[email protected] | nectar.org.au NECTAR TRAINING Module 2 Virtual Laboratories and...

[email protected] | nectar.org.au

NECTAR TRAINING

Module 2

Virtual Laboratories and eResearch Tools


• The NeCTAR project has funded the development of customised cloud services, software and portals for particular research disciplines or workflows.

• This module provides an overview of the “ready-to-go” tools, eResearch Tools and Virtual Laboratories.


• Virtual Laboratories provide online platforms for research activities in several research discipline areas.

• eResearch Tools provide online software tools for common research tasks.

Virtual Laboratories

• Virtual Labs aim at connecting researchers with existing and new research facilities, data repositories and computational tools.

• They help to create new opportunities for collaboration, efficiencies and innovation.

• Virtual labs are discipline-specific research environments.


• A Virtual Laboratory can be seen as a portal to several software tools, data, storage and documentation in an integrated and interactive online environment.

• Main aim is enabling researchers across the world to collaborate and share information.

• In short: A Virtual Lab is an on-line platform offering a collection of discipline-specific tools and data.


• A Virtual Lab may consist of any or several of:• Tools for processing and analysis• Storage• Models (e.g. ocean circulation, waves)• Networks of observing stations / sensors • Access to data sets / data collections• Support teams• Tutorials• … and more.

Virtual Laboratories: Examples

• The Climate and Weather Science Virtual Laboratory for studying and forecasting weather patterns.

• The Human Communication Science Virtual Laboratory for cross-disciplinary interaction and information sharing between researchers from speech science, computer science, behavioural science and other disciplines.


• The Genomics Virtual Lab is developing an online system for processing genomics workflows in the Cloud.

• The MARine Virtual Laboratory (MARVL) can provide all the tools necessary to construct a virtual environment of a region of interest in marine environments.


• The Geophysics Virtual Lab has developed a portal, a workflow system and computational tools to access geological survey data. It provides Geophysicists with access to an integrated environment that exploits Cloud computing and HPC technology to run automated workflows.

• The Characterisation Virtual Lab has developed many tools, including a remote desktop for processing data from microscopes or the Australian Synchrotron on a powerful supercomputer.


• The Humanities Virtual Lab is integrating many important cultural data sets for researchers in the humanities.

• The Biodiversity and Climate Change Virtual Lab provides integrated tools, data collections and access portals for modelling the potential responses of Australia’s biodiversity to climate change.

• … and many more! Check out the NeCTAR website for a complete list of Virtual Labs.

eResearch Tools

• NeCTAR eResearch Tools provide research software for the Australian research community.

• There is a strong focus on enhancing existing tools and applications to be more collaborative, accessible and to support research workflows.

• The majority of the tools are web-based; some offer software or data to download from the NeCTAR cloud.

eResearch Tools: Examples

• Drishti and Voluminous are scientific visualization and analysis tools. Drishti is a component of the NeCTAR Characterization Virtual Laboratory and Voluminous is a web-based application.

• OzTrack: easy to use, sophisticated analysis and visualization features to researchers, including ecologists, biologists, resource and wildlife managers. This is a free-to-use web-based application for analyzing and visualizing animal location data.


• Cloud-based image analysis (CloudImaging): This web-based toolbox offers image analysis functionality that can be connected together in workflows (allowing creation of even more complex algorithms that can be re-run on different data sets).

• The Human Variome Project is a national data sharing facility for improving clinical genetic testing services and supporting medical research.

• Quadrant: A web-based tool for managing research projects and data collection, particularly for participant-based research. This tool enables researchers to work collaboratively and efficiently from a self-managed centralized site.


• MyTardis offers a Image analysis and processing toolbox, particularly for medical imaging. The tool provides a repository for characterisation and bioscience data.

• Federated Archaeological Information Management System: This eResearch tool includes The Ark project which provides tools to support medical studies and clinical trials.

• The SHaRED project (submission, harmonisation and retrieval of ecological data) is a tool that provides an online questionnaire to help structure metadata when uploading data files.


• The High-throughput Computing For Globally Connected Science eResearch Tools will provide tools and underlying infrastructure for high throughput projects across disciplines—initially only for processing high-energy physics data from the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

• … and more. Check out the NeCTAR eResearch Tools website for more information.

Virtual Labs vs eResearch Tools


• on-line platforms offering a collection of discipline-specific tools and data.

• create new platforms for collaboration and information sharing.

eResearch Tools

• offer a variety of research software for the Australian research community, often addressing researchers across disciplines.

• focus on enhancing existing tools and applications.

Closing note

• You now know what Virtual Labs and eResearch tools are, maybe you have found a tool that is “ready to use” for you.

• The next Modules will cover the probably most sought-after NeCTAR service: Cloud computing in the Research Cloud.

[email protected] | nectar.org.au NECTAR TRAINING Module 2 Virtual Laboratories and...

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