The Great Plains Network and Kansas State University together with The Quilt, several Quilt members, XSEDE, Clemson, and more, have been funded to pull together a set of recommendations to NSF on how to improve access to Computational Infrastructure. As a key piece of this project, we would like to hear from you through a Call for Papers.
Background
Funding agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF) have made significant investments in the national computational infrastructure to help campus-level researchers answer challenging scientific questions. A diverse set of organizations has emerged to support access to this infrastructure. Nonetheless, gaps remain.
The Process
We have been funded by the National Science Foundation to develop a set of community-supported recommendations for filling the gaps and for more effectively coordinating education and training on the use of advanced cyberinfrastructure from campus to state to regional to national levels.
We intend to use the following process:
- Solicit white papers from interested parties and organizations.
- Select among the papers and send conference invitations to the selected group of authors.
- Hold the meeting in October in Kansas City, MO.
- Develop a final report and a set of recommendations to funding agencies and the community at large.
Who Should Submit a White Paper?
We would like to encourage the broadest audience possible to consider submitting white papers to the Conference Organizing Committee.
In particular, we would like to hear from
- State and regional networking and research facilitation organizations
- Other organizations that are interested in data and/or computation
- Minority serving institutions
- Researchers
- Campus research support staff
- Organizations interested in workforce development in support of access to computational infrastructure
Questions to Address
We would like to hear about (a) strategies for engaging researchers to use shared computational infrastructure (e.g., XSEDE, OSG), including shared campus infrastructure, (b) needs that are not currently being met, and (c) successful local and regional models that could be replicated or applied on a broader scale.
- We would also like white papers to address a subset of the following strategic questions:
- What should be the role of regional organizations in providing broader support to computational researchers?
- How can these organizations expand researcher engagement to underrepresented communities?
- How can these organizations sustain timely and relevant education and outreach efforts to computational researchers over the long term?
- How can efforts across these organizations be effectively coordinated?
- What is an effective collaboration environment and structure?
- How can these organizations promote and coordinate sharing of hardware, software and expertise across campus, state, and regional boundaries?
Due Date: September 10, 2015
Paper Format
Each paper should be 1.5 to 2 pages in length and single-spaced. Please include the author name and affiliation. These papers will be published at the conference website.
Paper Submission
Papers may be uploaded at https://kstatedce.wufoo.com/forms/improving-access-to-computational-infrastructure/
If you have questions, please contact The Quilt or Greg Monaco at GPN (greg(at)greatplains.net).