We have introduced a mechanism for sharing data outside of your own group. This will allow you to open your sequencing data for collaboration by groups within CRUK-CI other than your own, or with your choice of CRUK-CI groups if you are outside the institute.

The mechanism for sharing data is the same for both CRUK-CI groups and external users of the sequencing service, though the implications of changing sharing will differ. We'll go through the mechanism here then discuss the implications.

IMPORTANT Sharing is done on the submission project level, not at the individual pool level. You will need to take this into account when submitting your samples for library prep and sequencing by choosing a project already created for your work or creating a new one. For example, if you have submitted all your samples and pools into just one project, you may have problems sharing only some of these pools.

Select the tab Data Sharing from the sequencing portal. The page will display a list of projects you own and also those from other members of your group. For your information it lists all the groups each project is currently shared with and the SLX pools in those projects.

You can control the sharing of both your own projects and those of your fellow group members.

Select the project you wish to alter the sharing permissions of and click the “Select Project” button. The browser will move to the next page which gives a list of all the groups you can share with.

This page will be slightly different for different users. Members of CRUK-CI will be able to share with other CRUK-CI groups and external users. External users will only be able to choose to share with CRUK-CI groups. There is a special case for the Functional Genomics Centre that we will discuss below.

Select the group or groups you wish to share with and click “Set Sharing”. The final page will confirm all the groups the project is shared with.

“Do Not Share” is a short cut to cancel all current sharing, it is the same as setting no groups for sharing.

Sharing your projects with other CRUK-CI groups simply has the effect of giving the group shared with permissions to download files from the project using the download tool and visibility of the samples' information through the internal API. If the project is not shared with you, the download tool will not fetch the files it contains. Granting or revoking a share with another CRUK-CI group has an immediate effect.

Sharing with external groups needs more care. You need to select the external group for sharing before the pool is sequenced. The data is shared by putting a copy of the files into the shared group's FTP directory on the sequencing FTP server, and this is done as part of processing the run folder. If you decide after sequencing to share with an external group the files will not magically appear there: you will have to arrange to send those files some other way. Likewise, if you decide you no longer want to share a project with an external group any files from previous runs (when the permission was to share) will remain in that group's FTP account until the 30 day time to live is up and the files are automatically removed.

Thus it is important to consider your sharing choices as you submit your information into the sequencing portal. There is a link to the sharing pages at the end of the submission process; if you do need to share, use the link to make sure the project is set up as it should be.

Sharing your data with a CRUK-CI collaborator simply gives them access through our systems to information about the samples in the project and the ability to fetch the files within our institute. Since this is just changing an access permission the effect is immediate.

Your data resides in our store for a minimum of a calendar month after sequencing but it does not go into our long term storage. If you are collaborating with a CRUK-CI group they need to know to fetch your data within the same window of time as your files are present on the FTP server to be sure they can access the data through our internal mechanisms. If too much time has passed you will have to arrange to send your copy of your files back to CRUK-CI.

We do not support sharing with other external groups through this mechanism. For any collaboration with parties outside CRUK-CI you will have to arrange your own means of transferring your files to your collaborators.

The Functional Genomics Centre (FGC) has an extended version of the sharing mechanism of other external groups. You can choose whether or not to share the project with the other side of the collaboration, much as presented to you after submission for sequencing or library prep. Otherwise you are the same as other external parties; you may choose zero or more CRUK-CI groups for collaboration.

It is important to set the sharing with the other half of the collaboration before the pool is sequenced. This sharing option dictates whether the files go to only one FTP account or to both, and it is not retrospective. If you decide to share after sequencing, you will need to arrange to send the files to your collaborator by other means.

For more details how sharing within the FGC works, see the support page for Functional Genomics Centre Submissions.