies, process, and eligibility information), and to the TeraGrid resouces pages: TeraGrid Resources Catalog (lists of specs for all resources plus customizable comparisons and searches) and the Systems Monitor on the user portal. (live data on available resources).
In brief, submitting a request requires the following steps:

• A. Log in
• B. Specify allocation request options
• C. Enter data and upload documents
• D. Save, Edit, and Submit

Please observe the following precautions to prevent loss of data:

• Use a supported browser: Netscape Navigator 6.x/Internet Explorer 5.2/Firefox 1.x/Safari 1.x and above. Successfully tested browsers:

  PC:
  Mac:

    Netscape 6.0, 7.1
    IE 6.02
    Firefox 1.04
    IE 5.2
    Mozilla
    Firefox
    Safari 1.x-2.x

• Netscape users, don't resize your browsers during a session.
• Always use the navigation buttons on the left menu or Next and Previous within the submission form rather than your [back] button.
• The Reset button will clear all fields on a page; use with caution. You will need to re-enter the data on that page; however, previously saved pages will be preserved in the POPS database.
• Always Save to Date before closing your browser. will upload a partial submission to the POPS database. However, it will not submit it for review.)

A. Log In
Log in from the left menu of the POPS Welcome page.

• If you already have a TeraGrid User Portal, Kerberos, or POPS login:
  1. Click on the appropriate authentication method (TG Portal, NCSA Kerberos, SDSC Kerberos, or POPS) from the Loginsection of the left menu. The username/password dialog box will open.
  2. Enter your user name and password.
  3. Click the OK button; the Submission Home page will open in your browser window.
• If you do not already have a TG Portal, POPS or other login:
  1. Click Create POPS Login. The Create POPS Login window opens.
  2. Fill out the required fields, which are indicated by an asterisk (*).
  3. Create a strong password that is not a word contained in the dictionary, is at least 8 characters in length, and contains a mix of numerals and upper and lower case letters.
  4. Click the Create POPS Login button; your account will be created, and you will be returned to the POPS Welcome page.
  5. Log in (see next step).
• If you forget your password or wish to reset your password, click on the appropriate link from the Manage Your Login section of the left navigation menu. If you need further help, click on the Contact POPS staff.

TG Portal login v. POPS login: 

If you have a TeraGrid Portal login, use this login to access POPS. Users who are brand new to the TeraGrid will still need to create a POPS login. 

Don't share passwords: 

If another person uses your login and password to create his/her own allocation request, your data will be overwritten; all your allocation requests will be assigned to the other person.

B. Specify Allocation Request Options?
Logging in will take you to the Submission Home page. In this section, the system will lead you through a few sequential pages where you will define the type of submission, the size range of your request, and at which meeting your request will be reviewed. Depending on the type of allocation request you are submitting, the order of these first few pages may differ.
1. Choose the type of allocation request
New
Choose New, if:

• This is the first time you are requesting an allocation via POPS. This includes startup, education, and research allocation requests as well as new multi-year requests.
• This is your first request to a particular committee, even if you have had allocations accepted by other committees in the past. For instance, if you have or had a startup allocation and you are now requesting a research allocation, you would use the New option.
• You already have an allocation, and you need another allocation for a new, unrelated project in a separate field of science. For instance, a principle investigator (PI) may have research allocations if they are for separate sites or fields of science.
• If there has been an interval of greater than one year between requests.

