Apply for access to SURE

No, they cannot. SURE’s unique “curated gateway” prevents transfer of files into and out of the secure storage space by anyone other than an authorised curator. The curator is either a person nominated by the data custodian, or a senior investigator bound to protect the data, depending on the data custodian’s requirements and ethics approval.

Some users may access SURE for multiple studies, so a project-specific workspace and virtual desktop is established for each project. The project workspaces are logically separated so that data cannot be shared or combined in any way.

SURE users must ensure all necessary approvals from ethics committees and data custodians have been received for their studies. Users applying to access the SURE project workspace established for a study must be a named investigator on the study application. All SURE users must also complete mandatory training prior to accessing the facility. The SURE researcher training program covers responsibilities of a user, information security and statistical disclosure control.

SURE has the technical capacity to allow researchers based overseas to use SURE, as long as they have obtained specific ethics and data custodian approval to access the data overseas.  Permissions can be tailored based on the study requirements.

Standard

• 7zip (version 19): Zip file manager with the ability to split and recombine large zip files
• Adobe Acrobat Reader (version X)
• Anaconda (version 3.4.4): A Python distribution for performing Python/R data analysis
• CutePDF (version 3.0): A PDF creation tool
• FastStone Image Viewer (version 7.4): An image browser, converter and editor
• Git for Windows (version 2.24.0.2): A lightweight, native set of tools that bring features of the Git SCM to Windows
• GnuOctave (version 5.1) 64-bit: A powerful mathematics-oriented programming language with built-in plotting and visualization tools. Drop-in compatible with many Matlab scripts.
• Inkscape (version 09.2.4) 64-bit: A professional vector graphics editor
• Julia (version 1.4.2): Programming language for Python
• Microsoft Office 2016 Standard*: Including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher
• MLwiN (version 3.02): Multi-level modelling package from the Centre for Multilevel Modelling at Bristol University
• Notepad++ (version 7.8.1): Programming text editor
• OpenBUGS (version 3.2.3): OpenBUGS is the open-source replacement for WinBUGS
• Pandoc (version 2.9.2.1): A universal document converter
• Python (version 3.7)
• R (version 3.6.3 and version 4) & R Studio (version 1.2.5042): Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of R are installed. Additionally, a CRAN (R package) library is mirrored inside SURE.
• R add-ons, including: Rtools, JAGS, REALCOM-IMPUTE and NppToR
• TortoiseGit (version 2.9.0.0): A Git revision control client.
• URG Grouper (version 1_4_4): Developed by Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA) to assist state and territory health departments and hospitals to group hospital emergency department data to the URG classification system

*Unless otherwise specific by the workspace owner

Optional

• ArcGIS (version 10.7): mapping and analytics tool for mapping and spatial reasoning
• SAS (version 9.4 M6) 64-bit version, with Base SAS, SAS/STAT, SAS/GRAPH (included in standard fees)
• SAS Enterprise Guide
• SPSS (version 23.0) (included in standard fees)
• Stat/Transfer (version 15.1): Allows for easy data transfer between popular statistical software packages (included in standard fees)
• Stata (version 16 MP2) 64-bit multiprocessor versions, able to use 2 CPU cores (included in standard fees)

The SURE team will accept requests for other software to be installed. We will need to consider a range of factors including costs and licensing before the software is tested and installed in your SURE workspace.

There is no maximum size. Standard workspaces are allocated up to one terabyte of storage space but larger, customised workspaces can be easily developed for studies analysing very large data sets.

For research using AI (machine learning, natural language processing, etc), SURE can provide Workspaces in Windows or Linux, that have larger amounts of compute, storage and memory. Users can request up to 128GB of RAM, 16 Cores and 500GB of scratch storage, for as little as one-month periods.

The registration process for SURE is straightforward as researchers generally have already received human research ethics and data custodian approvals. Once agreements are signed and payment made, the workspace is generally set up within two weeks.

It is not possible to print within SURE. Research output can be taken out of the facility via the curated gateway and once approved, the output can be downloaded to your local computer and printed

Information and reference materials that are necessary for researchers to conduct their analysis in SURE can be transferred via the curated gateway. The specific type of information that is permitted and how it will be reviewed for your study will depend on the approvals received for your study from data custodians and human research ethics committees, including any specific restrictions or compliance requirements.