CC* CAREERS Grant
Cyberteam to Advance Research and Education in Eastern Regional Schools
The CAREERS (Cyberteam to Advance Research and Education in Eastern Regional Schools) Cyberteam Program is a 3-year initiative funded by the National Science Foundation to build a regional pool of Research Computing Facilitators (RCF) to support researchers at small and midsized institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. RCFs are experts at figuring out how to match the right compute resources to the task at hand, something that can stymie researchers who are, for example, sifting through billions of records to find a specific pattern of genes that correlates with a particular form of cancer; or examining massive quantities of sensor data to understand movements of the sea floor; or modeling complex molecular structures. When computing needs exceed the capacity of the researcher’s desktop, the RCF’s job is to help make use of local, regional, and national high-performance computing resources to meet the researcher’s needs.
Research Computing Facilitators (RCFs) are experts at figuring out how to match the right compute resources to the task at hand, something that can stymie researchers who are, for example, sifting through billions of records to find a specific pattern of genes that correlates with a particular form of cancer; or examining massive quantities of sensor data to understand movements on the sea floor. The RCF’s job is to help make use of local, regional, and national high performance computing resources when computing needs exceed the capacity of the scientist’s desktop.
RCFs can often be found in the research computing groups at large universities and corporations, but are scarce at smaller institutions. Recognizing that promising research can be stopped in its tracks without high performance computing when the need arises, the CAREERS Cyberteam Program was created to fill the gap. Over the next three years, the program will support 72 compute-intensive projects with RCFs-in-training (“students”), each paired with a mentor, to facilitate research computing needs for a 3 month period. RCF students will also have the opportunity to work on a live help desk with a mentor, honing their consultative skills while getting exposure to a broad range of research computing topics.
As part of the program, RCF students will become part of a community of facilitators that has up-to-the-minute visibility into research computing projects and programs taking place in the region. Stipends ranging from $3000-$6500 are available for students participating in the program.
Researchers/Educators:
- If you are interested in participating in this program, please contact University of Delaware’s Steering Committee members, Anita Schwartz and John Huffman, or create an account on the Careers Cyberteam portal and join as Researcher/Educator to submit a project for consideration.
Students:
- Any student, undergraduate or graduate, interested in participating in this program as a student RCF, please contact University of Delaware’s Steering Committee members, Anita Schwartz and John Huffman, or create an account the Careers Cyberteam portal to join as Student Facilitator to express interest to apply as a student facilitator for a project.
Mentors:
- If you are interested in participating in this program to guide a student RCF and volunteer time during the 3-6 month span of the project, please contact University of Delaware’s Steering Committee members, Anita Schwartz and John Huffman, or create an account on the Careers Cyberteam portal to join as a Mentor to express interest to apply as a mentor for a project.