Renewal
Select the Renewal option if you are making a request to continue research activities for the next 12 months in continuation of a previous allocation request to the same level of allocation meeting. Note that, although the precise research activities may change between allocation periods, you should submit a renewal to continue access to TeraGrid as long as research is in same area of science. You can submit a multi-year renewal request.
Supplemental
Supplemental requests are for additional resources within your current allocation period.
Justification
Choose this option if you wish to submit a response or rebuttal to recent reviewer comments.
Progress Report
If you have an ongoing multi-year award, you are required to submit an annual report for subsequent years. Choose the Progress Report option to submit your report. You should submit your Progress Reports each year to the same research allocations meeting at which you submitted your original allocation request.
Extension
Choose this option if you have a current award, and you want to request additional calendar time, up to six months, to use your awarded SUs.
Partial/editable submissions
If you are returning to POPS to continue working on a partial submission (i.e., you saved to date but did you did not finalize your submission in an earlier session), your partial submissions will appear at the bottom of the page. Select the appropriate radio button to continue entering data. (Skip to data entry section of the User Guide below.)
2. Select your past allocation requests
This step is for renewal, justification, supplemental, and progress report, and extension requests. You will not see this page if you are submitting a new allocation request.
3. Select resource level for your request
Service Units (SUs) are the units in which computing time is measured. One SU is one CPU-hour on a given resource. Terabytes (TBs) are the units in which storage space is measured. Select the radio button next to the appropriate request level.
For requests that combine both compute SUs and storage TBs, select the option that applies to the largest of the three request components: compute, disk and tape. For example, if you plan to request 100,000 SUs, 30 TB of disk and 50 TB of tape storage, you should select the third option here because of your disk request.
Special instructions for multi-year awards: 

Do you need computing time:

• over successive years?
• for the same project?
• at the same resource level for each year? (in one of the higher two ranges on this page)

Then you have the option of submitting a multi-year request. 

For a multi-year submission, select the resource level based on the single-year resource level, not the cumulative size of your multi-year request. This determines the level of the award for the entire duration of the potential award and at which meeting it will be reviewed. If your multi-year resource needs cross between the resource levels, you should submit a multi-year request only for consecutive years at the same resource level. See the example table below. If you are submitting a progress report for your multi-year award, choose the resource level based on the original submission.
4. Upcoming meetings
This page displays the available meetings. For startup and education requests, use the computing resource that you are requesting to determine which meeting to select. Startup and education requests are reviewed all year round. Submit research and education requests during specific time periods; submissions at these levels are reviewed at quarterly and semi-annual meetings, respectively. See schedule on the POPS Welcome page.) For research, select the next meeting.
 
For research requests, you cannot proceed further if submissions are not being accepted at this time.

C. Enter data and upload documents
After selecting your allocation request type and resource level, the POPS system takes you to a series of pages for entering data and uploading attachments.
Required Information:
Five of these pages are required for final submission: PI Information, Proposal Information, Supporting Grants, Resource Request, and Attachments. These are marked with a red asterisk * on the left menu.
If you place data in any field on any page - even optional pages - then all required fields on that page (marked with *) must be complete before you can make your final submission. In other words, if you do not plan to fill out optional pages, leave all its fields blank (use the Reset button to clear fields).

A number of functions are available to you from any of the 6 required and optional pages:

• Move: Move between pages in any order by using the left menu or the Next and Previous buttons at the top and bottom of the right frame (with the data entry fields). Don't use the forward and back buttons of your browser.
• Save: Save your submission in its current state (a partial submission) at any time, using the Save To Date button on the left menu. (Use this button to upload your documents from the Attachments page, too.)
• Review: Review what you've saved so far, including uploaded documents, using the Submission Summary button on the left menu.
• Submit: When you have completed all required entries, and you are ready to send your submission for review by the allocation committee, use the Final Submission button.

