Strategic Resource Allocation Policy, Pricing
& FAQ

1. NSCC’s Strategic Allocation Policy (updated 1 July 2026)

National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore’s Strategic Resource Allocation policy was first introduced in September 2024 to align with its role as a National Research Infrastructure (NRI). NSCC will support key national research and development (R&D) programmes and research projects to achieve significant economic outcomes and scientific imperatives for Singapore. 

 

The policy has been revised in June 2026 to integrate Singapore’s newest supercomputer, ASPIRE 2B, and to reflect the recent increase in demand for GPU resources. A new Tier 2 category has been introduced, to support our institutional needs. The revised policy will take effect from July 2026 onwards.

 

The Strategic Resource Allocation is as follows.

Categories Key Objective Overseeing Body CPU A100 H100 H200
1
RIE-Funded Projects
Support RIE-funded projects of national priorities and complexity
SRAC
60%
60%
60%
70%
2
*NEW Tier 2 (Institutional)
Include YISP (Young Investigator Seed Projects)
Support institutional R&D needs

Contribute to cost recovery
Respective IHLs
20%
20%
20%
20%
3
HPC Research
Promote and invest in HPC R&D to enhance HPC capabilities – tools, models, GPU/CPU optimisation
NSCC
5%
5%
5%
0%
4
Training and Promotion
Increase the pool of HPC talents through competency development projects
NSCC
2.5%
2.5%
2.5%
0%
5
SME/Startups
Improve the competitiveness of SMEs/Startups through R&D
DISG
2.5%
2.5%
2.5%
0%
6
Non-RIE Funded Projects
Support research projects that are not funded by RIE.

Contribute to cost recovery
NSCC
10%
10%
10%
10%

2. Role of Research Offices

  1. Point of Contact: NSCC will liaise with the Research Offices of each institution for the receipt and verification of the Call for Projects applications, as well as the pre- and post-award management of the granted compute resources.
  2. Letter of Award: NSCC will consolidate the approved Call for Projects applications and prepare a Letter of Award to the Research Offices.
  3. Acceptance/Rejection: Upon receiving the Letter of Award, the Research Offices will respond to NSCC with their acceptance or rejection of the award, and subsequently communicate the outcome to their respective Principal Investigators (PIs).
  4. Invoicing: Projects successfully approved to use NSCC’s HPC resources will be invoiced via the host institution’s Research Office / project grant management offices for each project cycle.

3. Key Points for Researchers

  1. All approved projects must include a HPC Compute Budget for the entire project cycle.
  2. Estimation of the HPC Compute Budget should be based on commercial Cloud Service Provider (CSP) rates of the respective institutions/organisations’ existing contracts. 
    1. This ensures that PIs have sufficient HPC Compute Budget for the CSP rates, should their Call for Projects application be unsuccessful.
    2. For successful applications, this ensures that all HPC Resources allocated are subjected to charges, as mandated by the National Research Foundation (NRF). The charges will be based on NSCC Singapore’s RIE-funded projects rate.   
  3. For Call for Projects applications, PIs are to submit projected resource demands on a quarterly basis, for the entire duration of the project
  4. Plan realistically for HPC resources requested in the Call for Projects application. 
  5. NSCC will support and assist PIs in resource estimation through training and guidance from in-house experts.

4. Call for Projects

  1. Results will be announced through the Research Offices. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified by email.
  2. Approved projects will receive 100% of their requested HPC resources for their projects’ duration. 
  3. HPC Compute Budget: PIs with approved projects are to ensure that their HPC Compute Budget is sufficient for the requested HPC resources. 
    1. Insufficient HPC Compute Budget: If the HPC Compute Budget for the project is insufficient, PIs can utilise the (insufficient) HPC Compute Budget to commence their research. However, PIs should approach the grant agency to secure an additional HPC Compute Budget for the required resources.
    2. No HPC Compute Budget: If there is no HPC Compute Budget, PIs should approach the grant agency to secure a HPC Compute Budget.
  4. PIs are required to submit their projected quarterly resource requirements for their entire project cycle.
  5. Updated Charging Policy 
    1. All HPC resources allocated are subjected to charges. The charges will be based on NSCC Singapore’s RIE-funded projects rate. 
    2. Charges will be based on the projected resource demand submitted to NSCC.
    3. With immediate effect, the previous charging policy where the first two quarters served as the adjustment period, where charges were based on usage, will no longer be applicable.
    4. PIs are allowed to revise their projected quarterly resource demand (1 month in advance should there be changes to their HPC resource requirements as their project progresses.
        1. For example, if a PI wants to revise resource requirements for Q4 2026 (Oct to Dec 2026), the PI should submit the revised resource requirements by 1 Sep 2026.
    5. PIs should update Annex A and email their revised quarterly resource requirements to NSCC Projects Admin ([email protected]) at least 1 month in advance.
    6. PIs can get Annex A from their respective Research Offices and should CC the Research Office when revising quarterly resource requirements.

    7. If usage exceeds the projection for the quarter, you will be invoiced for the actual amount used. Invoices will be sent to Research Offices at the end of every 6 months.

