Broadening Student Participation in Cyberinfrastructure Research and Development

Abstract

This poster presents preliminary observations from the pilot year of a CI Compass Fellowship Program (CICF) that was created to broaden student participation in cyberinfrastructure research and development. CICF is part of the CI Compass project, which is the National Science Foundation (NSF) Cyberinfrastructure Center of Excellence, created to provide support and enhance the data lifecycle of NSF Major Facilities (MFs) [1]. MFs are the largest-scale scientific efforts that the NSF supports and are highly diverse, have heterogeneous data, and a wide range of cyberinfrastructure for capturing, processing, archiving, and disseminating data, as well as providing access to sophisticated instruments and computational capabilities. MFs span many science domains, including astronomy, climate, ecology, natural hazard, ocean science, physics, and seismology [2]. Due to the complexity of the cyberinfrastructure and data that supports MFs, it is critical that we create educational opportunities for students interested in pursuing a career in this specialized cyberinfrastructure that supports large-scale science. The CICF program aims to provide students the opportunity to learn about cyberinfrastructure development and MFs, develop cyberinfrastructure-related skill sets important to the work of MFs, and engage directly with the MF CI professionals.