Facilitators
Gaby Bright (VeRSI), Valerie Maxville (iVEC) and Markus Buchhorn (Intersect)
Abstract
To build awareness and skills means having knowledge of the services and tools, being able to format that knowledge into a meaningful form, and then delivering that knowledge to the people who need it. While there are currently many organisations involved, from individual institutions through state-based service providers to national programs, there is no coherent mechanism to bring all of the marketing (awareness) and training (skills) materials together. There is also no common channel for delivering those materials to the researchers and the support staff on campuses.
Given the large-scale investments in eResearch there is a requirement in ensuring that people use them, and use them very effectively. Skills are absolutely foundational to being effective.
The organisers invite eResearch Australasia participants to share their experiences in eResearch skill development, and will be exploring:
- the key messages, themes and skills that need to be communicated to eResearch practitioners
- the definition of an eResearch Body of Knowledge
- the best vehicle for delivery of these messages and skills (one-on-one support, training workshops, webcasts, user manuals)
- the level at which this training needs to be delivered (undergraduate, postgraduate, post-doc, academic, professional staff etc) and what depth to provide for each of these groups. Is there a minimum level of eResearch literacy we should aim for in each group?
- the appropriate people to deliver the training at the local and national level
- mechanisms for sharing training resources
- how to ensure that skill development occurs simultaneously with infrastructure development
- how to measure the effectiveness of training and skill development.
It is expected that the discussion will cover everything from very specific training, such as parallel code development, up to more general eResearch methods and thinking, such as building data management plans. It is hoped that the discussion will help further existing efforts and create new activities at a local level and at a National level.
About the facilitators
Markus Buchhorn manages and coordinates the delivery of Intersect's services. The portfolio includes not only technical services such as infrastructure support, development and operation, but also human services such as requirements gathering, skills development, outreach and help desk services. Markus was previously Director of ICT Environments at the Australian National University, and is an advisor on NCRIS Platforms for Collaboration program, the Australian National Data Service, and a member of the National e-Research Architecture Taskforce (NeAT). He has been involved in national infrastructure programs such as APAC, (Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing), for High Performance Computing services and GrangeNet for high performance network services, and continues to be actively engaged in a wide range of international eResearch initiatives.
Gaby Bright manages VeRSI eResearch outreach and awareness activities. She is raising awareness of eResearch as an integral part of existing research methodologies and is working towards a time when researchers will readily adopt information technology as part of their research practice.
Gaby coordinates the VeRSI public facing programs and works to ensure that VeRSI achievements are well understood by the relevant communities. She works to position VeRSI as a key player in the transfer of knowledge between research institutes, research groups and other bodies supporting eResearch.
Gaby trained as a particle physicist and she has previously worked for the Victorian State Government as a radiation regulator.