Input Discussion Paper to Workshop on
Realising and Coordinating e-Research Endeavours
Prof. Richard O. Sinnott
Technical Director National e-Science Centre
University of Glasgow
r.sinnott@nesc.gla.ac.uk
Abstract
The National e-Science Centre (NeSC) at the University of Glasgow is
involved in a wide range of diverse projects across a variety of research
domains including nanoCMOS electronics, clinical trials and
epidemiological studies, genetics and healthcare, bioinformatics,
geographical information systems, the social sciences and (hopefully) in
the arts and humanities. The challenges in engaging in e-Research are
significant with each domain having their own requirements,
vocabularies and research needs that demand to be addressed by any
middleware or Grid solutions. Indeed it is now recognized that research
pull is far more important than middleware push.
This talk will outline the experiences in building a variety of different
solutions and working in a fluid environment where Grid standards and
technologies are continually evolving. In particular we will show how the
growth of the NeSC in Glasgow has been based around identification of a
common theme across the research projects, namely: Grid security.
The talk will present the lessons learned in these areas and attempt to
address the key questions associated with this workshop from the
personal perspective of an e-Science technical director at the coalface of
e-Research.