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NWSC End User Agreement

The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), a Colorado non-profit corporation, manages the National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) and the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) on behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF). These terms and conditions may be modified or amended without notice by UCAR at its sole discretion.

By requesting and receiving access to NSF NCAR computing resources at NWSC, you agree to the following terms and conditions:

Section 1: Projects and User Accounts

  • You may not use NSF NCAR computer and information systems at NWSC in any manner for any business, professional, or activity that is unrelated to the specific purpose and/or selection made as part of your request and/or approved allocation.

  • You will use NWSC computer and information systems in an ethical manner and in compliance with the law, and you agree not to duplicate or use copyrighted or proprietary software without proper authorization.

  • You agree that account credentials and privileges granted by NSF NCAR are confidential and may not be shared with another person within your team or outside your team. You acknowledge that if any misuse and/or sharing of account credentials is detected, account access for those involved will be disabled immediately, with or without notice.

  • You further agree that you shall comply with applicable laws, UCAR policies and procedures, export control regulations, and verbal or written directions from UCAR staff. You agree that any violation may result in your loss of access to NWSC computing resources.

  • You understand that NWSC user access may be terminated by UCAR at its sole discretion and without notice for several reasons. In addition to inappropriate/unauthorized account sharing, access may be terminated in the following situations: (a) your user account remains inactive for more than six (6) months; (b) your research project is completed, terminated, and/or ended; (c) it is discovered that inaccurate or misrepresentations were made about the purpose or need for access; and/or (d) applicable laws or regulations require termination of access.

Section 2: Ongoing User Responsibilities

  • You are required to acknowledge the use of NSF NCAR resources, including the CMIP Analysis Platform and Research Data Archive, in any resulting publications, in a manner consistent with the examples provided here.

  • You are responsible for protecting your personal user account, authentication token, and/or passwords to mitigate any unauthorized account access.

  • You agree to report potential security breaches as soon as possible by calling the Research Computing Help Desk at 303-497-2000.

  • While NSF NCAR storage systems are highly reliable, you are responsible for backing up critical data to protect it against loss or corruption. You also are responsible for understanding the usage and data retention policies for the file system and data archive resources used.

  • You are responsible for ensuring that NSF NCAR has your current contact information, including your phone number and email address. If your name, phone number, email address, or other information changes, notify CISL through rchelp.ucar.edu. If CISL personnel can’t reach you when they need information about a problem caused by a job you are running, your job may be stopped and you will be locked out of the system.

  • Project leads (including instructors associated with classroom allocations) are responsible for ensuring that users on their projects are aware of and comply with these responsibilities.

  • You agree to promptly notify NWSC (but no later than 14 calendar days) via rchelp.ucar.edu if any user for whom you have requested access is no longer affiliated with your research project or other approved activity.