UK Biobank should mediate the billing with DNA Nexus
The billing system is very unsatisfactory. It can be quite difficult to set up and then DNAnexus will not accept a purchase order for less than £10,000. The only alternative is to try to charge billing to a credit card but most research institutions would not provide a credit card facility so individual researchers would have to use their own credit card and then try to reclaim payments as expenses.
I suggest that a more sensible system would be for UK Biobank to act as a middleman. They could make block purchases from DNAnexus and then individual researchers could purchase smaller chunks of computing from UK Biobank using the conventional purchase order and invoice system which they have already used to get UK Biobank access in the first place.
I hope that UK Biobank can explore setting up some process which would support this.
Comments
1 comment
Thank you for your suggestion David. We are working with DNAnexus to make payments as simple as possible but in the meantime we are able to support researchers with regards to compute and storage costs through our Researcher Credit Schemes - https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/use-our-data/fees/financial-support.
Additionally, we would encourage you to check out our Researcher Voices Forum where your feedback on any issues or processes you experience at UK Biobank - https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/use-our-data/engagement-and-events/#h-join-researcher-voices.
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