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UTHPC Galaxy Terms of Use

These terms of use describe the conditions for using the University of Tartu High Performance Computing Center's (hereinafter UTHPC) Galaxy platform. Galaxy is a UTHPC hosted open-source, web-based platform for data-intensive biomedical research, developed by a community of researchers and universities around the world (https://galaxyproject.org/). It provides researchers with tools and computational resources through an easy-to-use graphical user interface.

Please contact us in advance to discuss whether the UTHPC Galaxy platform meets your needs and the project's requirements. The User is responsible for compliance with all data processing activities carried out on the UTHPC Galaxy.

The Terms of Use take effect upon the User logging in at galaxy.hpc.ut.ee.

Terms

  • Data - any data User process in the UTHPC Galaxy service.
  • Sensitive data - data that, if exposed, misused or lost, can cause harm to somebody or provide advantages to others.
  • User or Users - natural persons who log in to the UTHPC Galaxy platform.
  • Username (public name) - is an identifier that will be used to generate addresses for information you share publicly. Depending on the User's login method, this is either an ETAIS or a UT username.
  • Cluster - a set of UTHPC servers and other resources that work together as a single system.
  • Rocket - UTHPC main compute cluster.
  • ETAIS - the Estonian Scientific Computing Infrastructure (ETAIS) is a nationwide e-infrastructure.

Users who have access to UTHPC Galaxy don't have automatic access to UTHPC Cluster compute resources.

Users will be in view-only mode. While you can upload data, any major jobs you try to run will fail. The UTHPC cluster resource is a paid service; invoices are issued based on the resources used by the User. To order the Rocket cluster resource and learn more about pricing, please contact support@hpc.ut.ee.

Arrangement of the Service

  1. Before using the Galaxy service, the User confirms that they agree to comply with the UTHPC Galaxy terms of use.
  2. Using the UTHPC Galaxy platform is only possible through a personal, user-identifiable account.
  3. The User can log in to the platform using one of two options:
    1. a University of Tartu user account;
    2. or an ETAIS (MyAccessID) user account.
  4. Your public name is an identifier used to generate addresses for the information you share publicly.
    1. Users are not allowed to change their public name.
  5. A User without Cluster access can not run any jobs.
    1. Users must read and accept UTHPC Cluster Terms of Use before using the UTHPC Cluster service.
  6. Users are responsible for all activities performed under their account in the UTHPC Galaxy platform and UTHPC Cluster.

Data Management and Retention

  1. By default, all Users' datasets and histories on the UTHPC Galaxy platform are set to “private”.
    1. Users have the opportunity to share datasets and histories with other specific UTHPC Galaxy platform Users or make them publicly available.
    2. The User can change previously shared data to private again for all data in the preferences.
  2. The User can permanently delete uploaded data and datasets at any time.
    1. Before permanently deleting datasets and histories, the User must remove all sharings with the specific User and set them to “private”.
    2. To delete a user account from the UTHPC Galaxy platform prior to the conditions specified in point 4, the User must submit a request to support@hpc.ut.ee.
    3. Before submitting a request to delete the user account, the user must ensure that the uploaded data and datasets are deleted.
  3. Please note that:
    1. The “Delete” function only hides datasets and histories from the User's view. If you copy a dataset collection to a new or different history, the deleted datasets associated with that collection are also copied.
    2. Purged (permanently deleted) data cannot be recovered by either the user nor by the administrator.
    3. Data can be stored in the user SFTP directory for a maximum of 30 days and can be deleted by the system administrator after this period. Galaxy related SFTP folder serves only as a temporary transit buffer and should be cleaned by the owner as soon as the data has been uploaded to either user “History” or “Library”.
  4. Deleting Accounts, uploaded data, and datasets by UTHPC:
    1. accounts that have not been logged into for one year and use less than 10 GB of storage will be deleted;
    2. accounts that have not been logged into for three years and use more than 10 GB of storage will be deleted;
    3. before deleting the user account, UTHPC notifies the User via email. If the User does not respond within one month or if the email bounces back, the account will be deleted.
  5. UTHPC performs weekly backups of the User’s data in Galaxy.
  6. UTHPC automatically collects certain data through the UTHPC server logs when you use our services to ensure the security, monitoring, and auditing of UTHPC services and infrastructure.
    1. Server logs are retained and stored securely on UTHPC infrastructure for 3 years from the date of collection.
  7. UTHPC processes User’s personal data securely and in full compliance with GDPR principles. For further information, please refer to the UTHPC Privacy Policy.

User obligations and notifications

  1. The User is obligated to keep their contact information, including email, up to date at all times.
    1. UTHPC will notify the client of all scheduled maintenance at least one week in advance via email sent to the User.
    2. During maintenance, the operation of the service may be interfered with; however, any interference caused by maintenance is not considered as non-compliance of the service, as it is part of regular service operations.
  2. It’s forbidden to upload and store files/data in the UTHPC Galaxy and Cluster that violate the laws of the Republic of Estonia, the European Union or regulations of the University of Tartu. In particular, this refers to copyright laws and personal data protection laws/regulations.
    1. User must cite Galaxy in any research that uses or extends Galaxy. For further information, please refer to the Galaxy Community Hub.
  3. Users are required to protect their login information.
  4. It is prohibited to share access to your Galaxy and Cluster accounts with others.
  5. It is forbidden to leave your active session unattended in a browser window.
  6. Users must notify UTHPC support immediately of any problems, errors, security vulnerabilities, misuse, or violations of the UTHPC Galaxy platform and Cluster.

Security

  1. UTHPC may regularly scan the UTHPC Galaxy to identify security holes, any malware, and violations of the terms of use.
  2. If a User has violated any of the UTHPC rules or any other University of Tartu rules, the User is held solely responsible for the corresponding violation.
  3. In the event of any violation, the User’s access to UTHPC resources will be suspended.
  4. UTHPC reserves the right to suspend any User’s account at any time if it’s necessary for security reasons or essential to ensure the operation of the UTHPC Galaxy platform and Cluster. When using the corresponding right, UTHPC is obligated to formulate a written, reasoned decision.
  5. In the event of a User account suspension, the User always has the right to receive additional information about the reasons for the suspension and to request that the account be reopened by contacting UTHPC support.
  6. In the event of a violation, UTHPC reserves the right to retain any information related to it for use as evidence. Corresponding information will be released to a third party only if the obligation to release the information arises directly from the law.
  7. If UTHPC receives a request for assistance with running a job, the UTHPC administrator has the right to view the log files related to the job, job files (including input files) and take the respective User's role.
  8. The notice period for Galaxy service termination is 30 days.

Changes and updates to the Terms of Use

UTHPC reserves the right to change and update these Terms of Use as deemed necessary or as required by legislation. Users are required to read the terms of use upon each version change to stay up to date with any potential changes. Use of the UTHPC Galaxy platform after the terms of use have been changed indicates that the respective User has read, understood, and agreed to the new version of the terms.

Version control

The terms of use are valid from April 8, 2026

Version Date Changes
1.0 April 8, 2026 Initial Version.