Federal Grant Award Summary

Oregon State University received a $121,873 Project Grant awarded July 1, 2026, under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070) from the National Science Foundation's Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure to develop topology-aware lossy data compression techniques and software. The project addresses critical bottlenecks in extreme-scale scientific computing by creating advanced compression methods that preserve topological features essential for scientific discovery during both in situ and post hoc analysis and visualization. This research responds to a critical gap in existing compression technologies, which typically fail to maintain topological characteristics that are vital for extracting insights from massive datasets generated by simulations in cosmology, climate science, fusion energy, turbulent combustion, and other disciplines.

The deliverables include research findings, software tools, and methodologies for topology-preserving data compression that will enable efficient handling of petabyte-scale simulation data while maintaining analytical integrity. The project's scope encompasses the development of theoretical frameworks and practical implementations suitable for integration into visualization and analysis pipelines, with expected impact extending across multiple scientific domains facing similar data storage and I/O bandwidth constraints.