1. Principle Investigator (PI) information (required)
Most fields on this page are self-explanatory; fill out all required fields (marked with *). Save your unfinished submission at any time using the Save to Date button.
E-mail Address
Please double-check that your e-mail address is valid. This is the address that will be used to inform you about your submission after you have completed it.
Country
Note that Country is automatically filled in as "United States" due to NSF eligibility requirements.
Distinguished Name (DN) (optional)
A Distinguished Name is a globally unique identifier that represents you as an individual and is based on the certificate that you may be using and on what certificates are accepted at a particular resource. If you know your DN(s), supply them here, separated by pipes (|). Text beyond 255 characters will be truncated. If you don't have one, don't know what your DN is, or don't know where to get it, skip this step.
2. Co-PI information (optional)
If your project has one or more co-PIs, complete all required fields (marked with *). If you do not have a co-PI, leave all fields blank and continue to the next page. Most of the fields are self-explanatory; additional information for some fields is provided below. Save your partially completed submission at any time using the Save to Date button on the left menu.
Multiple Co-PIs
Use the Add Co-PI, Modify Co-PI, and Delete buttons at the bottom, right corner of the page to add and edit co-PI information. As you add names, a list of Co-PIs will appear at the bottom, left corner of the page. To edit Co-PI information, click on his/her name in the list; a Modify Co-PI button will appear. To delete a Co-PI, click on the Delete button next to his/her name on the list. After each change, a dialog box will appear, confirming that your information was changed.
Special Reset exception:
If you click the Reset button on this page, all fields on the page will be emptied, as with other pages. However, the information you have already entered in the fields for a Co-PI is saved, not removed. Clicking on the Co-PI's name link at the bottom of the page will display the information in the corresponding fields above. To remove a co-PI, use theDelete button next to the co-PI's name.

Country and State
To fill in both country and state, click on the Select Country button to open a dialog box. Choose the country, and if the co-PI is based in the United States, also choose the state. Click on the Select button to close the window and populate the Country and State fields on the Co-PI Information page. A search tool is also available within the dialog box.
Distinguished Name (DN) (optional)
A Distinguished Name is a globally unique identifier that represents you as an individual and is based on the certificate that you are using and on what certificates are accepted at a particular resource. If you know your DN(s), supply them here, separated by pipes (|). Text beyond 255 characters will be truncated. If you have one, don't know what your DN is, or where to get it, skip this step.
3. Proposal Information (required)
This section provides the summary description of your allocation request. Fill out all required fields (marked with *). Save your partially completed submission from the left menu at any time. If you are submitting an research allocation request, you will also need to attach a full allocation request document to your submission (see the Attachments: Uploading Documentssection). Additional help is provided below for fields highlighted in the Proposal Information page screenshot.
Formatting restrictions:

• Title: Your allocation request title should be limited to 255 characters; excess characters will be truncated.
• Keywords: Separate with commas.
• Abstract: Use only ASCII characters; Non-ASCII characters will be removed.

Is this a Multi-Year Proposal?
Most awards are for 12 months. However, research with ongoing need for computing resources may be best served with a multi-year allocation. You can submit a multi-year request if you need computing time:

• over successive years
• for the same project
• at the same resource level for each year

If this is your first request for NSF resources, consider a single-year request; multi-year allocations are more likely to be approved after a successful award. Please note that multi-year allocation request documents should describe and justify all years of the resource request.
a. Yes/No: Researchers requesting multi-year awards should select the Yes radio button. If your allocation request does not meet these three requirements, select the No radio button and leave the other text fields under Multi-Year Proposal blank.
b. Number of years: If you answered "yes", fill in the total number of years for which you are requesting computing time.
c. Sum of SUs requested: Enter the sum of all SUs that you are questing over the period of time that you specified in theNumber of Years field above. See examples below:

 
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Total SUs

Example 1
100,000
300,000
100,000
500,000

Example 2
300,000
100,000
100,000
500,000

Primary Field of Science
Use the Select Field of Science button to open the Field of Sciences List window. You may use the Search tool or scroll through the options. Highlight a Field of Science and click the Select button to fill the text field on the Proposal Information page and close the Field of Science List window.

• Do not type directly into the Primary Field of Science text box on the Proposal Information page.
• The Field of Science list is ordered by a numeric code with related fields grouped together.
• Qualify strings in the search tool using the drop-down list to filter by
  • Contains
  • Starts with
  • Ends with
• After a search, use the Reset button to repopulate the display with all fields of science.

Secondary Field of Science
See the instructions for Primary Field of Science above. In addition, you may enter multiple secondary fields of science. However, you must re-open the Field of Science List window again for each entry. To remove fields of science that you may have entered incorrectly, deselect (remove the highlight from ) the entry in the Secondary Field of Science field, using CTRL-click or Shift-Click depending on your browser, and save to date or continue to another page. You may also select None to deselect all entries. Highlighted entries will be saved with your submission; de-selected entries will not be saved.

