CC* planning: designing a regional science DMZ for small colleges and universities in pennsylvania

This $100,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure will support the design of a regional Science DMZ for small colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. Funded under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070), the award recipient Keystone Initiative For Network Based Education & Research (d.b.a. Kinber) will work with Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Lafayette College, and Lehigh Carbon Community College to identify cyberinfrastructure needs at these pilot institutions. The grantee will investigate feasible campus and regional Science DMZ designs through outreach to existing projects and develop a model for a statewide regional Science DMZ. This will help smaller schools in the region more cost-effectively access cyberinfrastructure resources to support their science, research, and education activities. Work is expected to be completed by April 30, 2023.

Abstract

Many smaller and mid-sized campuses in pennsylvania have compelling science research and education activities along with an awareness of the benefits associated with better access to cyberinfrastructure resources. Yet, these under-resourced schools continue to struggle through the process to: identify, understand, and quantify their existing science drivers; understand the corresponding cyberinfrastructure; and, then provide both the technical and application support associated with the cyberinfrastructure to support initial and future research applications. For some institutions, the standard regional connectivity model, a separate connection to a high-performance research and education network, may not be appropriate. This project works with the initial set of pilot schools, indiana university of pennsylvania, lafayette college and lehigh carbon community college to develop mechanisms for a campus to identify cyberinfrastructure-based applications, understand the required cyberinfrastructure-based resources and identify appropriate campus science DMZ architectures. The project investigates the feasibility of various campus and regional science DMZ designs through outreach to existing funded projects and develop a design for a statewide regional science DMZ aimed at easing access to cyberinfrastructure resources in a cost-effective manner for small and mid-sized campuses in the region. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.