Research Computing Support (RCS)

Introduction
Georgia Health Sciences University, as a University System research university (http://www.georgiahealth.edu/about/) is committed to be a leading center of excellence in research through the generation and application of biomedical knowledge and technology to human health and disease and to play an expanding role in the transfer of technology to the health care delivery system.

Focus within Technology Services as an integral part of GHSU is expanding to supporting interdisciplinary and scientific research areas. Research Computing Support (RCS) group has been established with the mission to enhance the capacity for research technology support; develop, establish, and coordinate customer-focused support strategies for building a strong research infrastructure of advanced computing resources and services and to assist researchers in determining data management solutions.

Purpose
The Research Computing Support group acts as a liaison between GHSU research community and Technology Services, providing technical support and consulting services on a wide variety of issues ranging from high performance computing, data storage, software implementation and licensing, to research collaboration using advanced technologies.

RCS will also act as a liaison to external initiatives and resources such as Southern Light Rail (SLR), SURAGrid, InCommon, Internet2, Georgia Cyberinfrastructure Alliance, statewide and national supercomputing and research centers.

Services
Researchers should be free to focus their efforts on the discovery and dissemination of knowledge, not evaluating hardware and software tradeoffs, or devising methods to interact with increasingly complex-data sets. Research Computing Support group will facilitate the need of researchers for access to:

• ArcGIS - GHSU owns a site license for ESRI ArcGIS. This software is an integrated family of software products that consists of Desktop GIS, Server GIS and Mobile GIS used to view and manage information about geographic places, analyze spatial relationships, and model spatial processes. GIS gives you tools to analyze your data and see the results in the form of powerful, interactive maps that reveal how things work together, allowing you to make the most informed decisions possible.
• Professional Technical Assistance, Programming and Database Support - personnel, who could provide advice, guidance and direct support for the effective use of research software, advanced programming techniques and methodologies, development of large databases and information repositories, software implementation and application hosting services
• Data Storage - Many researchers desire access to a well-managed, large-capacity storage infrastructure for archiving data. This infrastructure is available on limited basis to provide primary-file storage, data-sharing services, and short-term backup storage. If needed, individual groups, departments, or academic units could add storage capacity to this infrastructure to augment their evolving needs. System administration is provided by Technology Services.
• Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery for Research – analysis and consultation services for the use of best practices in storing and protecting research data.
• High Performance Computing – analysis and consultation on HPC locally and through affiliations with statewide and national supercomputing sites.
• Videoconferencing Software – GHSU faculty, staff and students now have access to a new video communication service: GHSU Video Conferencing. The technology allows person-to-person video conversations and group meetings using a video-conferencing device or PC (with special software and a Web cam). Users simply dial up and log in from their offices, classrooms, conference rooms or home. Applications include distance learning, standard meetings, recorded trainings and more. Basic features include person-to-person meetings. Intermediate and advanced features include business messaging, icon cues, digital recording, streaming to Web, instant access to recorded meetings and conference roll call locking.
• Southern Light Rail – High speed dedicated fiber optic access through National Lambda Rail (NLR) to the Georgia Research Alliance universities, other universities in the Southern region of the United States and governmental and private sector organizations involved in university research initiatives. SLR will reach out to facilitate dark fiber connectivity to the Southern universities and research centers.
• Hardware and Software Purchase Consultation - provide advice on equipment purchases based on the requirements of your research and the size of the user group. This includes getting quotes from vendors, help with preparing the technical specifications for RFPs and ensuring compliance with the proposal requirements of the granting agencies.
• Collaboration Tools – available tools such as Instant Messenger and RSS feeds through the GHSU portal. Soon to become available software tools that function as real-time virtual workspaces, such as private workplace wikis (searchable, archival able sites that allow groups of users to comment on and edit one another's work in real time); blogs (chronicles of thoughts and interests, federated identity (to enable cross-institutional collaboration and access to research information and data) and others.

Research Technology Advisory Committees have been established in each of the schools to provide strategic direction on how best to provide information technology resources to support research activities within their respective college. The RTAC will serve as a conduit for the two-way dissemination of information related to research computing within each college and will serve to otherwise enhance communications among the faculty and research leaders of the Colleges. The RTAC will keep abreast of technological and operational advances that impact research computing and provide advice on how the college and the University should prepare to support research computing in the future. In addition, a University-level advisory group has been established to provide direction on larger research technology needs that cross college boundaries.

The list of Research Technology Advisory Committees are available online. See also Research Technology Advisory Committees (RTACs) for agenda and meeting minutes (GHSU login required).

Contact:

Michael Casdorph, 706-721-3364 
Director of Instructional and Research Systems