Are you a molecular modeller?

Two free training events announced in the space of 2 weeks?  Don't say we're not good to you!

Incase you missed it, last week I announced that we were accepting applications for our "Using e-infrastructure for Research" summer school which will be held in August.  It's completely totally and utterly fully funded so there is absolutely no cost to the participants.  More information can be found on our website.

However the latest event I have to tell you about today is being organised by one of our Community Champions who is funded through the same project as the above summer school - Supporting e-Infrastructure Uptake through Community Champions for Research (SeIUCCR) funded by EPSRC.

Dr Pamela Greenwell, who is based at the University of Westminster, has organised a 3 day training event entitled "Biobytes", a molecular modelling event for bioscientists.  It's a 3 day event held at Westminster consisting of breakout groups, seminars, demos and practical workshops.

For more information and details on how to register, see the event page on the NGS website.  Don't delay as spaces are limited!

Return of the Champions

I’ve recently taken over the organisation of the NGS Campus Champions programme here at the NGS and last week I chaired the first meeting of the group.

Our Campus Champions come from a number of universities across the UK and are mainly representatives from IT Services.  As for their role and activities on behalf of the NGS?  Well this was one of the main things I wanted to discuss at the meeting!

Thankfully all our Campus Champions agreed with my list of proposed benefits for them (and us) of being a Champion.  In brief the NGS will provide training in using NGS resources, tools and e-infrastructure; provide access to online training materials; produce publicity material to help them publicise the NGS and their role as Champion; hold Campus Champion events at relevant events; hold bi-monthly phone calls for dissemination of news and information.

In return the Campus Champions will actively promote the NGS within their institution offering advice and advising researchers; display NGS Campus Champions publicity material; pass onto the NGS requirements from their institution and researchers; liaise between researchers, the institution and the NGS; attend the bi-monthly Campus Champions meeting.

Currently we have 14 institutions with Campus Champions but we are always looking for more!  If you are interested in becoming a Champion then please contact me.  Your site doesn’t have to be a member of the NGS for it to have a Champion.   The current list of institutions is:

• Canterbury Christchurch              
• University of Huddersfield          
• University of Hull            
• University of Liverpool
• University of Manchester           
• Queen Mary - University of London       
• University of Oxford        
• University of Reading    
• STFC - Daresbury Laboratory      
• STFC - Rutherford Appleton Laboratory                
• University of Sheffield  
• University of Surrey       
• University of Sussex      
• University of York

The next meeting of the Campus Champions will take place by phone in February but in the meantime I shall be making some changes to the existing Campus Champion pages on the NGS website.  Watch this space!

A tangled web we weave

In the September 2011 edition of NGS News, we published an article by our Technical Director David Wallom which highlighted the networks of champions that exist within the NGS.  To compliment this I also received and published an article on our website from Simon Hettrick from the Software Sustainability Institute about their network of champions which they have thankfully called Agents.  Too many champions spoil the broth and all that...

It got me thinking about how these networks all fit together like a spiders web as some people are members of more than one champions network and some institutions have more than one person involved.  A tangled web indeed!

This has probably come to the forefront of my mind as, due to some staff changes at the NGS, I'll be a lot more involved in the organisation of the Campus and Community Champions here at the NGS.

So what are these Champions and who are they?

The Campus Champions as suggested by the name, promote the NGS and the services we provide on their university campus or in their institution.  They tend to be people involved in research computing or ITS but we also have researchers involved.  All NGS member sites are expected to nominate a Campus Champion but we welcome Campus Champions from any UK university or institution.  Your site doesn't have to be a member to have a Campus Champion!  If you are interested in promoting the NGS at your institution or university (with help and support from the NGS) then please get in touch!

The Community Champions are funded by the EPSRC funded SeIUCCR project and are researchers who actively use e-infrastructure in their research.  They promote to their research community, peers and colleagues from all institutions and universities.  We are looking for more Community Champions from all and every research area so if you are interested in promoting your research and your use of the NGS then please get in touch!

There will be some slight changes to our Champions networks and hopefully you will see a lot more activity from these already active groups.  I want to highlight their activities more and demonstrate their contribution to the NGS and e-infrastructure as a whole.  I'd also like to link them more closely with the SSI Agents.

Lots of plans are afoot so watch this space!