eResearch Newsletter December 2022

Dear <<First Name>>, here is the National eResearch Newsletter.

National eResearch Newsletter - December 2022

Message from AeRO:

The Results from the Surveys of the recent eResearch Australasia Conference have been handed to AeRO, and are currently being analysed. While statistics such as 90% saying the Content was Good or Excellent are gratifying, it is reading some of the very perceptive and helpful comments that many respondents have made that are especially useful. Some were very complimentary (eg “A truly engaging program this year!”), while others indicated areas where more work is required (eg “a little too much focus on very heavily technical talks”), and we note that some clashes could have been avoided (eg “two sessions on sensitive data running concurrently”). There was also varied feedback on the Keynotes, eg regarding one keynote “Brilliant” vs “Didn't understand this at all.” We have noted the various criticisms of the way online delegates could get involved, and will look to improve that in future.

We look forward to next year’s eRAU2023, the dates/place of which is likely to be announced soon.

Alex Reid, eResAU2022 Program Co-Chair & Newsletter Editor (editor@aero.edu.au).

CONTENTS:
* Call for Digital Collections Catalyst Grants extended: to 6-Jan.
* HASS RDC & Indigenous Research Capability Symposium: 2-Feb.
* HASS RDC & Indigenous Research Capability School: 7-Feb.
* ARDC Digital Research Skills Summit: 9 to 10-Feb-23.
* ARCOS Symposium 2023: 15-Feb.
* Data Engineering Tech Talk: 23-Feb.
* Research Software Alliance Questionnaire.
* EcoCommons Australia Helps Native Species Conservation.
* Phenomena Newsletter Summer Edition.
* QCIF Develops a Secure Data Analysis Environment.
* Learning Data and Software Skills with the Carpentries.
* QCIF’s HPC Software Support for Life Sciences.
* Finding the Proof of the PIDs Pudding.
* QCIF State-Wide Ingenuity Pathway Analysis Licence.
* How Do Researchers Discover Data?
* QCIF Joins the Australian Data Science Network.
* New Imaging Data Tool for Australian Researchers.
* New Supercomputer Available for Wider UQ Use.
* Experts Navigate Research-Industry Translation.

Call for Digital Collections Catalyst Grants extended: to 6-Jan

Can you see yourself working with library collections to deliver an innovative, interactive digital experience? Does $15,000 towards your project sound enticing? Applications for State Library of Queensland’s Digital collections catalyst have been extended to 6-Jan-23! We challenge you to create an engaging experience based on the rich details and personal experiences contained within our collections. Breathe life into characters by way of artificial intelligence including machine learning.

Read the guidelines for entry and submit your application by 4pm Friday 6 January 2023. Please share this opportunity with colleagues.

For guidelines and to enter: https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/digitalcatalyst.

HASS Research Data Commons and Indigenous Research Capability Symposium: 2-Feb

When: 2-3 February 2023
Where: Melbourne/Naarm and online
Run by: ARDC

The ARDC invites all members of the digital HASS research community to attend the Symposium. ARDC partners from the HASS RDC and IRC program will showcase the research infrastructure being built and the potential for improved research outcomes that it supports. Travel bursaries are available for HDR, ECR, and Indigenous researchers and stakeholders.

Register Now: https://bit.ly/ARDCHASSSymposium.

HASS Research Data Commons and Indigenous Research Capability: 7-Feb

What: Computational Skills Summer School
When: 7-8 February 2023
Where: Melbourne/Gadigal Country
Run by: ARDC

The ARDC invites HDR, ECR and Indigenous HASS researchers to attend the Computational Skills Summer School. At this 2-day, face-to-face event, you will learn essential digital skills for HASS research: basic data management skills, and how to use Jupyter Notebooks, the Australian Text Analytics Platform, and the Indigenous Data Catalogue. Travel bursaries are available for HDR, EMCR and Indigenous researchers.

Register Now: https://bit.ly/HASSSummerSchool.

