User Contribution Model (Pricing)

HPC, NIRD storage services and TSD services are subject to the User Contribution Model. The cost of the resources depends on the funding supporting the research project.

In 2021 Sigma2 signed a new collaboration agreement with our partners, the BOTT-universities (NTNU, UiB, UiO and UiT). This new agreement requires that all projects need to contribute. This entails that the previous model's thresholds stating that only HPC projects with funding above 15 MNOK and storage projects above 10 TB must contribute have ceased.
 
You find the updated Contribution Model categories and pricing below.

Costs of the services

The allocation of the resources are on a per-period basis and is subject to an evaluation to the RFK. 

The cost for all services is based on cost models consisting of actual cost elements from service suppliers for operational cost and investment costs. Advanced User Support (AUS) is not included in the cost model for any service and is free of charge for all categories (except category C) but subject to evaluation.

HPC prices

LUMI

GPU usage on LUMI is accounted as GPU-hours. One GPU-hour on LUMI is invoiced as 16 CPU-hours using the rates in the table above. See the documentation for more details.

Storage prices

*) EU – in kind was previously included in category B.
**) Back up cost per TB is not included in the price.

Sensitive data prices

The Sensitive Data Service (TSD) has an annual fee, invoiced by the University of Oslo/USIT, which covers two virtual machines, up to 1 TB of storage and backup, and the use of the service Nettskjema.

Extra yearly costs apply for services that are not covered by the yearly fee, such as the use of the HPC cluster, more storage, use of database and use of licensed software not included in the software portfolio. Please note that a potential invoice for extra services like this will come from the University of Oslo/USIT.

Projects supported by Sigma2 for the use of HPC or storage resources will be charged for these services according to the following price list:

(~) If the price model above will give you expenses you consider unreasonable compared to what you have paid before, please contact us at contact@sigma.no.

(~~) Non-commercial projects with extraordinary needs, e.g. in terms of certain predictability for allocations within a specific timeframe, due to for instance obligations or dependencies for other services.

By applying for TSD resources you accept the prices stated here and you will receive a yearly invoice from Sigma2.

EU programmes

Projects participating in EU programmes will continue to be exempted from contributing. For this to be valid, projects participating in EU calls, planning to use the Sigma2 e-infrastructure need to consult with us on resource usage before the application to EU is sent. Only agreed resource usage will be exempted.

To efficiently handle your request, please provide the following information when contacting us:

• What EU programme you will apply to.
• Status on your EU application and when the deadline is.
• The period you need resources from us (from and to year is fine).
• Estimated amount of CPU hours needed per year.
• Estimated amount of storage space per year (in terabytes).

Storage space for projects allocated via DICE is free of charge up to June 2023 thanks to the project funding.

Invoicing

The model is valid from 1 January 2022 with the following considerations 

• Projects with existing allocations or agreement for contribution will not be affected.
• Projects with Principal Investigator (PI) from a BOTT-university will not receive any invoice from Sigma2 as their contribution is handled internally at the university. Each BOTT university will inform its projects/users about its internal policy. 
• Projects with a PI who is not from a BOTT university may contact us at contact@sigma2.no if the funding situation is unclear.