UW-Madison Cloud Resources

Last updated on 2026-03-04 | Edit this page

This page collects UW-Madison-specific cloud computing resources, contacts, and funding opportunities relevant to ML/AI researchers. It is meant as a companion to the workshop material and a starting point for learners who want to continue using cloud resources after the workshop.

Much of this information is drawn from the ML+X Nexus UW Cloud Services page — check there for the most up-to-date version.

Cloud platforms at UW-Madison

UW-Madison has institutional contracts with three public cloud vendors:

These services are managed by the UW Public Cloud Team, a cross-disciplinary group of operations, cybersecurity, and research cyberinfrastructure (RCI) professionals.

Why use a UW-provisioned account?

A self-provisioned cloud account (one you create directly with Google or AWS) is a personal agreement between you and the vendor — it is not covered by UW-Madison’s institutional contracts. Going through the UW Public Cloud Team gives you:

  • Negotiated pricing via Internet2 NET+ agreements. GCP accounts include a network egress waiver (up to 15% of your total bill); Azure accounts receive ~3.5% off retail pricing.
  • Lower overhead on grants — Cloud expenses normally carry 55.5% F&A overhead. With a UW cloud account that drops to 26%, saving ~ $2,950 per $10,000 spent. See the Cloud Computing Pilot.
  • NIH STRIDES discounts — Additional pricing reductions for NIH-funded researchers, layered on top of UW rates. See STRIDES at UW-Madison.
  • Business Associates Agreement (BAA) — UW’s contracts include a BAA that governs vendor access to your data, which is critical for HIPAA-regulated health data.
  • Security monitoring — UW accounts benefit from Security Command Center monitoring with alerts escalated to the UW Cybersecurity Operations Team (CSOC).
  • Baseline security configuration — Accounts come pre-configured to meet CIS benchmark standards with NetID authentication built in.
  • Dedicated support — Email cloud-services@cio.wisc.edu, attend office hours, or schedule a consultation.

For the full breakdown, see Why Should I Use a UW Madison Public Cloud Account? on the UW KnowledgeBase.

How to request a UW cloud account

  1. Get a DoIT Billing Customer ID to tie cloud usage to a funding source.
  2. Fill out the UW-Madison Cloud Account Request Form — covers AWS, GCP, and Azure.
  3. For sensitive/restricted data — complete a Cybersecurity risk assessment before processing HIPAA, FERPA, or other regulated data.

Research funding and credits

Reduced F&A on grants (Cloud Computing Pilot)

The Cloud Computing Pilot reduces overhead from 55.5% to 26% on cloud expenses when using a UW-provisioned account. This applies to new proposals and awards. Costs paid via purchasing card or personal accounts are charged the full rate. RSP provides budget templates for proposals.

NIH STRIDES Initiative

NIH-funded researchers get negotiated pricing on GCP, AWS, and Azure services through the STRIDES Initiative. Discounts are provided via program resellers (Carahsoft for GCP, Four Points Technology for AWS) and vary by service — exact rates are shared through STRIDES price tables rather than published publicly. The UW cloud team can transition accounts in or out of STRIDES at any time with no data migration. Contact STRIDES@nih.gov for pricing details.

Google Cloud Research Credits

Google offers up to $5,000 in cloud credits for faculty, postdoctoral, and non-profit researchers (up to $1,000 for PhD students).

AWS Cloud Credit for Research

AWS offers promotional credits for academic researchers through its Cloud Credit for Research program.

  • Students: up to $5,000 in AWS credits.
  • Faculty and staff: award amounts vary by proposal (no fixed cap).
  • Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; typical review cycles are 90–120 days.
  • Credits are valid for 1 year from issuance or until fully used.

Azure Research Credits

Microsoft offers several credit programs for academic researchers:

Grants for social impact & sustainability research

The major cloud providers also offer larger grants for research focused on public good — sustainability, environmental science, public health, education, and underserved communities:

  • Google: The Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Science awards $500K–$3M for projects using AI to tackle scientific challenges, with a focus on climate resilience and environmental science.
  • AWS: The AWS Imagine Grant provides up to $200K in unrestricted funding plus AWS credits to nonprofits and research organizations working on social impact.
  • Microsoft: The AI for Good Lab runs open calls awarding Azure credits and scientific collaboration for projects in sustainability, public health, education, and human rights. Microsoft also offers free access to petabytes of environmental data through the Planetary Computer.

Free cloud training

Each platform offers free, self-paced training to help you get started:

Data protection and compliance

Cloud eligibility depends on your data classification:

Data type Cloud eligible? Requirements
Public / Internal Yes Standard UW cloud account
Sensitive Yes, with assessment Cybersecurity risk assessment required
Restricted (HIPAA, etc.) Yes, with assessment Risk assessment + risk executive approval + HIPAA-eligible services

Key compliance resources:

On-campus compute alternatives

Cloud is not the only option. UW-Madison offers several on-campus resources that are free for UW researchers:

Center for High Throughput Computing (CHTC)

CHTC is UW-Madison’s core research computing center, providing access to 20,000+ CPU cores and hundreds of GPUs (including A100s) at no cost to UW researchers. Key features:

  • GPU Lab — Supports up to dozens of concurrent GPU jobs per user, including 40 GB and 80 GB A100s, with runtimes from hours to seven days.
  • Research facilitation — Personalized consultations, online guides, and drop-in office hours to help you get started.
  • HTCondor — CHTC’s job scheduler lets you submit large batches of independent training runs (e.g., hyperparameter sweeps) across many machines.

CHTC is a strong choice for researchers who need GPU access but do not need cloud-specific services like managed APIs or cloud storage.

For more details, see the CHTC page on Nexus.

BadgerCompute

BadgerCompute is a lightweight, NetID-authenticated Jupyter notebook service available to UW-Madison users. It is suitable for quick prototyping and small-scale work without spinning up cloud resources.

Google Colab

Google Colab provides free cloud-based Jupyter notebooks with optional GPU access. It is not a UW service, but it is a useful option for quick experiments and teaching.

Getting help