September 15, 2015
K-State receives NSF award to improve access to computational resources
The Improving Access Workshop will bring together for the first time representatives of campus, state, regional and other organizations with a vested interest in furthering access to and support of computational resources by researchers across the U.S.
The goal of the workshop is to develop a coherent set of recommendations to the National Science Foundation and to the community, which provide answers to a set of strategic questions.
A Conference Organizing Committee of experts in campus, regional and national infrastructure is being led by the Greg Monaco of K-State's psychological science department.
To accelerate the process of developing a useful set of recommendations, white papers have been solicited, relevant to the strategic questions. Based on a review of papers submitted, invitations to participate in the conference will be extended to up to 60 organizations. The one-and-a-half day conference will be Oct. 22-23 in Kansas City, Missouri, and facilitated by members of the organizing committee.
The proposed meeting promises to coordinate efforts that lead to significant improvements in meeting the needs of academic researchers. The meeting will bring the needs of the computational research community to the forefront of organizations that are uniquely positioned to assist in meeting those needs. In situations where a small or medium-sized campus does not have the resources to assist a small number of researchers with advanced computational needs, the next level up — the state or other regional organization — will be in an excellent position to reach out to those researchers. In the long-term, the output from this conference promises to refocus the efforts of regional organizations and align them with the capacities of the national infrastructure and the needs of campus researchers.