NU@Nightingale is expected to become available for Northwestern researchers in Winter 2026.
Northwestern is partnering with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) to provide researchers with access to Nightingale for analysis and storage of sensitive data. Nightingale is a high-performance compute (HPC) cluster compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and security rules for using Protected Health Information (PHI), as well as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) policies such as the NIH policies that apply to dbGaP.
The Nightingale cluster resides in the NCSA National Petascale Computing Facility and is audited yearly by an outside entity to ensure secure operation. It will available for a fee to Northwestern faculty, as well as their staff and students.
Nightingale Details and Pricing
An overview and technical specifications for the system is available on the Nightingale User guide. Please note that the service rates outlined are specific to University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign researchers and other external users. Northwestern negotiated rates will be available soon.
Getting Access to Nightingale
Initial Consult
Northwestern researchers who are planning to process and analyze sensitive data should reach out to set up a consultation with RCDS to confirm whether Nightingale is a good fit for the project and to estimate costs associated with using this resource.
At this initial consultation, researchers should minimally provide
a description of the sensitive data involved and relevant data use agreements,
a description of the research project, timeline, and an outline of the analysis plan.
Cost estimates are based on the amount of batch computing hours and data storage needed. The number of users who require access to this data as well as software to be used will help us make these estimates.
Researchers need to complete training specific to the type of data that they will be handling on Nightingale and submit a training certificate. Northwestern University must attest to training completion. HIPAA training is available via the Data Security and Privacy Training for Feinberg School of Medicine researchers and through myHR Learn for other Northwestern schools. CUI-level training is available through the Department of Defense for all Northwestern researchers.
Endpoint Requirements
All devices that researchers use to connect to Nightingale, such as laptops and workstations, must be Northwestern-managed and meet additional security requirements that align to a NIST 800-171 baseline. More information on managed endpoints can be found for Feinberg School of Medicine researchers or through Northwestern IT endpoint management for all other Northwestern schools.
Getting Nightingale Accounts and Requesting Support
Details about getting Nightingale accounts, onboarding, and requesting support are coming soon.