ARDC Digital Research Skills Summit: 9 to 10-Feb-23

The annual ARDC Digital Research Skills Summit provides a vibrant forum for the eResearch skills community to network, exchange information, share new initiatives and tackle complex, national scale skills challenges.

Where: Sydney/Gadigal Country (in person)
Run by: ARDC
When: 9 to 10 February 2023.

More information and to register: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/ardc-digital-research-skills-summit-tickets-353456366507.

ARCOS Symposium 2023: 15-Feb

When: 15 Feb 2023, 1.00 - 5.00 pm AEDT
Where: Online
Cost: Free

Join us for a half-day ARCOS (Australian Research Container Orchestration Services) Symposium on 15 February 2023. The virtual symposium gathers ARCOS members and other interested parties to share expertise, discuss use cases of containers and Kubernetes, and learn about the solutions and services being implemented for modern research.

Featured talk:
ARDC National Jupyter Notebook Service, Andy Botting, Technical Lead, ARDC Nectar Research Cloud.

View the preliminary agenda and register now: https://bit.ly/ARCOSSymposium23.

Data Engineering Tech Talk: 23-Feb

When: 23 Feb 2023, 2.00pm AEDT
Where: Online
What: The talk is about data engineering for Covid tracking, which focuses on using the R Targets package to manage massive continuous data linkage.

Who should attend: research scientists, data scientists, research software engineers, and other interested parties.

Speaker: Dennis Wollersheim, Principal Analyst at DHHS Victoria.

More information and to sign up, go to: https://sites.google.com/ardc.edu.au/techtalk2020/talks.

Research Software Alliance Questionnaire

The Research Software Alliance (ReSA) has opened a short questionnaire to gain feedback from the international scientific community to understand the needs of scientists with regard to funding the development and enhancement of Research Software, as well the associated ecosystems (eg, training, education, and policy).

Go to: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9D36bNthRSOrhljWNfEyYz56u2rIM9RzhuMMx87UL4_V7Bg/viewform.

EcoCommons Australia Launches to Help Native Species Conservation

A world-first data analysis platform has launched which will transform the ability to understand the impacts of the climate crisis on native species.

EcoCommons is an Australian-built digital innovation platform that will simplify the use of data and analytics to identify where plants and animals live now and where they may live in the future, where their habitat is and when it might disappear, and how they will respond to a changing climate.

This informs the plans we can put in place to mitigate predicted impacts and help protect and restore Australia’s natural world.

See: https://www.ecocommons.org.au/media-release-ecocommons-australia-will-transform-climate-crisis-predictions-and-native-species-conservation/.

Phenomena Newsletter Summer Edition

There’s something for everyone wrapped in Phenomics Australia (https://phenomicsaustralia.org.au/) final Phenomena for 2022. As ever, this issue gifts you the latest Phenomics news and impacts, along with an updated list of funding opportunities and meetings in Australia and beyond.

Please contact Phenomics Australia if you have any needs unmet, ideas unexplored, or news unshared so they can better support your research.

Enjoy Phenomena here: https://mailchi.mp/7af01574e016/phenomena-phenomics-australia-enews-q4.

QCIF Develops a Secure Data Analysis Environment

A QCIF-developed secure data analysis environment for researchers is currently being tested and is expected to go live in early 2023.

The platform, called KeyPoint, will enable researchers to access, analyse, manage and share sensitive research data in a scalable, fully governed, and highly-secure environment, whilst maintaining full control of their data at all times.

Read more: https://www.qcif.edu.au/news/qcif-develops-a-secure-data-analysis-environment/.

Learning Data and Software Skills with the Carpentries

Liz Stokes, ARDC's Senior Research Data Skills Specialist, spoke to Carpentries workshop instructors and helpers about their reflections on running a workshop on data and software skills with ACEAS scientists, asserting that she can’t believe she survived without it.

Read more: https://bit.ly/ARDCNews02.

