SciLifeLab OMERO is available to life science researchers in Sweden and to SciLifeLab facilities supporting user projects. For research projects it is free at the point of use. Access is arranged through a short, guided process, so that each project is set up to fit its data flow and the support available.
There are two routes into the service, and they start in different places. Find the one that matches your situation before you write to us.
Which route applies to you
Collaborative research project
For life science researchers in Sweden, working alone or in a collaboration, who need managed image data support. The principal investigator must be based in Sweden, but collaborators based abroad can be members of the group.
Access is granted as a time-limited project allocation with limited resources, applied for through the Swedish User and Project Repository (SUPR). Your proposal is reviewed, and a data management plan is required.
You can apply now through an existing round in SUPR.
SciLifeLab facility
For SciLifeLab facilities that want to handle user projects through OMERO. An allocation lets a facility upload image data to collaborate with its users, let those users view and download their data, and transfer data into a user’s own project.
There is no reviewed proposal to submit. Instead we open a SUPR round for your facility, and you then create a project in it for each of your user projects. Every project becomes an OMERO group whose membership you administer yourself in SUPR.
After the pilot phase, the facility covers the associated storage costs.
How to request access
Collaborative research project: apply through SUPR
- Prepare a short project description and a data management plan
- Email us and we guide you to the right round
- Register in SUPR if you have not already, and submit your proposal
- Proposal reviewed by SciLifeLab Data Centre
- Allocation granted and OMERO group set up
To submit the proposal you need a SUPR account, which you register yourself at SUPR using your own university or institution login. You can add anyone to the project once they have registered for a SUPR account of their own. Once the project is approved their OMERO account and group membership are created automatically. Going to the OMERO web client then sends you to SUPR, which authenticates you against your own university or institution account, so there is no OMERO password to set. SUPR accepts both SWAMID and the international eduGAIN federation, which is how collaborators at universities in other countries use their own institution login.
SciLifeLab facility: get in touch by email
- Email the OMERO team
- We discuss workflow and data flow together
- We open a SUPR round for your facility
- You create a project per user project and add its members
- Your facility starts delivering data through OMERO
What an allocation includes
- Free at the point of use for research projects. Facilities cover their own storage costs after the pilot phase.
- 100 GB of storage by default, shared by everyone in the group rather than allotted per person. More space is requested as a new proposal in SUPR, explaining why the project needs it.
- A duration set case by case, which you can ask in SUPR to renew or extend
- No limit on the number of people in your group
SciLifeLab Data Centre reviews proposals on scientific merit, expected impact, and whether the project fits the conditions on this page. You can normally expect a decision within a week of a complete request.
What to include in your request
- Project or research group name
- Institution and department
- Type of imaging data
- Estimated data size and expected growth
- Number of users who need access
- Whether the work is connected to a facility, platform or funded initiative
- Any timing constraints for onboarding
A short, concrete request usually speeds things up. A data management plan is also required for a research project, and goes into the proposal you submit in SUPR rather than into this first email.
What happens next
After your first email we follow up on the practical details: scope, storage expectations, who needs access, and when you want to start. Your OMERO group is shared only with your project members, and who those are is administered through your project in SUPR rather than inside OMERO. Adding someone to the project in SUPR adds them to the OMERO group automatically within one hour at most.
When your project ends
You get one month of notice by email before an allocation ends. After that your account is disabled and the data is deleted automatically, with no grace period, so export everything you need before the deadline. If you need more time, request a renewal or an extension by submitting a new proposal in SUPR while the notice period is still running.
Before you upload
SciLifeLab OMERO reads the image formats supported by recent Bio-Formats releases. See supported formats for the details and the known caveats.
Important:
You must have the right to upload the image data to SciLifeLab’s OMERO instance.
You must not upload personal data of any kind. This applies to image content, filenames and metadata alike.
You must keep an independent backup of your raw image data, outside the SciLifeLab OMERO service.
You must export your data and associated results before your project ends.
Not sure whether OMERO fits your project? Get in touch before you write a full request.