Paper Info
Title
Evaluating research computing training and support as part of a broader digital research infrastructure needs assessment
Abstract
BSTRACTDigital Research Infrastructure (DRI) refers to the suite of tools and services that enables the collection, processing, dissemination, and disposition of research data. This includes strategies for planning, organizing, storing, sharing, computing, and ultimately archiving or destroying one's research data. These services must be supported by highly qualified personnel with the appropriate expertise. From May 17 - June 12, 2021, the University of British Columbia (UBC) Advanced Research Computing (UBC ARC) and the UBC Library from both Vancouver and Okanagan Campuses launched the DRI Needs Assessment Survey to investigate UBC researchers’ needs in 25 distinct DRI tools and services. The survey received a total of 241 responses, and following the survey, three focus groups were conducted with survey respondents to gain additional insights. This paper outlines the DRI Needs Assessment Survey and its findings, focusing on those directly related to UBC ARC services and training in high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud computing (“Cloud”), and discusses next steps for implementing a more collaborative, comprehensive research computing training and support model. Key findings suggest that while advanced research computing infrastructure is a key pillar of DRI, researchers utilizing UBC ARC also rely on a number of other DRI tools and services to conduct their research. These services are widely scattered across various departments and groups within and outside the institution and are oftentimes not well communicated, impacting researchers’ ability to find them. Current research training and support has been found to be inadequate, and there are duplicated service efforts occurring in silos, resulting in an inefficient service model and wasted funds.
Year
DOI
Venue
2022
10.1145/3491418.3530295
Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing
DocType
Citations 
PageRank 
Conference
0
0.34
References 
Authors
0
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Nick Rochlin100.34
Jeff Gardner200.34
Elizabeth Kinney300.34