QCIF’s HPC Software Support for Life Sciences

QCIF is offering life sciences researchers across its Member institutions the ability to request that software modules be installed or updated on high-performance computing clusters accessed through QRIScloud, QCIF’s computing service.

The service is free for research staff and HDR students from QCIF’s Member institutions, including UQ, QUT, Griffith, JCU, CQU, UniSC, UniSQ and SCU.

Read more: https://www.qcif.edu.au/news/qcifs-hpc-software-support-for-life-sciences-brings-value-to-members/.

Finding the Proof of the PIDs Pudding

Co-authored by the ARDC's Natasha Simons, in this blog post, you will learn about the recently published cost-benefit analysis of persistent identifiers in the Australian research ecosystem.

Read more: https://bit.ly/ARDCNews03.

QCIF Gains State-Wide Ingenuity Pathway Analysis Licence

QCIF has organised a state-wide licence for Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). This is a one-year, one concurrent access licence allowing any researchers from participating Queensland universities (UQ, GU, QUT, JCU, USC, and CQU) to access IPA at no cost to them.

IPA is an online application which allows researchers to quickly visualise and understand complex ‘omics data and perform insightful data analysis and interpretation by placing experimental results within the context of biological systems.

Read more: https://www.qcif.edu.au/news/qcif-gains-state-wide-ingenuity-pathway-analysis-licence/.

How Do Researchers Discover Data?

An ARDC report uncovers the ingredients for successful data discovery and provides recommendations for data managers and discovery services.

Read more: https://bit.ly/ARDCNews01.

QCIF Joins the Australian Data Science Network

QCIF has joined the Australian Data Science Network (ADSN) as a partner. The ADSN is a network of more than two dozen organisations in Australia working in the data science space.

The aim of the network is to connect people, resources and opportunities to increase the benefit that Australian data science can deliver. ADSN also aims to foster engagement between its member organisations and to help promote them.

Read more: https://www.qcif.edu.au/news/qcif-joins-the-australian-data-science-network/.

New Imaging Data Tool Launched for Australian Researchers

A new imaging tool to assist Australian researchers in processing cryogenic electron microscopy (CryoEM) data was launched earlier this month. 

The EM Data Processing Portal was created and launched through the ARDC platform project Australian Characterisation Commons at Scale (ACCS) utilising ARDC-funded specialised compute infrastructure provided by QCIF and Monash University.

In recent years the number of electron microscopy (EM) instruments, especially in CryoEM, has increased nationally and internationally. The large data sets produced by these instruments have elevated demand for compute capability to process them.

Read more: https://www.qcif.edu.au/news/a-new-imaging-data-tool-launched-for-australian-researchers/.

UQ’s New Supercomputer Now Available for Wider UQ Use

Culminating a multi-year planning process, and involving a fresh look at UQ’s model for supercomputing, Supercomputer Bunya was launched this month after a successful user testing phase. It is now available for wider use by University of Queensland researchers.

Bunya’s performance in early benchmarks and user testing met and exceeded the expectations of UQ’s Research Computing Centre (RCC). “Depending upon the code being run, the speedup users are experiencing has been anywhere from almost two times to over four times faster,” said RCC CTO Jake Carroll.

Read more: https://rcc.uq.edu.au/article/2022/12/uq%E2%80%99s-new-supercomputer-now-available-wider-uq-use.

Experts Navigate Research-Industry Translation

A recap of the third and final ARDC Leadership forum of 2022, where a panel of academic and industry leaders explored the ins and outs of translating research outcomes to industry in Australia.

Read the recap and watch the session recording: https://bit.ly/ARDCNews04.

Contributions

This newsletter is based on contributions from members of the eResearch community, and draws on news articles and newsletters published across the sector. The Newsletter is published around the 16th of each month. Please send all contributions (max. 100 words + link + image) or pointers to any other relevant articles or newsletters to editor@aero.edu.au.
Newsletter archives are available at http://aero.edu.au/newsletters/.
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Thanks, Alex Reid, AeRO Newsletter Editor.

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