osc.edu

OSC does not publish a single flat price for using its resources. Instead, costs depend on the type of service, the nature of your project, and your user category. The official entry point for cost information is the Service Costs page, which you can reach from the "Access OSC" section of the OSC website. For a specific quote, OSC directs users to its Client Support and Sales contacts rather than listing prices publicly.

Where to Find Cost Information

OSC's site structure points to a few concrete places to look:

• Service Costs — the dedicated page for understanding what you may pay.
• Get an OSC account — the starting point for access, which is where cost questions typically arise.
• Client Portal — where account holders manage their access and projects.
• Contact Us → Client Support — for questions about existing accounts and services.
• Contact Us → Sales — for pricing and new engagements, including business and industry inquiries.

If you are evaluating OSC for the first time, the practical path is: check the Service Costs page, then contact Sales or Client Support with your specific use case.

What Drives the Cost

Based on how OSC organizes its services, cost is not a single number but a function of several variables:

Because OSC separates "Education," "Research," and "Industrial Engagement" as service areas, a classroom or academic research use case may follow a different arrangement than a commercial engagement. The site does not publish those terms, so they must be confirmed directly.

Who Should Contact Whom

• Prospective business or industry users: Start with Sales, since industrial engagement is a distinct track.
• Academic researchers and students: Begin with Get an OSC account and Client Support; educational and research programs may have their own arrangements.
• Existing users with billing or project questions: Use the Client Portal and Client Support, and note that OSC provides tools to Manage Projects and Budgets.

What Is Not Published

The available OSC materials do not list specific dollar amounts, hourly rates, or storage fees. There is no pricing table, no payment platform information, and no statement that any service is free. Any assumption that OSC access is free or requires no login is not supported by the site content. Treat cost as something to confirm with OSC directly for your specific project.

Practical Next Steps

1. Review the Service Costs page under "Access OSC."
2. Identify your category: researcher, student, or business.
3. For business or industry work, contact Sales.
4. For academic or existing-account questions, contact Client Support.
5. If you need an account first, follow Get an OSC account, then raise cost questions through the portal or support.

The short answer: OSC provides a Service Costs page and dedicated support and sales contacts, but the actual figures depend on your service type, project, and user category, and must be obtained from OSC rather than from published rates.

The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) offers students several structured ways to get involved: summer educational programs, an AI research experience, a summer opportunity for undergraduates, NSF ACCESS regional workshops, and course/research support delivered through campus champions and OSC facilitation staff. Most of these are aimed at students at Ohio institutions, and the practical entry point for any of them is an OSC account plus a project sponsored by a faculty advisor or campus contact.

Summer Educational Programs

OSC runs summer educational programs as part of its Education services. These are short, cohort-style offerings rather than semester-long courses, and they are designed to introduce students to high performance computing and related research skills.

What to expect:

• Format: structured instruction and hands-on work during the summer term.
• Audience: students, typically at Ohio colleges and universities.
• Prerequisite: access to OSC systems, which means an account and a project.

Because schedules and eligibility change year to year, check the Education section of osc.edu for the current program listing before planning around a specific session.

AI Research Experience

The AI Research Experience is a separate opportunity focused on artificial intelligence, data analytics, and machine learning — areas OSC groups under its AI/ML services. It pairs students with research work rather than pure classroom instruction.

How to approach it:

1. Identify a faculty member whose work uses AI, data analytics, or machine learning.
2. Confirm they have (or can request) an OSC project.
3. Apply through the program listing on osc.edu when the application window is open.
4. Expect to use OSC cluster computing and data storage resources as part of the work.

The value here is that you finish with both research experience and familiarity with shared computing systems — a combination that is useful for graduate applications and for jobs that involve large datasets.

Summer Opportunity for Undergraduates

OSC lists a Summer Opportunity for Undergraduates among its education offerings. This is the most direct route for an undergraduate with no prior HPC background: it is intended to bring students into research computing rather than assume they already know it.

If you are an undergraduate considering it:

• Talk to your department or your campus champion early — recommendation and sponsorship usually matter.
• Be ready to describe why you want computational research experience, not just that you want a summer position.
• Plan for the fact that you will need an OSC account and a project before you can run anything.

NSF ACCESS Regional Workshops

OSC hosts NSF ACCESS regional workshops. ACCESS is the national ecosystem that allocates computing resources to researchers, and these workshops teach attendees how to request and use those allocations.

Who this suits:

• Students and researchers who need compute beyond what a local machine provides.
• Anyone who will eventually write an allocation request, which is a skill distinct from writing code.
• Groups at Ohio institutions who can attend a regional event rather than travel nationally.

The workshop format means you leave with a concrete understanding of the request process, which is often the actual barrier to using national resources.

