Public supercomputing · US
NSF ACCESS allocations
Free allocations of credits that can be exchanged for time on NSF-funded compute, storage and cloud resources and science gateways.
Start here
Open at latest check: ACCESS Explore Checked 13 November 2026.
US-based researchers and eligible graduate students starting an open research project. Prepare a project summary and CV. Graduate students need an adviser letter or an eligible NSF GRFP letter. Apply for Explore, then exchange awarded credits for resource time.
An institutional affiliation and matching email are required. Undergraduates need an eligible project lead. A credit award does not activate a compute resource. Official source and next step
Upcoming window: ACCESS Maximize: next request window Checked 13 November 2026.
Researchers preparing a large resource request. Prepare for the 15 December 2026 to 31 January 2027 submission window; awards are scheduled to start on 1 April 2027.
The 13 November check predates this window. Smaller ACCESS project types have separate application routes. Official source and next step
Check current status and next steps
Who can apply?
Project leads are generally US-based researchers or educators at graduate-student level or higher, with an eligible organisational affiliation and a matching organisational email. Graduate students can lead Explore or Discover projects with a signed adviser letter, or an NSF GRFP letter where applicable. K-12 educators may lead instructional allocations. Other applicant, collaborator and research-security restrictions can apply.
How do I take the next step?
Create an ACCESS ID, complete your profile, choose a project type and submit the required project information. If the project is awarded credits, exchange them for units on a suitable resource; an award alone does not activate a compute resource.
Recorded deadline
Recorded deadline: Explore, Discover and Accelerate: requests accepted at any time. Maximize: 15 December 2026 to 31 January 2027 for awards starting 1 April 2027. Check the official pages before planning.
Check the official programme before applying. A recorded region is not a decision about your eligibility, and an allocation is not guaranteed.
Evidence and limits
- Explore, Discover, Accelerate and Maximize serve increasing resource needs and use different submission and review requirements; ACCESS advises starting with Explore when resource needs are not yet clear. Source
- Explore requests usually receive an outcome by the next business day, but an awarded project initially has no active resources until credits are exchanged for resource units. Source
- ACCESS accepts eligible scholarly work from any field; no funding or merit-reviewed award is required. Proprietary or confidential work is not supported by the free allocation process. Source
- A resource exchange remains subject to availability, Resource Provider concurrence and any resource-specific eligibility or recommended-use conditions. Source
- The checked guidance lists the next Maximize request window as 15 December 2026 to 31 January 2027, with awards starting 1 April 2027. Source
Eligibility, project preparation, credit exchange, rolling smaller-project requests and the next Maximize window were checked on 11 October 2026. An ACCESS project award does not guarantee a particular resource exchange or current availability. Recheck the official pages after the listed window or a policy change.
This page reuses the directory's recorded evidence and check date. A new page does not mean the programme has been checked again.
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Compare other routes
Other recorded programmes of this type, in directory order rather than a ranking:
- United States (federal) policy register for recorded place context. The programme region remains a tag, not an eligibility decision.
- Other programmes with recorded region US
- Other public supercomputing routes
- Find a route for your workload
- This record in the full programme directory