• Do not use the Reset button to remove fields of science; this may not behave as you expect. This is a known bug.
• CTRL-click and Shift-click do not work in the Field of Sciences list window for choosing multiple fields of science. You must select each field individually, close the window, and reopen the window to make the next selection. This is a known usability issue.

4. Supporting Grants (required)
If your project has one or more supporting grants, complete all required fields for each grant. For research submissions, supporting grant information informs the reviewers that the science has been reviewed and that sufficient funding (for staff and student time, etc.) is available to complete the work proposed. For startup and education allocations, supporting grant information is not essential, but helps TeraGrid in its reports to NSF. All current research funding affected by or benefitting from the use of the allocation requested in your research request should be listed. If you do not have a supporting grant, you must select the "No Supporting Grants" checkbox at the top of the page.
Most of the fields are self-explanatory; additional information for some fields is provided below. Save your partially completed submission at any time using the Save to Date button on the left menu. Multiple grants can be entered and edited using the buttons and links below the data entry forms.
For research submissions, include supporting grant information in the data entry fields and not (or not only) in your allocation request document. This will streamline your award processing and leave you more space within your allocation request page limits.
Nothing to Report/No Supporting Grants
If you do not have a supporting grant, you must select the "No Supporting Grants" checkbox at the top of the page. This checkbox is selected by default. You must deselect it to save Supporting Grant info.
PI Name and Title of Supporting Grant
This is the PI and Title of the supporting grant; these are not necessarily the same as the PI for the POPS submission.
Funding Agency Information
Please select the Funding Agency for the supporting grant from the pull-down menu, and enter the Funding Agency Division in the next field. If you select "Other" from the pull-down menu, provide the agency name in the next field. Provide the program officer name and e-mail for the supporting grant.
Grant Number and Awarded Amount
Please enter the grant number in the agency-defined format. For grants spanning several years, enter the Award Amount for a 12-month period. For grants covering less than 12 months, enter the full award amount. The amount should be in US dollars, no punctuation or extra characters.
Please also enter the percentage (numbers only) of the amount entered above that will support the work described in this POPS submission. Reasonable rounding is acceptable.
Field of Science
Use the Select Field of Science button to open the Field of Sciences List window. You may use the Search tool or scroll through the options. Highlight a Field of Science and click the Select button to fill the text field on the Proposal Information page and close the Field of Science List window.

• Do not type directly into the Primary Field of Science text box on the Proposal Information page.
• The Field of Science list is ordered by the NSF index number.
• Qualify strings in the search tool using the drop-down list to filter by Contains, Starts with, Ends with.
• After a search, use the Reset button to repopulate the display with all fields of science.

Multiple Supporting Grants
After filling in the information for a grant, click on the Add Grant button at the bottom, right corner of the page to add it to your submission. As you add supporting grants, a list of grants will appear at the bottom, left corner of the page.

• To edit grant information, click on the grant title in the list; a Modify Grant button will appear. Click on this button and modify the fields.
• To delete a grant, click on the Delete button next to the title on the list.

After each change, a dialog box will appear, confirming that your information was changed.
Special Reset exception:
If you click the Reset button on this page, all fields on the page will be emptied, as with other pages. However, the information you have already entered in the fields for a grant is saved, not removed. Clicking on the grant's title at the bottom of the page will display the information in the corresponding fields above. To remove a grant, use the Delete button across from the grant title at the bottom of the page.

5. Resource Request (required)
This page displays the computing resources that are available to be allocated at the meeting you selected earlier. From the Available Resources list, you can move to each resource on which you wish to request time.

1. To select a resource, enter the appropriate request amount.
   • For a compute resource, fill in the number of SUs. Use numerals, no commas.
   • For a storage resource, enter the number of terabytes (or gigabytes), as appropriate. Use numerals, no commas.
   • For the Advanced Support Program (research only), enter the number of months for which support is requested. Special allocation request requirements apply.
2. Then fill out all the information for each resource for which you have entered a request.
3. Save your selections using the Save to Date button.