Using OSC Resources for Coursework and Research

Beyond named programs, students use OSC for hands-on coursework and data-driven research. Wright State University, for example, uses OSC to support coursework and research across campus, with senior computer systems administrator Mike VanHorn serving as the university's Campus Champion and connecting users to those resources.

That model — a local champion plus OSC facilitation — is how most students actually get started. OSC's Facilitation service exists to help users who are new to shared systems, and Campus Champions are the on-campus people who know both the local context and the OSC process.

A concrete example: a class assignment that requires training a model on a dataset too large for a laptop. The instructor arranges an OSC project, students get accounts under it, and the work runs on OSC clusters instead of local machines.

How to Get Started

The path is the same regardless of which program interests you:

1. Get an OSC account. Access starts at the OSC System Gateway and Client Portal.
2. Be attached to a project. Accounts are tied to projects, usually sponsored by a faculty member or an institutional contact.
3. Check service costs. OSC publishes Service Costs and Get an OSC account pages — review these before assuming a program is free to you.
4. Contact your Campus Champion if your institution has one; they can shortcut the process.
5. Use Client Support for questions once you have access.

Two things worth knowing before you commit: account access and project sponsorship are separate steps, and the education programs have their own application timelines that do not necessarily align with course registration. Verify current dates and eligibility on osc.edu rather than relying on a previous year's schedule.

The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) supports businesses by providing high-performance computing, research data storage, AI/data analytics, software development, and research software engineering services, along with facilitation and partnership channels for industry collaboration. If your company needs computational capacity, data infrastructure, or technical expertise for research and innovation, OSC lists "Businesses" as one of its main audiences alongside researchers and students. The practical starting points for a company are the Sales contact and the Client Support Request, both listed under Contact Us.

What OSC offers to businesses

OSC's service catalog, as presented on its site, includes:

• Cluster Computing — high-performance computing resources
• Research Data Storage — data storage for research workloads
• Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics and Machine Learning
• Software Development and Research Software Engineering
• Education and Web services
• Gateways and Facilitation support
• Protected Data Service for sensitive workloads
• Security, Accessibility, and Policies guidance

These are the same service categories OSC lists for its broader user base, which means a business engagement is typically framed around one or more of these capabilities rather than a separate, business-only product line.

Industry domains OSC highlights

OSC organizes industrial engagement case studies and examples across these areas:

If your work falls in one of these areas, OSC's case studies are the fastest way to see whether a similar problem has already been tackled with OSC resources.

How engagement typically works

OSC's site points to several concrete paths:

1. Get an OSC account — the entry point for accessing systems through the System Gateway and Client Portal.
2. Check Service Costs — cost information is published under the "Get an OSC account" area, so you can review it before committing.
3. Contact Sales — for businesses exploring a partnership or service engagement.
4. Submit a Client Support Request — for existing or prospective clients needing technical help.
5. Explore Research Proposal Partnership and Research Collaborations — for joint research arrangements.
6. Review Case Studies and Annual Research Reports — to understand outcomes and prior work.

The site also exposes System Status and Usage Metrics, which are useful for ongoing operational visibility once you are a user.

Evidence that industry and campus users rely on OSC

OSC's homepage highlights real usage stories rather than abstract claims. For example, Professor Feng (George) Yu traveled from Youngstown State University to OSC's 2026 Research Symposium with students presenting quantum computing and blockchain research developed with OSC resources. At Wright State University, faculty and students use OSC for hands-on coursework and data-driven research, with Campus Champion Mike VanHorn — a senior computer systems administrator in the College of Engineering and Computer Science — connecting users to those resources. Ohio University students and researchers are also described as using OSC for increasingly complex work.

These examples show the pattern OSC promotes: access to compute and expertise, paired with a human point of contact who helps match users to the right resources. For a business, the equivalent contacts are Sales and Client Support.

What to decide before contacting OSC

• Identify the workload type: cluster computing, data storage, AI/ML, software development, or protected data — this determines which service line applies.
• Check whether your domain matches a documented case study (materials, aerospace, automotive, biosciences, energy, manufacturing, and so on).
• Review Service Costs and the account process before a sales conversation, so the discussion can focus on fit rather than basics.
• Decide between a service engagement and a research collaboration — OSC lists both Research Proposal Partnership and Research Collaborations as distinct options.

If your need is a straightforward service engagement, start with Sales. If you already have an account or a technical question, use the Client Support Request. If you are exploring joint research, look at the partnership and collaboration pages first.

The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) is a division of the Ohio Department of Higher Education that provides high-performance computing (HPC), research data storage, and related research computing services to researchers, students, and businesses. It is relevant to you if you need large-scale compute, data storage, AI/ML infrastructure, or software development support for research or teaching, and you are affiliated with an Ohio institution or otherwise eligible for an OSC account.

