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July 28, 2022 Recap: Zero-to-Sixty

 

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By Jayasree Jaganatha, Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) – 

Notes, takeaways, and resources from our sixth event (featuring Todd BenDor, Kira Bradford, and Isma Gilani) – 

On July 28, 2022, Carolina Data Science Now hosted the sixth iteration of its seminar series, which will strive to link the people, research, and resources by highlighting the many faces of data science across our campus, and demonstrating the integral role data science can play in all disciplines. 

This Month’s Speakers

The theme of the event was “Data Science: Zero-to-Sixty.” The event was moderated by Ashok Krishnamurthy, and the speakers were selected to provide insight on how data science is used to provide education and training resources that allow practitioners to accelerate research in cyberinfrastructure and computing, data sharing and storage, team science, and more. 

Todd BenDor | Odum Institute for Research in Social Science

Todd BenDor discussed “Open Science & Data Management at the Odum Institute,” and presented on the UNC Dataverse and how it supports the Odum Institute’s values of open science and FAIR Principles. Read more about the lightning talk here.

Kira Bradford | Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI)

Kira Bradford spoke on efforts from the “Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL)” Data Stewardship Group to provide solutions for managing and coordinating the diverse data across the HEAL Initiative. Read more about the lightning talk here.

Isma Gilani |Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI)

Isma Gilani presented “EduHeLx – HeLx for Education,” which provided an overview of the use of HeLx, a scalable computing platform developed by RENCI for students to address the need of scalable and robust cyberinfrastructure in the cloud. Read more about the lightning talk here.

Speaker Q&A

Questions for the speakers were collected through an EasyRetro board. Topics during this section included:

  • The process of using the UNC Dataverse to harvest data from the Harvard Dataverse and beyond.
  • How the HEAL Data Stewardship Group conducted an analysis of existing awards to create 26 initial vetted repositories for generated data, as well as their future plans for new repositories based on recommendations from NIH.
  • The possibility of utilizing UNC Dataverse as a repository for HEAL data, due to features such as controlled access, hands-on curation services, metadata storage, and a wide variety of the types of data that can be stored.
  • The types of GCP resources that were needed to support 300 simultaneous users on EduHeLx and how costs per student could be reduced in the future.
  • The ability to customize EduHeLx based on the needs of UNC faculty and specific courses. Jay Aikat, who serves as the Senior Associate Dean of the UNC School of Data Science and Society, discussed future plans for the school to collaborate with UNC ITS and RENCI to build EduHeLx infrastructure and support out to ensure its availability as a solution for faculty to use within courses.
  • The differences between the phrases “data type” and “data species,” as used within the HEAL Initiative. 
  • Workflows and methods for handling sensitive data within the Odum Institute, including storing data in a “dark archive” and providing access to users on a case-by-case basis.
  • How the concepts of “discoverability” and “findability” differ within the UNC Dataverse.
  • Whether deploying EduHeLx on on-premise infrastructure as opposed to the cloud is possible without resulting in a differentiated experience.
  • Training resources that are available to researchers and practitioners using data repositories and services.

During the event, several attendees shared resources relevant to the conversation in the chat. A full list of educational programs, funding opportunities, on-campus support services, tools and software, and more shared during Carolina Data Science Now seminars can be found on our Resources page.

Next Seminar

Our next seminar will be held on September 12 at 12 PM (ET). This event will be our first IN-PERSON Carolina Data Science Now seminar and will take place at the UNC CURRENT ArtSpace + Studio Please stay tuned to our website for the most updated information. 

Check out a playlist of our previous events here.

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