---

News Release

Last modified: Monday, August 10, 2009

Call for Student Participation: Cloud Computing and Collaborative Technologies in the Geosciences

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Students from all IU campuses and other university students from across the US have an opportunity to consider the implications of cloud computing on the geosciences while networking with some of the leading researchers in the field. The Indiana University Pervasive Technology Institute Data to Insight Center (D2I) is soliciting student abstracts for an upcoming workshop titled "Cloud Computing and Collaborative Technologies in the Geosciences."

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the workshop will be hosted by the Pervasive Technology Institute and the Linked Environment for Atmospheric Discovery (LEAD) Project and will take place September 17-18, 2009, at the University Place Conference Center on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Abstracts for poster sessions will be accepted through August 20, 2009. Funding awards for travel and accommodations will be recommended to those posters targeted to: geosciences, including atmospheric, earth sciences, hydrology, environmental sciences, and climatology; collaborative technologies; and cloud computing.

"Cloud computing promises unlimited and highly available resources at reasonable prices, but under what conditions is it a model suited to the work patterns of researchers in the geosciences?" said Beth Plale, director of D2I and co-organizer of the workshop. "Similarly with collaborative technologies, which offer sharing and collaboration: how can these technologies advance the research goals of the geoscientist? The workshop will explore these questions and propose answers."

Key goals of the workshop are to:

• Identify the key benefits and risks to adopting collaborative and cloud computing technologies in operational and research settings

• Present current best practices related to the effective use of cloud and collaborative technology resources

• Identify computer science research challenges that must be overcome in order to successfully advance cloud computing and collaborative technologies in the geosciences

Funding will be awarded to 10-20 students in order to support their participation in the workshop. These awards will include support for:

• Travel reimbursement up to $500

• Shared accommodations for two nights, September 16-18

• Attendance to the Keynote, Panel and Plenary Sessions, September 17-18

• Breakfast and lunch, September 17-18

• Reception and dinner, September 18

• Required attendance to Poster/Demo Session, September 17

Interested students should send a short abstract along with a letter of recommendation from an advising professor to Robert Ping at robping@indiana.edu. Abstracts will be accepted through August 20, 2009, and awardees will be notified by August 25, 2009.

For more information on the workshop, visit https://www.dataandsearch.org/dsi/events.

---

---