Updated September 16, 2022

General

• These policies are in addition to, and do not replace, the general HC²EM Policies that you must agree to in order to use the cryo-EM center (https://cryoem.hms.harvard.edu/cemc-policies).
• All users must obey general Harvard IT policies (https://policy.security.harvard.edu/).
• By using the SBGrid pre-processing pipeline, or any computational resource within the cryo-EM center, you agree to these policies.
• Users from SBGrid labs within HMS, DFCI, BCH and MGH will be responsible for running on-the-fly (OTF) processing on their own data collections and transferring data/arranging data transfer.
  • All other users will have OTF processing run by staff and must request transfer commands once their session is completed.
• If a user chooses not to use OTF during their data collection, they are responsible for monitoring data collection and will not receive refunds for lost time due to issues arising during data collection.
  • The user must contact a staff member as soon as their data transfer is complete from the camera computer to ensure storage space for other datasets.
• Computing support is provided through help@sbgrid.org support email.
• Metadata relating to your collection will be stored by the facility for quality monitoring and usage statistics.

Data Storage and Transfer

• Data collected will be stored for seven days prior to automatic removal.
• HC²EM will not provide long-term storage of your data.
• The user must contact the Cryo-EM Computational Specialist at the end of their session to receive data transfer commands.
• It is the user’s responsibility to ensure their data are fully transferred within 7 days of their session ending. If there are issues with the transfer of data, it is the user’s responsibility to inform facility staff as soon as possible.
• We suggest that, where appropriate, users create a local copy of their data on redundant storage (either provided by their local research computing department or on a per lab basis). It is the user’s responsibility to ensure their data storage plan meets their institutional requirements.
• Long term data storage as part of a collaborative project with the facility staff will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

User Accounts Policies for SBGrid Labs at HMS, DFCI and BCH:

• In order to log into the systems and perform the pre-processing steps, these specified users must have an active Linux network account. Please confirm that the account is active well before starting your experiment, and work with the ARC team to resolve any account issues.

Access to Hardware

• Access to HC²EM computational hardware (GPU cluster, workstations, etc.) will be limited to facility staff and users working with the facility as part of collaborations.
• Local SBGrid labs can be granted time-limited access on a case-by-case basis following consultation with the Cryo-EM Computational Specialist.

Collaborative Projects

• In addition to collaborations formed with members of the EM facility staff, the opportunity to access the SBGrid computational resources via a joint project is available. These projects will be managed by the Cryo-EM Computational Specialist in close collaboration with the project lab.
• These projects can vary from advanced training/supervised processing with users within a lab group to “hands off” processing carried out largely by the cryo-EM facility.

Industry Users

• Industry users will not be granted local Linux accounts. Data transfer strategy must be agreed upon with the Cryo-EM Computational Specialist prior to booking a microscope session.
• OTF pre-processing will only be available to industrial groups who are SBGrid members – and only use a subset of open-source programs.
• Data will be kept no longer than the standard 7-day policy without prior agreement, but may be removed sooner if requested.