San Diego Supercomputer Center Creates Science Gateways Community Institute
A collaborative team led by the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego has received a five-year, $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish the Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI), a multi-institutional consortium that aims to increase the capabilities, number and sustainability of science gateways.
"Science
gateways are user-friendly web portals that make advanced computing,
data, networking and scientific instrumentation accessible and easily
usable by scientists at all levels," according to the NSF award
abstract. Scientists use these gateways to access research tools such
as supercomputers, telescopes, sensors and more.
The goal of the
Science Gateways Community Institute is "to increase the number, ease
of use and effective application of gateways for the greater research
and engineering community, resulting in broader gateway use and more
widespread engagement in science by professionals, citizen scientists,
students and more," stated a news release from UC San Diego.
The Science Gateways Community Institute will draw on the expertise of numerous partner universities, including Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina; Indiana University; University of Notre Dame; Purdue University; the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas, Austin; and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
The five-component design of the Science Gateways Community Institute includes:
- An
Incubator, led by Michael Zentner of Purdue University, to provide
shared expertise in business and sustainability planning,
cybersecurity, user interface design and software engineering practices;
- Extended Developer Support, led by Marlon E. Pierce of Indiana University, to provide developers to support research projects;
- The
Scientific Software Collaborative, led by Maytal Dahan of TACC, to
oversee a component-based, open-source, extensible framework for
gateway design, integration, and services;
- Community Engagement
and Exchange, led by Katherine A. Lawrence of the University of
Michigan with support from Sandra Gesing of the University of Notre
Dame, to provide a forum for communication and sharing experiences
among gateway developers; and
- Workforce Development, led by
Linda B. Hayden of Elizabeth City State University, to increase the
pipeline of gateway developers with training programs.
The
principal investigator on the project is Nancy Wilkins-Diehr, associate
director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Co-principal
investigators are Michael Zentner, Marlon Pierce, Katherine Lawrence
and Maytal Dahan.
The development of the Science Gateways
Community Institute will begin in summer 2016. Further information
about the SGCI can be found on the Science Gateways site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].