JISC

JISC is working with other partner organisations to provide information and computing technologies and methodologies in support of all phases of research processes

e-Research highlights
Interview: John Wood, JSR Committee Chair Download MP3
VRE phase 1 ended. 4 projects funded for VRE phase 2
2 videos launched explaining the benefits of VREs
e-Uptake project investigated barriers to adopting e-science technologies
Grid accounting and usage monitoring study report released
2 identity-related projects funded under the capital programme
7 major research grants funded with AHRC and EPSRC to support e-Science in the Arts & Humanities
National Centre for Text Mining received project funding from multinational pharmaceuticals, the BBC, & commercial providers
2 projects funded under the Grid OGC Collision programme

Virtual Research Environments (VREs) enable researchers in all subject disciplines to collaborate and share resources across institutional and even national boundaries. JISC’s VRE programme phase 1 came to a close during the last year, highlights from which were featured on 2 videos explaining the benefits of VREs and how researchers are using them. 4 projects have been funded under the VRE programme phase 2 under capital funding: projects which aim to increase community awareness and support the further uptake of VREs.

Capital funding has also supported the e-Uptake project to investigate the barriers to the adoption of e-science technologies and how these barriers can be overcome.

The Grid accounting and usage monitoring study was a 3-month study to establish the requirements and current technological state of play for monitoring and accounting for usage on grid based systems. Recommendations arising from the report looked strongly to JISC to provide coordinated support in the areas of standards, frameworks for accounting and the monitoring of use.

2 identity-related projects were funded under the capital programme during the last year. Both projects are due to report later this autumn:

• Identity project has undertaken a broad survey of identity management across FE and HE, instigating institutional audits in a range of institutions
• Es-LoA project has reviewed and investigated the current definitions and applications of ‘Levels of Assurance’ nationally and internationally, once again, across a range of institutions

Following a programme of workshops and demonstrators, 7 major research grants were funded under JISC’s joint call with the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) and the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Science Research Council) to support e-Science in the Arts and Humanities. These grants will fund a variety of projects including using e-Science to explore image and textual interpretation, mediaeval warfare and access to music resources.

The National Centre for Text Mining (NaCTeM) is the first national text mining centre in the world providing support in the use of vast stores of available digital information to discover new, previously unknown information. The centre has recently received funding for projects from multinational pharmaceutical companies, the BBC, and commercial providers. It has also received funding from the University of Manchester Medical School for a pilot text mining study on metabolites and pre-eclampsia.

ASSERT (Automatic Summarisation for Systematic Reviews using Text Mining) is another project being run by NaCTeM, funded through JISC’s capital programme. Started in December 2006, its specific aim is to support the use of text mining in the social sciences.  Year in pictures

The National Grid Service (NGS) gives UK academic researchers remote access to large compute and data resources. The service has been working towards the launch of its second phase, quadrupling its storage capacity to 192TB (terra bytes) at its four core sites, an increase which will have a significant impact on researchers.

2 projects to explore the issues involved in enabling access to large datasets from Grid infrastructures, are now nearing completion:

• GEMS2 (Grid-Enabling MIMAS Services), led by Mimas, aims to build on the successful GEMS project to provide seamless access to compute nodes on the NGS for large scale analysis of satellite imagery. As well as exploring the technical issues, GEMS2 is exploring the staff resources and operational procedures required to maintain grid data services and support users
• GEESE project, led by EDINA, aims to make data available at EDINA securely available on the NGS and to increase interest in and use of core UK e-infrastructure components and JISC funded national data-centres, EDINA and Mimas

2 projects have been funded under the Grid OGC Collision programme to explore how Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards can work within current Grid infrastructures:

• SAW-GEO, led by Newcastle University, is looking at workflows
• SEE-GEO (SEcurE access to GEOspatial services), led by EDINA, is investigating security issues

The purpose is to take a significant step towards providing Grid-enabled access to EDINA-hosted geospatial services running on the National Grid Service. 

The Grid OGC Collision programme also includes dissemination and engagement activities, led by the SEE-GEO team. This included participation in the recent OGC Interoperability Experiment and the management of a workshop at the Open Grid Forum (OGF) conference in May 2007. Both these activities have led to closer working between OGC and OGF, collaboration which continues to develop.