Instructional Computing Allowance

Instructional Computing Allowances (ICAs) provide a no-cost allocation on the Savio high-performance computing cluster to instructors who need significant computational resources for their courses.

Instructional Computing Allowances are intended for any instructor of record of an official UC Berkeley course. Each Instructional Computing Allowance is based upon a partnership agreement between BRC and the instructor. The agreement specifies a designated Point of Contact (POC) for the course (usually a GSI or staff member) who is familiar with high performance computing in Savio, and who handles software installation and all student troubleshooting and support. The designated point of contact can escalate issues to BRC staff, and work with BRC staff on software installation and account provisioning. This model provides Savio access to students learning computationally-intensive research techniques and ensures that BRC support staff are not overwhelmed..

Allowance Requests

To apply for a new ICA allocation, please visit the MyBRC User Portal in your web browser. After following the on-screen instructions in the portal and registering and/or logging in to the portal, you must first review and sign the cluster User Access Agreement Form on the Home ("Welcome") page (if you haven't already done so from within the portal previously) by clicking on the "Review" button, and then clicking on the "Create" button to request the creation of an ICA project on the same Home ("Welcome") page. You will then reach the “Create a Project” page where you select the Savio cluster, then on to the “New Savio Project” page where you can continue with the on-screen prompts to set up and manage the ICA. The PI may also ask another person to set up an ICA project on their behalf.

To renew an existing ICA allocation, please fill out the ICA request form. If you have any questions, please contact us at brc@berkeley.edu.