Pre-announcement: DiRAC Resource Allocation Committee 16th Call for Proposals

The DiRAC Resource Allocation Committee 16th Call for Proposals will be opening soon. The UK theory and modelling communities in astronomy and cosmology, astrophysics, solar system physics, particle astrophysics, particle physics and nuclear physics will be invited to apply for computational resources on the STFC DiRAC High Performance Computing Facility.

The deadline for submission of proposals will be Thursday 14th September 2023 16:00 UK time.

Important information – changes to submission process:
• This year, the scientific proposals will be submitted via the new UKRI Funding Service (the replacement for JeS). This will cover the information previously submitted as part of the scientific application form, scientific case for support, and the project management and data management plans. Applicants are no longer required to submit separate attachments for the case for support and the project management and data management plans because this information will be captured directly into the new UKRI Funding Service when applicants complete their applications online. Applicants should ensure they are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines that may be in place for the submission of their proposal. These deadlines may be similar to those for standard JeS grant applications and it is the applicant’s responsibility to confirm this, as they may be significantly earlier than the STFC submission deadline above.
• The technical application form and Research Software Engineer application form (if requesting RSE support for 3 months or more) must be submitted directly to DiRAC dirac-support@epcc.ed.ac.uk by the above closing date. Failure to submit the technical application form can result in proposals being rejected.
• All of the above information must be submitted by the closing date of Thursday 14th September 2023 16:00 UK time.

Successful awards will be scheduled to begin on 1st April 2024.
All proposal types will be accepted at this call, including Research Software Engineering Support.
Seedcorn proposals can be submitted at any time https://dirac.ac.uk/seedcorn/
The 16th Call guidance notes and information will be available soon on the UKRI Funding Finder.

The DiRAC systems availability figures will be published when the call is launched; please note these figures are provisional. Applicants may apply for resources up to 80% of the availability of the requested system. However, please note that the resources which are allocated may be lower depending on confirmation of the levels of systems availability.

Enquiries should be directed as follows:

• RAC process and remit: STFC Swindon Office (DiRACRAC@stfc.ac.uk)
• Technical questions: Technical Working Group (dirac-support@epcc.ed.ac.uk)
• Direct allocations or discretionary requests: DiRAC Director, Prof Mark Wilkinson (miw6@leicester.ac.uk)