Inquiry Regarding Access to the HCP OpenAccess S3 Bucket

[Aryan Jha]

Hello,

I am a big fan of the work your team has done in managing the HCP dataset. I am planning to use the dataset as input for a brain–behavior modeling framework that I am currently developing.

To proceed with my assignment, I would need access to the OpenAccess S3 Bucket in order to preprocess and transform the large image dataset into more manageable time-series signals using an EC2 instance.

I have been informed that the S3 bucket is currently inaccessible for public use due to the migration to the new BALSA platform, and that the development team is working to make it available again in the near future.

Could you please provide a rough estimate of when the bucket might become accessible again, so that I can communicate any potential delays in my project to my team? Additionally, if there are alternative instructions or temporary methods for accessing the dataset online in the meantime, I would be very grateful to learn about them.

Thank you very much for your work and support.

Sincerely,

Aryan Jha

Research Associate

[Elam, Jennifer]

Elam, Jennifer reacted to your message:

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From: 'Aryan Jha' via HCP-Users <hcp-...@humanconnectome.org>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2026 8:42:52 PM
To: hcp-...@humanconnectome.org <hcp-...@humanconnectome.org>
Cc: rkumar inads.org <rku...@inads.org>
Subject: [hcp-users] Inquiry Regarding Access to the HCP OpenAccess S3 Bucket

 

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[Elam, Jennifer]

Hi Aryan,

With our priorities of releasing newer data, our developer is now starting to determine what we will need to implement generation of AWS credentials for users into BALSA. We don't have an exact ETA but we hope to have something in place within the next couple of months. 

The AWS HCP-YA dataset from 2017 does remain accessible to those who obtained AWS credentials before ConnectomeDB shut down.

We also want to remind everyone that the recommended updated data, including spatial and temporal ICA and bias field correction on all fMRI data, are available for download from BALSA. The 2025 data has not been uploaded to AWS, although we may do so in the future. 

Best,

Jenn

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From: 'Aryan Jha' via HCP-Users <hcp-...@humanconnectome.org>

Sent: Monday, January 12, 2026 2:42 PM

To: hcp-...@humanconnectome.org <hcp-...@humanconnectome.org>
Cc: rkumar inads.org <rku...@inads.org>
Subject: [hcp-users] Inquiry Regarding Access to the HCP OpenAccess S3 Bucket

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You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "HCP-Users" group.
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To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/humanconnectome.org/d/msgid/hcp-users/SA1PR17MB7539FAD32F90B8C49302FC4BDD81A%40SA1PR17MB7539.namprd17.prod.outlook.com.

[Aryan Jha]

Hi Jenn,

Thank you very much for your response. Unfortunately, I do not have AWS credentials for the AWS HCP-YA dataset from 2017. Would it be possible for me, or for someone at your institution, to use the interface from the previous setup to manually generate new credentials for me? This would be tremendously helpful, as my project is quite time-sensitive.

Thank you very much for your help.

Sincerely,
Aryan

[Elam, Jennifer]

Hi Aryan,

The interface from ConnectomeDB was completely retired in September and we don't have a manual way to securely generate AWS credentials. We are currently working on implementing AWS key generation into BALSA and we are hoping to have that complete in a matter of weeks. 

In the meantime, I would advise downloading a subset of the 2025-released data and transferring that to EC2 to get your pipeline working on HCP-style data. Note that the data structure for the 2025 data remains the same although some files have been replaced/updated with the improved, recommended processing. You can compare the files released in 2025 vs. 2017:

2025: https://humanconnectome.org/storage/app/media/documentation//HCP-YA2025/HCP-YA_2025_Release_Appendix_III.pdf

2017:

https://www.humanconnectome.org/storage/app/media/documentation/s1200/HCP_S1200_Release_Appendix_III+7T+DiffBed.pdf

Best,

Jenn

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From: Aryan Jha <aryan...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2026 11:01 AM
To: HCP-Users <hcp-...@humanconnectome.org>
Cc: Elam, Jennifer <el...@wustl.edu>; rkumar inads.org <rku...@inads.org>; aj...@inads.org <aj...@inads.org>
Subject: Re: Inquiry Regarding Access to the HCP OpenAccess S3 Bucket

 

Hi Jenn,

Thank you very much for your response. Unfortunately, I do not have AWS credentials for the AWS HCP-YA dataset from 2017. Would it be possible for me, or for someone at your institution, to use the interface from the previous setup to manually generate new credentials for me? This would be tremendously helpful, as my project is quite time-sensitive.

Thank you very much for your help.

Sincerely,
Aryan

On Monday, 12 January 2026 at 16:03:49 UTC-5 Elam, Jennifer wrote:

[Aryan Jha]

Thank you for sharing the update and your advice.

Best regards,

Aryan