CI Compass will enhance the overall NSF CI ecosystem by providing expertise where needed to enhance and evolve the Major Facilities CI, capturing and disseminating CI knowledge and best practices that power MF scientific breakthroughs, and brokering connections to enable knowledge sharing between and across MF CI professionals and the broader CI community.
“Over the past few years, my colleagues and I have worked to provide expertise and support for the NSF Major Facilities in a way that accelerates the data lifecycle and ensures the integrity and effectiveness of the cyberinfrastructure,” said Ewa Deelman, research professor of computer science and research director at the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute and lead principal investigator. “We are proud to contribute to the overall NSF cyberinfrastructure ecosystem and to work with the NSF Major Facilities on solving their cyberinfrastructure challenges together, understanding that our work may help support the sustainability and progress of the MFs’ ongoing research and discovery.”
Beginning in 2018, a team of researchers from institutions across the country came together to launch a pilot program aimed at creating a model for a cyberinfrastructure center of excellence for the NSF’s Major Facilities. The goal of the team was to identify how the center could serve as a forum for the exchange of CI knowledge across varying fields and facilities, establish best practices for different NSF Major Facilities' cyberinfrastructure, provide CI expertise and address CI workforce development sustainability.
The pilot found that Major Facilities differ in types of data captured, scientific instruments used, data processing and analyses conducted, and policies and methods for data sharing and use. However, the study also found that there are commonalities between the various Major Facilities in terms of the data lifecycle. As a result, the pilot developed a data lifecycle model that captured the stages that data within a Major Facility goes through. The model includes stages for 1) data capture; 2) initial processing near the instrument(s); 3) central processing at data centers or clouds; 4) data storage, curation and archiving; and 5) data access, dissemination and visualization. Finding these commonalities helped the pilot program develop common challenges and standardized practices for establishing overarching CI requirements and to develop a that can address the pressing Major Facilities data lifecycle challenges.
“Having a state-of-the-art cyberinfrastructure and related computational tools is necessary for each NSF Major Facility to conduct their day-to-day work and deliver data to a broader scientific community, both nationally and internationally,” said , director of the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Research Computing, concurrent professor of computer science and engineering and co-principal investigator of the project. “This project brings together a diverse group of experts who are able to assess the data lifecycle challenges and other related needs of each NSF Major Facility in order to help them accomplish their goals.”
The research institutions collaborating on CI Compass include Indiana University, Texas Tech University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Southern California and the University of Utah.
To learn more about CI Compass, visit .
This project is funded by the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering under grant number 2127548. The pilot effort was funded by CISE/OAC and the Division of Emerging Frontiers in the Directorate for Biological Sciences under grant number 1842042.
]]>The University of Notre Dame has received $138.1 million in research funding for fiscal year (FY) 2017, surpassing the previous record of $133.7 million set in FY 2015. Additionally, the University also broke its monthly record receiving $27.6 million in June alone.
“Our scholarly, robust faculty can take pride in this milestone,” said , the University’s president. “It advances Notre Dame’s reputation as a national research university, and it represents a welcome infusion of spending in South Bend. Congratulations to , our vice president for , and most of all to our talented and hardworking faculty for an achievement that is all the more remarkable in a time of government retrenchment.”The University of Notre Dame has received $138.1 million in research funding for fiscal year (FY) 2017, surpassing the previous record of $133.7 million set in FY 2015. Additionally, the University also broke its monthly record receiving $27.6 million in June alone.
Approximately 57.8 percent of the research awards came from federal funding, while 26.9 percent came from foundations or other sponsors, and 15.3 percent came from industry.
Notre Dame’s continued commitment to growing and expanding its research programs is paying off locally as well, with approximately 75 percent of external research funds expended in the local community. For example, the (NDTL), which opened in downtown South Bend’s Ignition Park in 2016, continues to grow and bring benefits to the area. In FY 2017, NDTL brought in nearly $7 million in research awards. Further, it has hired over 40 employees — recruiting technical experts from both the Michiana region as well as internationally — and has plans to continue to grow its staffing levels.
The community theme continues in a number of other large research grants to the University, including a $1.6 million award from the Lilly Endowment to the to study sacred music in the revival of the community and the church, as well as nearly $1 million to the to continue its Quarknet program.
Speaking about the record-breaking year, Bernhard said, “This year’s success is tied directly to the dedication of our faculty who worked harder than ever in this difficult funding environment to compete for grants. In fact, Notre Dame researchers submitted over 1,200 proposals this year, representing a 30 percent increase in proposal value since last year. I look forward to seeing many of these proposals — especially those that continue our important collaborative relationship with the city of South Bend, such as the Wireless Institute’s proposal for a city-scale platform for advanced wireless research — become actively funded research projects.”
Among some of the largest awards to each College and 91Ƶ:
Faculty from the University’s other Colleges and 91Ƶs, as well as Centers and Institutes, contributed to the record-breaking total, which grew from $71 million in 2006.
Contact: Jessica Sieff, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu
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