Access to the EIDF

Last updated: 25 Feb 2026

EIDF access and charging

Note: This page is for new projects on the EIDF. If you want to join an existing project, please follow the instructions provided here.

To access the EIDF services you will need to submit an application for a new project on the EIDF Portal. As part of the project application, you will need to add a pricing estimate, which EIDF will use for invoicing if the application is accepted.

You can use the project application form to create a costing for a grant proposal or a departmental budget, then save it until funds have been approved. Once you have funds, an application can be re-visited and submitted.

Access is granted on a project basis over a fixed period of time. You can, of course, request an extension and we will be happy to work with you on this.

During the project duration, projects can change the use of their allocated budget on EIDF as follows:

• You are entitled to use your allocated budget on any EIDF services to which you have requested access in your accepted application.
• Your project’s budget will be based on your pricing estimate. However, EIDF accounting is based on resource use, not on resource requests. This means that you will be able to adjust your use of the EIDF services throughout the project duration depending on your requirements and remaining budget.
• You can request access to EIDF services not included in your initial costings by contacting the EIDF support team.
• You can increase your EIDF project fund allocation by contacting the EIDF support team to discuss adding funds.
• To extend a project or to add resources that exceed your current project costs, you will need to complete a new project application to cost these changes.
• Additional resources or extensions to projects will be costed according to the most recently listed prices.

The per-service prices charged each month may differ from the prices originally agreed as prices will change with inflation, energy costs and hardware replacements. Current prices will be shown on the EIDF Access page.

EPCC develops and manages the EIDF and has over 100 technical staff members that can be added to funding proposals or contracted as consultants to design, develop and set up software, data science infrastructure and artificial intelligence pipelines. Please contact the EIDF Service Desk to initiate a conversation.

EIDF Portal: submit a new or edit an existing project application

EIDF Portal: submit a project support request

Email our Service Desk

Industry commercial access

We list below the price list for organisations that are either for-profit or non-public or both. All prices are listed in GBP and exclusive of VAT. Projects are billed per month.

Please apply on the EIDF Portal and create a pricing estimate. You can use the pricing estimate to gain budget approval and create purchase orders. Once you have an agreement with EPCC on billing details, we can create your project on EIDF.

Data storage

EIDF provides different types of data storage with different performance and durability characteristics. The main options are EIDF S3, VAST S3, VAST NFS and CephFS. Virtual machines are provided with a baseline CephRBD storage, which can be extended by adding more here.

Specialised compute

EIDF provides different types of specialised compute via shared queuing systems: GPU accelerators, Cerebras and CPU cores.

Virtual desktop

Virtual machines provide the virtual desktop to login to EIDF and use its services. Generally at least one virtual machine is required even if using only the GPU or Cerebras. Used for data preparation, managing data, running small compute tasks, etc.

Secure virtual desktop

Secure virtual machines have no internet access except for a virtual desktop connection; the Project Lead(s) control(s) all data ingress and egress to these virtual machines; the Project Lead(s) manage(s) the software configuration on these virtual machines. A project must add at least one regular virtual machine from the (regular) Virtual desktops to perform their data owner management activities, e.g., a Virtual machine with 4 vCPUs, 8GB memory and 50GB disk running Linux.

Public body, non-profit and academic access

We list below the price list for organisations that are classed as both non-profit AND public; for UK-based organisations, all in the UKRI fundable organisations listing are included in this category. For non-UK organisations see the section Definitions below. All prices are listed in GBP and exclusive of VAT. Projects are billed per month.

List of UKRI-fundable organisations

Data storage

EIDF provides different types of data storage with different performance and durability characteristics. The main options are EIDF S3, VAST S3, VAST NFS and CephFS. Virtual machines are provided with a baseline CephRBD storage, which can be extended by adding more here.

Specialised compute

EIDF provides different types of specialised compute via shared queuing systems: GPU accelerators, Cerebras and CPU cores.

