How has it affected you?

As you are aware the NGS has gone under some changes since the beginning of the year. The most obvious to our users was the cap on cpu hours that was introduced on the 1st of April with every user being given 2000 free cpu hours per year. If a user requires more than 2000 cpu hours this can be arranged through the NGS on a "pay per use basis".

So 3 months in since the changes were introduced and we want to hear your views. We are asking all registered NGS users to complete a very short survey to feedback their views and experiences on using our services since the 1st of April. It doesn't matter if you haven't used the NGS since before the 1st of April you are still our target for this survey!

The survey will take a few minutes to compete if that and everyone who is a registered NGS user either past or present will be entered into a prize draw.

Are you a researcher looking for a partner?

If so then you really should consider coming to the dating event of the year! Well okay it’s not quite a dating event but matchmaking is definitely part of the plan of the Software Sustainability Institutes Collaboration Workshop.

It will be held in Edinburgh at the beginning of March and is described as “the perfect opportunity to meet the researchers, software developers, funders and other software experts that can help you advance your research”.

If you are a researcher who uses software but could do with some help from a computer scientist to make the most of your software, come along and advertise yourself and your situation / problem. You can give a lightning talk or present a poster and then work through the issue with other attendees in small break out groups.

There have already been some break out group discussion topics suggested BUT one of the best things about this meeting is that the agenda constantly changes depending on the interests of the attendees, the emergence of new discussion threads and tangents. There’s never a dull moment!

I’ve attended several of these meetings and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every single one. No death by PowerPoint and plenty of discussion and positive solutions instead! The constantly changing agenda works really well as we report back to the assembled attendees after every session and then decide on the next set of discussion topics. I’ve always met new and interesting people and came away fully enthused.

If you are a developer there are some free places up for grabs but the deadline is this Friday (18th Feb) so don’t delay!

All the news on the forthcoming NGS IF'10

In an extraordinary show of organisation, I have just put up the agenda for this years NGS Innovation Forum even though it’s not until November – a whole 5 months away!

The reason for this organisation is mainly due to a wonderful programme committee for the event consisting of users, IT sys admins, Campus Champions and NGS staff members. We have put together what will hopefully be an interactive, engaging and thought provoking event where everyone will come away with some new found knowledge.

On the first day which is primarily aimed at users we will be showcasing some of the tools from the NGS such as the UI/WMS and Hermes. This will not be “death by PowerPoint” and instead NGS staff will demo the tools and walk you through using them from a users point of view. We will also be having a session where we can gather feedback from delegates about the NGS and respond to your comments.

If you’d like to come away from the event with more than new found knowledge be sure to submit a poster abstract for our poster session on the Tuesday evening. We are inviting all users to present a poster showcasing their research using the NGS and there will be prize for the best poster as voted for by the delegates.

The second day will be aimed more at IT staff, sys admins, research computing staff etc. There will be presentations from the “coal face” with a presentation from a NGS member site detailing their experience of working with us. We will also be focusing on the bigger picture by showing how the NGS can facilitate collaboration between research groups both nationally and internationally. This will be followed by presentations by large European multi-institution projects. We know that allowing external people to use your resources is a big responsibility so we have dedicated a session to “keeping track” which will also allow for discussion regarding accounting in institutions.

All in all we hope you will find the event both stimulating and informative. Keep an eye on here for registration opening and hopefully we’ll see you in November!

Got an opinion - then share it!

If, by some amazing feat, you haven't seen the announcements for the NGS user survey that is out now then here is another one!

The NGS user survey targets all registered users of the NGS and queries how they use the NGS, which parts of the NGS they use, if you are aware of all the services and outreach methods from the NGS and also gives NGS users the opportunity to have their research publicised as use case examples of NGS research.

Oh and all completed surveys will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three Amazon vouchers. Perfect timing for the festive shopping and sale season!

If you'd like to feedback on your experience of using the NGS then please visit the 2009 user survey.

Win Amazon vouchers courtesy of the NGS

Here at the NGS we have released our user survey for 2009. The annual survey aims to gather information on user habits, why people use the NGS, the resources they use and the output of NGS usage amongst others. Each completed survey will be placed into a draw at the end of the year to win one of 3 Amazon vouchers.

We really do want to hear from you and your opinions on the NGS - what you like, what you don't, what would make your life better or how wonderful we are! There are also opportunities in the survey to advertise yourself and your research. I am always looking for interesting research taking place on NGS resources to highlight in a range of publications and to make into our popular case studies.

The results of the survey won't just lie unloved on a shelf somewhere - we'll put together a report which will be available from our website and will contain actions on your recommendations and suggestions where appropriate.

If you would like to take part in the survey please visit the survey home page.

Wish you were here

For those of you not at the Innovation Forum, you are missing lots of interesting presentations and discussions. Applications, clouds, outreach, "campus champions", EGI, and more. Oh, and real research. I encourage you to see the slides if and when they're available.

In my areas of expertise, I note in particular the requirements for data management and identity management. On the latter, we are working to improve the way certificates are managed in various stages of their lifetime; recent developments in the IGTF will, for once, help make some things easier. The CA will be modernised. And SARoNGS will of course also be available.

For data management, it is interesting to note the very different requirements of communities: security, performance, volume, metadata, filesize, etc. The good thing about the NGS is we're stronger together. For a new community, to solve their problems themselves would take a long time, but using infrastructure set up for other communities makes things much easier.