Request Process | NDA Acceptable Use Policy | Reporting of Violations of this Policy

The NDA Computational Credits (CC) pilot program is aimed at providing an efficient model for scientists to request and receive approval for computational access into the NDA. The model for the NDA awards – through Amazon Web Services (AWS) – credits that support compute resources and short-term data storage for specific research initiatives. The resources are provided through the NIMH Data Archive, a federal system, and are to be used only in support of the approved research purpose.

The requirements to be approved for CC are as follows:

1. The researcher must have active data access to one of the NDA permission groups (e.g. CCF, OAI, NIAAA_DA). To request data access, researchers and their institute must meet eligibility criteria and submit a Data Access Request.
2. The computational credit request must include: how the requested resources will enhance research discovery and the mission of the NDA, the requests potential contribution to science, the amount of initial funds needed, the amount of storage required, the services needed, and the number of simultaneous NDA AWS instances required. 
3. Should the request be approved and CC provided, the AWS account specific to your needs will be created and provided to the requester(s).

For any additional questions related to the requirements for requesting CC, please contact us at NDAHelp@mail.nih.gov.

Request Process

The NIMH Data Archive offers restricted use computation and storage for approved uses related to data, please review the guidelines to request and receive computational support.

1. Confirm or request access to the appropriate NDA Permission Group (e.g. NDA, CCF, OAI, NIAAA_DA).
2. Apply for computational credits.

NDA Acceptable Use Policy

The NDA Acceptable Use Policy includes the provisions of Amazon Web Services, provided by Amazon Web services (AWS) and will be follow the same policy for the accounts established. Please refer to https://aws.amazon.com/aup/. Additionally, the NDA has extended this policy to include the following terms:

1. Stated Use – The accounts provided are the responsibility of the United States Federal Government by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). As a result, the resources provisioned may only be used for the intended purpose specified within the application.
2. Monitored Activities – The NDA and the NIMH reserves the right to monitor all resource usage within the accounts provisioned.
3. Use of Accounts Provides – For each AWS account provided, only authorized users of the account will have access. Furthermore, account holders will not create additional accounts or share their credentials with any other users unless expressly approved by the NIMH.
4. Duration and Amount of Support – The NIMH will provide access to AWS resources for a pre-determined period of time and for a pre-determined amount of funding support. It is be the responsibility of the applicant to keep track of the accounts provided, the space used, and resources consumed and ensure that all activities cease and data are cared for by the end of the approved period or when the account exhausts its spending limits.
5. AWS East Region – The accounts provided only permit resources to be used within the AWS East Region.

Reporting of Violations of this Policy

Any violation of this Policy will be immediately reported to the NDA helpdesk. The requester may be required to provide NDA assistance to help remedy the violation.