      E.g. PI projected 1000 GPU hours for the quarter, and eventually the usage for the quarter was 1500 GPU hours. PI will be billed for 1500 GPU hours(actual usage).

  6. Requests for additional resources are subject to resource availability and SRAC approval.
  7. Accountability and PI track record
    1. Plan realistically for the amount of HPC resources requested for each quarter. 
    2. PIs are expected to utilise their resources based on their projected resource demand, to encourage prudent and efficient usage of national resources
    3. Deviation from the projected resource demand will affect the PI’s application in future Calls for Projects.
    4. For PIs who consistently show a low utilisation rate of less than 50% over a period of 6 months, NSCC reserves the right to claw back their projected resources for the remaining of their project duration.  
  8. Support for Resource Estimation 
    1. NSCC will provide support to assist PIs in the resource estimation, through training, and in-house experts who can provide advice.
    2. PI may email NSCC Projects Admin ([email protected]) to request for resource estimation support.

5. Future Call for Projects

  1. There will be two Calls for Projects per year, subject to resource availability.
  2. Please refer to this page  for more information.

6. NSCC Singapore Pricing for the Resource Allocation Categories – wef 1 July 2026

RIE and Tier 2 (Institutional)

Pricing (S$)

 Non-RIE (Standard) Pricing (S$) Non-RIE (Premium) Pricing (S$)
CPU
0.006/core-hour
0.008/core-hour
0.011/core-hour
A100 GPU
0.44/card-hour
0.55/card-hour
0.83/card-hour
H100 GPU
0.98/card-hour
1.23/card-hour
1.84/card-hour
H200 GPU
1.41/card-hour
1.76/card-hour
2.64/card-hour
Storage
0.021/GB-month
0.027/GB-month
0.027/GB-month

The previous pricing will apply to resources allocated/utilised prior to 1 July 2026.


*Non RIE-Funded projects

 – Standard pricing (projects that WILL be sharing data)

 – Premium pricing (projects that WILL NOT be sharing data)

FAQs

Updates to Strategic Resource Allocation Policy

As a National Research Infrastructure (NRI), NSCC updated its Strategic Resource Allocation Policy to align its resources to support key research projects to achieve significant economic outcomes and scientific imperatives for Singapore.

This resource allocation will take effect from the 7th Call for Project (Apr 2026 – July 2026) onwards.

All projects will be reviewed and prioritized by the  Strategic Resource Allocation Committee (SRAC).

For future Calls for Projects, NSCC will be liaising directly with the Research Offices as a single point of contact to consolidate Call for Projects applications.

 

NSCC will inform the Research Offices of upcoming Call for Projects, and the Research Offices will inform the Principal Investigators (PIs) accordingly. For application to the Call for Projects, the PIs should submit their applications to the Research Offices, which will consolidate the applications and coordinate with NSCC.

NSCC will liaise with the Research Office of each institution for the receipt and verification of Call for Projects applications. The Research Office will also be responsible for the pre- and post-award management of the granted compute resources.

 

Research Office Contacts:

A*STAR: [email protected]

NUS: [email protected]

NTU: [email protected]

SUTD: [email protected]

SIT:  [email protected]


For Research Offices not listed above, please check with your respective organisation/ institution.

As an NRI, NSCC is mandated by NRF to impose charges for the allocated compute resources for cost recovery purposes and to encourage responsible usage of national supercomputing resources. Hence, applicants are strongly recommended to include a HPC Compute Budget for the compute resources as part of their overall project budget.

RIE-funded projects are research projects supported by RIE research grants i.e. IAF-PP, IAF-ICP. These projects typically will have grant IDs which are usually listed in the Integrated Grant Management System (IGMS). If in doubt, researchers can check with their Implementation Agency.  NSCC ’s RIE-funded project pricing rates will apply to these projects.

 

Non-RIE-funded projects are projects funded by industry or government agencies. NSCC’s non-RIE funded project pricing rates will apply to these projects

Call for Projects Application Matters

NSCC will issue two Calls for Projects per year, subject to resource availability. For details on the Calls for Projects, please refer to the Call for Projects page.

Applications must include the following information:

 1) Project title

2) Detailed description of the project

3) Funding source

4) Breakdown of computational requirements by CPU core hours, GPU card hours, storage (Gb/month)

5) HPC Compute Budget

6) Description of the expected outcomes and impact

7) Required HPC resources for the entire project duration, including annual and quarterly projections of compute usage

PIs with approved projects are to ensure that their HPC Compute Budget is sufficient for the requested HPC resources.

Insufficient HPC Compute Budget: If the HPC Compute Budget for the project is insufficient, PIs can utilise the (insufficient) HPC Compute Budget to commence their research. However, PIs should approach the grant agency to secure an additional HPC Compute Budget for the required resources.

 

No HPC Compute Budget: If there is no HPC Compute Budget, PIs should approach the grant agency to secure a HPC Compute Budget.