Virtual desktop

Virtual machines provide the virtual desktop to login to EIDF and use its services. Generally at least one virtual machine is required even if using only the GPU or Cerebras. Used for data preparation, managing data, running small compute tasks, etc.

Secure virtual desktop

Secure virtual machines have no internet access except for a virtual desktop connection; the Project Lead(s) control(s) all data ingress and egress to these virtual machines; the Project Lead(s) manage(s) the software configuration on these virtual machines. A project must add at least one regular virtual machine from the (regular) Virtual desktops to perform their data owner management activities, e.g., a Virtual machine with 4 vCPUs, 8GB memory and 50GB disk running Linux.

Adding EIDF to grant applications

To include access to EIDF in your grant application, please apply on the EIDF Portal and create a pricing estimate. You can use the pricing estimate in funding proposals by adding it as Directly Allocated costs under Infrastructure. Once you have funding awarded and once you have provided EPCC with a means to transfer the funds, we will create your project on EIDF.

Publishing open data for research

EIDF aims to become a repository for research datasets. Therefore it offers long-term storage of datasets that EIDF users and the public can access for future research and innovation projects. The condition is that the data be made freely available for open reuse. The EIDF Data Publishing service is free to deposit up to hundreds of terabytes.

The data management section provides for more detailed information. All data sets are findable on the EIDF Data Catalogue and datasets are accessed through open EIDF S3 services.

Please apply for the EIDF Data Publishing service on the EIDF Portal: new project application..

Definitions

Access is paid for with the exception of the EIDF Data Publishing Service and EIDF Data Catalogue; see above. Reduced prices are available to UKRI-fundable organisations and organisations classified as both “public body” and “non-profit” under the European Commission’s definitions. For the latter, the organisation must be considered both a public body and non-profit as per the definitions by the latest version of the European Commission’s Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment copied below.

“Public body” means an entity established as a public body by national law, or an international organisation.

“Established as a public body by national law” means:

• incorporated as a public body in the act of creation or recognised as a public body by national law and
• governed by public law (both conditions must be fulfilled).

Criteria such as:

• mission or activity in the general interest (public service mission)
• the fact that the shares are owned by a public body (even if ownership reaches up to 100% of the share capital)
• public financing
• state supervision and control

do NOT constitute sufficient evidence to qualify an entity as a public body, if the above two conditions are not met.

Public bodies may however act and be subject to private law for some or most of their activities, provided that, concerning their existence and their functioning, they are subject to public law.

The two statuses (private entity and public body) are mutually exclusive, meaning that you can only be validated as one or the other.

Non-profit entity means an entity that is non-profit making by its legal form or legal purpose (e.g. charitable organisations), or that has a legal or statutory obligation not to distribute profits to its shareholders or members.

All profits have to be reinvested in the same activity of the entity.

Decisions on (not) distributing profits made by the managing board, associates, stakeholders, members, or representatives and/or practices adopted by the entity to not distribute profits and/or the absence of profits achieved are not sufficient proof of the non-profit nature. The obligation not to distribute profits and/or the impossibility to distribute profits must be based on law and/or the act of establishment/articles of association/statutes, etc.

Whether the owners/founders of the entity are non-profit and whether the profits are allocated to non-profit (or for profit) entities is irrelevant.

These two statuses must be declared by an organisation that registers with the European Commission to bid for funding as per its model application form where they must register a LEAR and they must provide the following using the templates in LEV And LEAR Messages:

• Public entities must provide a copy of the resolution, law, decree, decision (or other official document) which establishes them as a “public body”.
• Non-profit entities must provide a copy of the statutes, resolution, law, decree, decision (or other official document) which establishes them as “non-profit organisation”.

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment.

Model application form.

LEV And LEAR Messages.

Where we measure usage for cost purposes we use the following units:

• Storage on EIDF is currently granted in units of GiB, where 1 GiB is 1,048,576 kB.