What OSC provides

OSC organizes its services around several core areas:

• Cluster computing — high-performance computing resources for simulation, modeling, and data-intensive workloads.
• Research data storage — storage services designed for research data.
• Education — programs and resources that support teaching and hands-on coursework.
• Web and software development — including research software engineering.
• Artificial intelligence, data analytics, and machine learning — services in the AI/ML space.
• Gateways and facilitation — support for science gateways and helping users get started.
• Protected data service — for work involving protected data.
• Security, accessibility, and policies — the governance and compliance side of using OSC.

Who it serves

OSC's homepage is organized around three audiences:

How universities use OSC

OSC works directly with colleges and universities across Ohio. Two examples from OSC's own reporting:

• At Wright State University, faculty and students use OSC to support hands-on coursework and data-driven research. Mike VanHorn, the campus's OSC Campus Champion and a senior computer systems administrator in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, connects users with OSC resources and helps expand awareness across campus.
• At Youngstown State University, Professor Feng (George) Yu brought students to OSC's 2026 Research Symposium to present work in quantum computing and blockchain technologies developed with OSC resources.

The Campus Champions program is one of the main ways OSC reaches individual campuses: champions like VanHorn act as local points of contact who help faculty and students find and use OSC services.

Getting started

If you want to use OSC, the practical entry points are:

1. Get an OSC account — account access is the prerequisite for using compute and storage resources.
2. Check service costs — OSC publishes service cost information, so confirm what applies to your use case before committing.
3. Use the System Gateway / Client Portal — these are the interfaces for accessing systems and managing your work.
4. Check system status and usage metrics — useful for planning around outages or capacity.
5. Contact client support — for help requests, or use the sales contact for business inquiries.

OSC also maintains a Getting Started section, software listings, and technical support resources, plus facilitation services if you need help porting or scaling your work.

When OSC is the right fit

OSC is a reasonable choice if you are a researcher, student, or business in or connected to Ohio and you need computing power or storage beyond what a laptop or departmental server provides — for example, running simulations, training machine learning models, or handling large research datasets. If your work involves protected data, OSC has a dedicated protected data service, but you should verify policy and security requirements through OSC's security and policies documentation before assuming it meets your compliance needs.

For research groups, OSC also supports proposal partnerships and research collaborations, and publishes annual research reports — useful if you need to cite OSC in a grant or demonstrate institutional support.

The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) provides accounts to researchers, students, faculty, and businesses, and you request access through the OSC system gateway or client portal. Eligibility generally depends on having an institutional affiliation or a project sponsor, and once your account is active you can use OSC services such as cluster computing, research data storage, and software development resources.

Who can get an OSC account

OSC organizes its audience into three broad groups, each with its own entry point on the site:

• Researchers — faculty, research staff, and collaborators who need compute, storage, or software engineering support for projects.
• Students — undergraduates and graduates involved in coursework, research experiences, or programs such as the Summer Opportunity for Undergraduates and the AI Research Experience.
• Businesses — companies engaging with OSC through industrial engagement and partnership programs.

The homepage rotator illustrates how this works in practice: faculty and students at institutions like Wright State University and Ohio University use OSC for hands-on coursework and data-driven research, and a Campus Champion helps connect users with those resources. That pattern — an institutional connection plus a person or program that sponsors or facilitates access — is the typical route in.

How to access OSC resources

1. Go to the access entry point. OSC lists "Access OSC" with links to the System Gateway and the Client Portal, alongside "Get an OSC account."
2. Request an account. Use the account request path from the homepage or the "Get an OSC account" link. Expect to identify your affiliation and, where relevant, your project or sponsor.
3. Log in through the System Gateway or Client Portal. The System Gateway is the technical entry point for systems; the Client Portal is where you manage account and project matters.
4. Check status and costs. OSC publishes System Status and Usage Metrics, and a Service Costs page, so you can confirm availability and what a given service involves before committing.
5. Start using services. Once in, you can reach cluster computing, research data storage, education and web software development, research software engineering, and AI/data analytics and machine learning resources.

What you can do once you have access

Practical notes before you apply

• Affiliation or sponsorship matters. The examples on OSC's site all involve university faculty, students, or staff, often with a Campus Champion or program connecting them to resources. If you are outside a university, the business and industrial engagement route is the relevant path.
• Support exists if you get stuck. OSC lists Client Support, a Service Center, and Technical Support, plus a staff directory.
• Cite and manage your project. OSC provides guidance on citing OSC and on managing projects and budgets, which is useful once your account is active.
• Check status first. Before planning work, look at System Status and Usage Metrics so you know the systems are available.

If you are unsure which path fits you, start from the audience that matches your situation — Researchers, Students, or Businesses — and follow the "Get an OSC account" or "Access OSC" link from there.