Non-RIE-funded projects can apply for the Non-RIE Project category as NSCC has allocated 10% of HPC resources to support such projects. For more information, please reach out to NSCC at [email protected]

You may indicate all the funding source information in your application form. However, do take note that priority may be given to projects with approved RIE funding and a HPC Compute Budget.

A HPC Compute Budget refers to the funds set aside as part of the overall applied project funding for the provisioning of HPC resources which includes CPU core hours, GPU card hours and storage.

 

The HPC Compute Budget should be estimated based on commercial Cloud Service Provider (CSP) rates that the respective institutions/organisations might already have an existing contract with. This is to ensure that PIs have enough compute budget for commercial cloud should their project application be unsuccessful in NSCC Singapore’s Call for Projects.

It should be based on the rates provided by the respective institutions/organisations’ existing contracts with commercial cloud service providers (CSP). PIs can approach their respective Research Offices to enquire on the CSP rates to use for their HPC Compute Budget.

The HPC Compute Budget is to be requested from the grant agency when PI submits a grant proposal. If the PIs need help in estimating the HPC Compute Budget, they can reach out to NSCC for assistance.

NSCC’s pricing is outlined in Section 6 of this page.

For PIs with existing Call for Projects resource allocations which does not fully cover their project duration, they may submit their application as a project renewal request. They should note that approval of their request for renewal is subjected to resource availability and SRAC’s approval.

NSCC will issue two Calls for Projects per year. PIs may apply only during the respective application windows.

For details on the Calls for Projects, please refer to the  Call for Projects page.

Applications to the Call for Projects should submit their HPC resource request for the whole project duration, with quarterly and annual breakdowns of HPC resource requirements. This will give visibility of the HPC resource request for entire project duration, as well as the planned usage for every quarter.

 

Approved projects will receive 100% of the resources requested for the entire project duration.

Allocation of HPC Resources

Projects will be prioritised according to these key criteria:

a) National Priorities: NRF and SRAC will advise NSCC on projects of national priority.

b) Complexity: The complexity of a project refers to its ability to use significant HPC compute resources to accelerate research innovation. For this call, we expect the jobs to routinely and efficiently utilise a minimum of 4 GPU cards or 256 CPU cores.

c) Utilisation Track Records: PIs’ track records in utilising their resources based on their projected resource demand will be taken into consideration.

NSCC will consolidate the approved Call for Projects applications and prepare a Letter of Award to the Research Office. Upon receiving the Letter of Award, the Research Offices will respond to NSCC with their acceptance or rejection of the award and subsequently communicate the outcome to their respective PIs.

 

Unsuccessful applicants will be notified by email by NSCC.

Approved projects will be allocated 100% of their requested resources throughout their projects’ duration.

No, priority is not assigned to projects based on their RIE programme. SRAC classifies projects and adjusts projects status based on their criticality, in alignment with National RIE objectives. SRAC reviews all projects to determine if resources should be allocated, taking into account each project’s complexity and national significance.

Upon receiving the HPC resource allocation award, Research Offices are required to respond to NSCC with their acceptance or rejection of the award.

Due to the high demand for HPC resources, NSCC will not be able to meet all the HPC resource requirements from the project applications.

 

Unsuccessful applicants may refer to their respective institutions/organisations’ existing contracts with commercial cloud service providers.

Pricing and HPC Compute Budget

There are two pricing tiers for non-RIE-funded projects:

Standard pricing* (projects that WILL share data)

Premium pricing (projects that WILL NOT share data)

*Standard pricing will be lower than Premium pricing to encourage data sharing in the research community.

Subject to approval from the grant agency etc, some options for this excess budget includes being able to purchase additional HPC resources from CSPs or NSCC for their research. Alternatively, the PI can make a virement to rechannel the budget to other parts of the project, subject to approval from the grant agency.

Resource Management Policy

PIs are required to submit their projected quarterly resource demand for their entire project cycle.

 

Effective immediately, the previous charging policy where the first two quarters served as the adjustment period, where charges were based on usage, will no longer be applicable.

 

Charges will be based on PIs projections, with invoices sent to Research Office every 6 months.

 

PIs are allowed to revise their projected quarterly resource demand 1 month in advance should there be changes to their HPC resource requirements as their project progresses. 

 

PIs may email their revised quarterly resource requirements to NSCC Projects Admin ([email protected]) at least 1 month in advance.

 

If a PI wants to revise resource requirements for Q4 2026 (Oct to Dec 2026), the PI should submit the revised resource requirements to NSCC Projects Admin by 1 Sep 2026.

 

PIs may reduce or increase their projection; additional resource request beyond what was initially approved is subject to resource availability and SRAC approval.

 

PIs are expected to utilise their resources based on their projected resource demand. Deviation from the projected resource demand will affect the PI’s application in future Call for Projects.

No, PIs should revise the projection for their resource demand 1 month in advance before the quarter commence. If the quarter has begun, PIs can make changes for the next quarter(s).

Others

If you have further questions, please drop us an email at [email protected]

For more information about NSCC, please visit  https://www.nscc.sg.

Updated as of 1 June 2026.