DRE cost insight
The DRE provides researchers with enhanced control over the use of their workspace and the costs associated with it. When using the DRE, researchers will pay two types of fees: service costs, which vary depending on your specific situation, and a separate DRE budget that will be spent based on how much you use the workspace. Please note, the budget in the DRE is including VAT. This updated structure provides clear expectations for budgeting and financial management within the DRE workspace, allowing researchers to plan effectively for their project costs.
Projects migrating to the DRE
For projects migrating from the VRW to the DRE, service costs have already been covered in the current, valid offer. They cover Lifelines' services provided throughout the project, as well as external partner services related to the workspace. On your current, valid offer, the VRW costs are also included. With your migration, the project’s DRE budget will be calculated by Lifelines using the remaining months of access after your migration. The costs for further extension will follow the new DRE cost estimate (see Costs of data).
Projects starting on the DRE
For projects that started in 2024
Projects that received an offer for their access to the DRE in 2024 will use the fees as determined in 2024. As mentioned earlier, the total workspace costs specified in your signed offer will include both service costs and VRW costs. Therefore, the DRE budget for your project will be determined by the VRW costs included in your signed offer.
For projects starting in 2025
Starting in 2025, the fee structure will change. Service costs and the DRE budget will be separated in your offer. The service costs will be predetermined and can be found in the cost table on our website (see Costs of data). Using the tables below, you will be able to calculate your project’s estimate DRE budget based on how much of the workspace you plan to use.
DRE budget overview
To help you understand the costs involved for different scenarios, two cost tables are provided below.
For more accurate calculations, you can use the DRE cost estimator tool available at DRE Cost Estimator. Please be aware that there is an additional charge of €20 per virtual machine (VM) per month for Lifelines workspaces, which is not reflected in the cost estimator tool.
DRE budget
Per year per Virtual Machine (VM)
includingVAT and shared drive
| 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM | 32 GB RAM | |
| 0 hours/week | € 380 | € 380 | €380 |
| 16 hours/week | € 570 | € 760 default |
€1,180 |
| 40 hours/week | €910 | € 1430 | €2,490 |
Storage costs
Per year per Workspace including VAT
| 20 GB | €20 default |
| 100 GB | €80 |
| 1000 GB | € 830 |
Budget adjustments and reimbursements
When extending your access to the DRE workspace, you have the option to increase your DRE budget. Additionally, you may choose to increase your DRE budget outside of the extension period:
- One free annual DRE budget increase is permitted
- Additional budget modifications include an administration fee
- Minimum budget increase is set at €100 including VAT.
If there is any remaining DRE budget at the end of your project, you will be reimbursed if the balance is over €50 including VAT. If the remaining budget is less than €50, however, it will not be reimbursed.