A warning message will pop up if you missed filling out information for a resource where you entered a request. After you save, the resources you chose will show up in black text in the Available Resources list.
Comments (optional)
Use this field to request the best alternate resource in case your first choice is not available.

• Multi-year Requests: For new submissions and annual reports, fill in the number of SUs or TBs for the current year.
• TeraGrid Roaming: TeraGrid startup compute requests are submitted for TeraGrid Wide Roaming Access. Research requests can request a combination of Roaming and resource-specific allocations. Roaming allocations allow access to all TeraGrid computing resources.

6. Attachments: Uploading Documents (required)
Startup allocation requests require only a CV for the Principal Investigator. Research allocation requests require a full allocation request document. The field captions on this page will change according to the type of submission you are making to designate if you need a CV or a full allocation request. The screenshot below shows the field captions for a startup request.
PI CV Document/Proposal Document/Attachment
This is the full path, filename, and extension of the document on your local computer. Use the Browse button (the button name may vary by browser type) to find the document or type the location in by hand.
Extension
You must provide the filename extension for the document, even though it is part of the filename. This selection must match the extension of the filename
Attachment Title
This is a user-provided title of the document, not the filename. This value helps you identify which files you have already uploaded.
Upload Your Files: Save to Date
After you have filled in the fields for the required and optional documents, click on the Save to Date button on the left menu to upload your documents.

• You must use one of the accepted document types: Adobe Acrobat (pdf), HTML (htm/html), PostScript (.ps), or MSWord (.doc)
• PDF is the preferred format
• File extensions are important; the filename must end in an extension and must match the extension field.
• If you are returning to finish a partially submitted allocation request and you have already uploaded your required documents, it will not show up in the PI CV Document/Proposal Document field. Resubmitting will overwrite your your CV/Proposal document with a new one. Leave this field blank when uploading optional attachments unless you wish to replace your CV/Proposal document in the POPS database.

D. Save, Edit, and Submit
Save-to-Date: Partial Submission
As with all data entry, the rule of thumb is to save often. Once you have entered data on a page - whether or not you have completed required fields - you can save your data by clicking on the Save To Date button on the left menu.
Edit Your Submission
Once you have saved a partially submitted allocation request, you can leave POPS at any time and return later to complete and or edit your submission. A reasearch submission can be edited at any time (even after Final Submission) until the allocation request submission deadline has passed. A startup and education submission may be edited at any time until the allocation request is awarded or rejected.
A submission can be edited by the following persons:

• the original submitter,
• the PI, and
• any co-PI.

The original submitter need not be the PI or a co-PI on the submission.
While the submitter, PI and co-PIs may all edit a submission, there may be a short delay if the PI or co-PI is not the original submitter of the allocation request and is new to the POPS system--that is, has just created a new POPS login. In this case, it may take POPS staff a few days to associate the newly created POPS login with the PI or co-PI information entered by the submitter.
Final Submission
Once you have completed all required fields and uploaded required documents, you can send your final submission to the POPS database to be reviewed by the appropriate committee. Click on the Final Submission button on the left menu.
The POPS system will scan your submission for missing information. If any required fields are missing, a list appears at the top of the page. If all the required information was entered, the Proposal Status field on the left menu changes from Incomplete to Submitted, and a allocation request summary window opens that displays:

• A summary of the information you provided.
• The allocation request number that is associated with your request.
• Links to download a tar or zip file of your attachments.

You will be notified about your submission by e-mail, using the address you provided on the PI Information page.
Review Your Submission
At any time in the process, you can use the Submission Summary button on the left menu to open a window with all the data you have entered up to that point. You can download a zip or tar file of the attachments that you uploaded from within the window.

The TeraGrid project is funded by the National Science Foundation and includes eleven resource providers:
Indiana, LONI, NCAR, NCSA, NICS, ORNL, PSC, Purdue, SDSC, TACC and UC/ANL.