Project Groups and User Accounts

To access Nightingale, a project needs to have a project group (allocation) set up on the system. You must be the project’s Principal Investigator (PI) to set up a project group. If you are not a project PI and want to be added to an existing Nightingale project group, jump to Get Added to a Project Group (for Non-PIs).

Set Up a Project Group (for PIs)

As the PI, your user login account will be the first login account attached to the project group on Nightingale. You will need to follow the process to create the project group, complete the required training, and be added to the HIPAA Covered Entity. Other users on the project will only need to complete the required training and Covered Entity processes.

1. Create an NCSA identity.

   To request a project group on Nightingale, you must have an NCSA identity. Go to the NCSA identity Nightingale invite and click Register New User and Join. You will also enroll in NCSA’s Duo multi-factor authentication, which is required to log in to Nightingale. This is separate from the University of Illinois Duo.

   If you already have an NCSA identity and don’t know your password, go to NCSA Identity and Access Management and click Reset.

2. Discuss your project with Nightingale management.

   Before your project group is created on Nightingale, you will discuss your project with the Nightingale team. Fill out and the Nightingale XRAS form. (Log in with your NCSA identity username and password.) After you submit the XRAS form, someone from the Nightingale team will contact you, via email, within a few days.

3. After your project group is created.

   Nightingale administrators will create your data storage directories and project group name. Your group will also be assigned a shared or exclusive interactive node to log in to and, if you have batch system access, a charge account to assign your jobs to. These will be communicated to you via email.

4. Get a user login account.

   To get a user login account to access the Nightingale system, it is your responsibility to:

   • Become part of the NCSA HIPAA Covered Entity. This will involve completing training specific to the type of data that you will be handling on Nightingale. You may need to submit your training certificate to a web form to become part of the covered entity.

   • Make sure all devices that you will log in to Nightingale from have an encrypted hard drive.

Get Added to a Project Group (for Non-PIs)

Follow these steps to join an existing Nightingale project group. If you’re not associated with a project that has an existing project group on the system, go to Set Up a Project Group (for PIs).

1. Create an NCSA identity.

   To request a project group on Nightingale, you must have an NCSA identity. Go to the NCSA identity Nightingale invite and click Register New User and Join. You will also enroll in NCSA’s Duo multi-factor authentication, which is required to log in to Nightingale. This is separate from the University of Illinois Duo.

   If you already have an NCSA identity and don’t know your password, go to NCSA Identity and Access Management and click Reset.

2. Get a user login account.

   After your PI has a project group set up on Nightingale, there is an approval process to add new users to the system. To start the process, submit a support request.

   To get a user login account to access the Nightingale system, it is your responsibility to:

   • Become part of the NCSA HIPAA Covered Entity. This will involve completing training specific to the type of data that you will be handling on Nightingale. You may need to submit your training certificate to a web form to become part of the covered entity.

   • Make sure all devices that you will log in to Nightingale from have an encrypted hard drive.

Account Administration

Account and project administration tasks, such as resetting your password, are managed by the NCSA Identity and Group Management tools. See the NCSA Allocation and Account Management documentation page for more information.