Joint Office of Research Computing Support
Opens to Serve UC Researchers
by Michael Lieberman
Over the past eighteen months, UCit and the Office of Research have investigated avenues through which UCit can offer services to the research community. UCit has advanced the educational mission of the University over the past three years, and is now turning its attention to the many faculty who conduct research. Recently, UCit hosted a panel discussion so researchers had the opportunity to discuss, with UCit staff, and other researchers, the types of services they would like to see offered by UCit.
As a result of these discussions, we have established the Joint Office of Research Computing Support, under the direction of Mike Lieberman, Dean, Instructional and Research Computing. At this time, this is a virtual office, which is using reallocated funds to initiate projects. Currently, the research community can get research computing support in four areas, as follow:
- Assistance with software licensing negotiations
UCit has extensive experience in such negotiations, and is available to aid individual researchers or departments in negotiations with vendors to obtain the best possible price. There is no charge for this service. Please make your request for assistance to Mike Lieberman (85645; Michael.Lieberman@uc.edu).
- Access to secure UCit SAN (Storage Area Network) space for data storage
We will immediately initiate a pilot project to access the needs of the research community for research data storage. Up to 250 Gigabytes of space are available for this pilot project. As each researcher's needs will be different, we suggest that interested faculty schedule appointments, through Mike Lieberman, to discuss how UCit and the Joint Office of Research Computing Support can best meet their needs, and those of their collaborators. A number of solutions are available for no charge; others may require a nominal charge for hardware setup. All data stored on the SAN are backed up daily and multiple means to access the data can be established.
- Gigabyte access to the desktop
We will initiate a competition for researchers who indicate that they need gigabyte access to their desktop, and why. We anticipate that six to eight awards can be funded to establish this service. An announcement concerning this competition was made 18 November. For more information concerning this competition, please call, at 85645, or send email to Mike Lieberman.
- Establishment of research communities on either the Blackboard learning system, or the Blackboard content management system
Blackboard Organizations are online meeting places for groups of individuals with similar interests. Researchers can request organizations on either the production Blackboard Learning System, or the new Blackboard Content System. UC is a product development partner with Blackboard, and UC is currently beta testing the new Content System. The Blackboard Content System has the potential to be an excellent environment for researchers from different areas of the University (and up to ten guests from outside the University) to share data and ideas. If you are interested in beta testing the Content System for research purposes, or in using the Learning System for research management, contact the Blackboard Support Team at blackboard@UC.Edu.
The Joint Office of Research Computing Support is open to suggestions and comments from the research community. Please direct such comments to Mike Lieberman, 85645, or Michael.Lieberman@UC.Edu.
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