Research computing

Research computing is the use of advanced computational tools and technologies to support research activities. It’s about using particularly powerful computers and specialised software to perform complex tasks, and solve large problems, that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to do with traditional computing (like your personal desktop or your local departmental server). It’s most useful where data sets are large or where computational models are required to simulate real-world phenomena.

And while the technology itself is advanced, you don’t have to be a data or compute expert to use it. In fact, research computing tools are increasingly being designed with ease of usability in mind so that you can get on with your real work – research. Nor is research computing just for STEMM – it’s used across a hugely diverse range of research activities across all nine faculties at UoM, from the sciences and engineering to arts and the humanities. Overall, research computing is a crucial component of modern research, providing researchers with powerful tools to tackle complex problems and answer big research questions, accelerating discovery and innovation.

At the University of Melbourne, researchers access research computing from Research Computing Services who provide:

• DATA - storage environments and data management tools

• CLOUD - virtual desktops and servers

• HPC - super computing

The benefits

Research computing is of immense value to researchers as it enables them to tackle more complex research problems, manage their data better, collaborate more effectively, and accelerate their project pace and discovery. It helps even small users achieve high levels of academic and global impact.

• Enhanced computational power: You can perform complex computations and simulations that would otherwise be impossible or too time-consuming with traditional computing resources.

• Improved data management: You can use research computing tools to organise and manage your large data sets more efficiently, ensuring that your research data is well-documented, secure and easily accessible.

• Increased collaboration: Research computing tools and environments are designed for researchers to share data, code and results safely and with ease, allowing you to work more effectively with your research colleagues.

• Reproducibility of results: You can document your codes and methods, ensuring that your results can be easily reproduced by others, enhancing the credibility and transparency of research outcomes.

• Reduced costs: Using the University’s research computing eliminated the need for you to buy and maintain your own computing infrastructure, reducing the cost of your research.

• Faster time to results: With research computinghelping you to complete projects faster and more efficiently, you’ll get faster results and in turn will be able to publish findings more quickly and frequently.

Knowing when you need research computing

If you want to analyse big data sets or perform experiments requiring massive amounts of computing power and storage, then research computing will definitely be crucial for your activities. But specific signs of when you could benefit from research computing include:

• Your desktop doesn’t have enough storage for all the research data you’re collecting.

• Your desktop isn’t powerful for the kind of processing and modelling you want to do with your data.

• You need safe, secure environments for you and your colleagues to collaborate and data-share.

• You need to run multiple tasks concurrently or in parallel.

• You want to run resource-intensive research software that your desktop may not have the capacity to run efficiently.

• You often need to scale your computational resources up or down based on your research demands.

• Your research data is subject to security or compliance regulations and you need storage infrastructure that meets these requirements.

So if any of this sounds like you, check out RCS today.