http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

An Overview of eResearch Activities in Australia

Paul Davis, GrangeNetJane Hunter, Uni of Qld

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

Agenda

Guiding Principles

eResearch Coordinating Committee

NCRIS (National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy)

ARC Special eResearch Initiative

ARIIC (Australian Research Information Infrastructure Committee) Projects

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

Guiding Principles

eResearch is a paradigm shift in the way research is carried out ~ sharing & collaboration are key

eResearch is not just for science

eResearch is primarily about data, information & knowledge

Enabling infrastructure should be planned and a national resource

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

eResearch Coordinating Committee

research support&

national research activities

Process supported by Australian Government

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

eResearch Hubs

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

NCRIS

National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy– $542M over 5 years

Key principles:

– Australia’s investment in research infrastructure should be planned,

– Infrastructure resources should be focused in areas where Australia is, or has the potentially to be, world-class,

– Infrastructure resources should be developed on a collaborative, national, non-exclusive basis,

– Access is a critical issue in the drive to optimise Australia’s research infrastructure,

– Whole-of-life costs of major infrastructure should be considered including operational costs,

– Fuller participation of Australian researchers in international research efforts.

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

ARC Special eResearch Initiative

One-year pilot scheme to support e-Research – provides resources to overcome barriers to the adoption of e-Research methods

– encourage collaboration amongst multi-disciplinary teams

– facilitate more efficient use of ICT resources and sharing of data and resources

Priorities– Software tool creation

– Demonstrators and feasibility studies

– Grid technologies, collaborative visualization

– Remote instrumentation, sensor networks

Funding – 37 projects, $3.6M

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

ARIIC Projects

Australian Research Information Infrastructure Committee – to improve the access of Australian researchers to the information they need to carry out

their research

– to make the results of Australian research widely available and easily accessible.

– $246M over 5 years

2003 - 4 FRODO Projects– FRODO :: Federated Repositories of Online Digital Objects

2005 - 9 MERRI Projects– MERRI :: Managed Environment for Research Repository

Infrastructure

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

4 FRODO Projects

Meta Access Management System Project (MAMS) - Macquarie Uni– interoperability between university IT systems

– developing software for authentication, security and access.

– enable researchers and students to access information more easily and seamlessly within Universities and between Universities.

Australian Research Repositories Online to the World (ARROW) - Monash– best practice solutions for storing and organizing digital information in

institutional repositories.

– development of repository software and metadata tools

Australian Digital Theses Program Expansion (ADT) – Uni. Of NSW– redevelop & expand existing repository of the Australian Digital Theses Program

Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories (APSR) - ANU– Preservation of digital collections

– Repository software tools

– Set of demonstrator projects (DSpace, EPrints, Fedora)

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

MERRI Projects

Managing and Integrating Large Data Sets– Time Sync:  Mapping the Global Financial System - Uni. Of NSW

– BlueNet: The Australian Marine Science Data Network - University of Tasmania

– Molecular Medicine Informatics Model (MMIM):  A Multi-Institutional, Multi-disciplinary Research and Training Platform for Clinical Research - University of Melbourne

Technical Development and Deployment– Australian Service for Knowledge of Open Source Software (ASK-OSS) - Macquarie Uni.

– Middleware Action Plan and Strategy (MAPS) - Uni of Qld

– Legal Protocols for Copyright Management – QUT

Technical Interoperability and Accessibility– Dataset Acquisition, Accessibility and Annotation e-Research Technology (DART) –

Monash University

– Regional Universities Building Research Infrastructure Collaboratively (RUBRIC) – Uni. of Southern Qld

– e-Security Framework for Research – Uni. of Qld

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

ARC Special eResearch Initiative & ARIIC projects

Discipline Number of Projects

Astronomy 4

Biosciences 4

Data Services 16

Geosciences 5

IT 8

Medicine 7

Scientific Instruments

3

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

Future Directions and Challenges

Developing a strategic framework for eResearch in Australia

– Establish a more coordinated approach

– Develop and fund an Australian eResearch Programme

Establish a national Grid ( compute and data storage) + operations and support centres

Establish eResearch centres/hubs

– Develop skills and capabilities

– Provide outreach and education

– Engage industry

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch

References

http://itee.uq.edu.au/~eResearch