Computer Accounts and Resources

You can set these up about a week after admission:

• You will get a PID (Personal IDentification number) in the format A12345678. Please check the application portal for it about 3-7 days after you accept admission. After you have your PID, set up a password for it here.
• Set up your UCSD email and Active Directory (AD) accounts. Many campus websites and services (WiFi, VPN, WebReg course registration, etc.) use a "Single Sign On" (SSO) login screen with your AD credentials.
• Set up DUO (two-step login). When logging into a UCSD system with a username + password, you will periodically need to authenticate with a second method, such as an app on your phone (or other options DUO provides).
• More info on campus-wide student accounts.
   

Campus computer and network access:

• Student Account Lookup: Shows ITS-managed accounts, servers, and computer labs you can access.
• On-campus wireless overview: Set up your devices to access campus WiFi.
• VPN for off-campus access to UCSD network: Access journals and other content for which UCSD has a subscription, when you are off-campus.
• For more information, see Network Services and Network Connections.
   

Some campus-wide tools you'll need:

• My TritonLink: Tools: List of campus-wide online tools
• UCSD Zoom account: Video conferencing. User guide.
• Canvas (canvas.ucsd.edu) for many course websites
• Course planning and registration (campus-wide page, BISB page): Schedule of classes, WebReg (for course registration), EASy (for add/drop petitions).

Your official UCSD email address on @ucsd.edu:

• Your UCSD student email address has the form username@ucsd.edu. It's a Google Workspace account with Gmail, Google Docs, etc. Most faculty and staff also have these accounts but some are on other systems.
• Most emails from UCSD administrative offices, course instructors and TAs, etc. are sent to your @ucsd.edu address. You are responsible for checking this email account on a timely basis.
   
• Technically, username@ucsd.edu is an alias that forwards to an email account that may be at a different address. Initially it forwards to the UCSD email account that was created for you; for Bioinformatics students, this is:
  • username@ucsd.edu for students admitted since 2020 (with a Google hosted email account, not just mail forwarding);
  • username@eng.ucsd.edu for students admitted 2013-2019 (Google hosted email account; discontinued and replaced by @ucsd accounts);
  • username@bioinf.ucsd.edu for students admitted through 2012 (discontinued and replaced by @eng accounts);
  • It may differ if you started at UCSD in another capacity.
• If you prefer to forward @ucsd.edu email to a different email account, see instructions on the ITS website. This used to be common for students to do; now it's still possible, but is mainly relevant for email forwarding when graduating.
   

Google hosted @ucsd.edu and @eng.ucsd.edu accounts:

• These are rebranded Google accounts. They work similarly to @gmail.com accounts with access to Gmail and Google Apps, but they have a different domain name (@ucsd.edu or @eng.ucsd.edu), different Terms and Conditions, and access to UCSD content.
• FAQ for @ucsd.edu G-suite accounts
• Documentation for @eng.ucsd.edu accounts
   

Spam folder on UCSD accounts:

• If you need to look for messages mistakenly marked as spam, there are two separate spam systems to check.
• UCSD uses ProofPoint to screen messages before they even reach your Gmail account! You'll receive alerts about them as emails from "UCSD Spam Quarantine" with a subject line like "End User Digest: 2 New Messages".
• Gmail has a separate Spam folder. In the list of folders/labels (Inbox, Starred, Snoozed,...): scroll to the bottom, select "More", and then "Spam".

• Labs: You may be issued additional computer accounts for the lab or department in which you do your rotations and thesis research.
• Campus licensed software: See here.
• Calendar: Please regularly check the UCSD Graduate Bioinformatics Program calendar for seminar schedules and other items concerning the program. You can add it to your Google account by clicking on the "+ Google Calendar" link in the lower left corner.
• Facebook: UCSD Bioinformatics and Systems Biology.