
The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) and Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen collaboration and create a more efficient research environment for Australian researchers.
The collaboration focuses on bringing together critical computing resources, storage facilities, and national data collections by creating programs and initiatives that take advantage of the ARDC’s services, resources, infrastructure, and Pawsey’s computing power to tackle complex scientific and real-world problems.
A Stronger Research Ecosystem
Both the ARDC and Pawsey Supercomputing Centre are supported by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
The ARDC drives development of world-class national digital research infrastructure that gives Australian researchers competitive advantage through data and supports research impact. A core service provided by the ARDC is the ARDC Nectar Research Cloud (Nectar), Australia’s national research cloud, specifically designed for research computing. Launched in 2012, Nectar provides Australia’s research community with fast, interactive, self-service access to large-scale computing infrastructure, software and data.
Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, one of Australia’s two Tier-1 high-performance computing facilities, serves over 4,000 researchers. Pawsey’s expertise in supercomputing, data storage, cloud services, and visualisation accelerates scientific breakthroughs for research across diverse fields, including astronomy, life sciences, medicine, energy, resources, and artificial intelligence.
Building a Future of Collaboration
This MOU builds upon a strong foundation of collaboration between the ARDC and Pawsey. Both organisations have partnered on projects like Digital Research Skills Australasia (DReSA), Australian Characterisation Commons at Scale (ACCS), the Data Retention project, and ML4AU – A Machine-Learning Community of Practice for Australia.
With the MOU in place, Pawsey and the ARDC are now exploring collaborations to support the ARDC’s 3 Thematic Research Data Commons, which aim to meet Australia’s future research needs with long-term, enduring digital infrastructure. For Pawsey the MOU also supports exploring new, integrated services to succeed their Nimbus platform which will be decommissioned at the end of 2024. The Thematic Research Data Commons are:
- People Research Data Commons, for health and medical research and research translation
- Planet Research Data Commons, for earth and environmental sciences research and decision making
- HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons.
Quotes
- Rosie Hicks, CEO, ARDC, said “We’re excited to expand our collaboration with Pawsey, our fellow NCRIS facility. By working together, the ARDC and Pawsey will enable integrated initiatives across levels of computing and data.”
- Mark Stickells, CEO, Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre said, “Joining forces with ARDC underscores our commitment to supporting the national research community. By combining our resources and expertise, we are not only enhancing the accessibility of digital research infrastructure but also fostering a more collaborative and efficient ecosystem.”
About ARDC
The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) drives the development of national digital research infrastructure that provides Australian researchers with competitive advantage through data.
We facilitate programs and partnerships that provide the research community and industry access to nationally significant, data-intensive digital research infrastructure, platforms, skills and collections of high-quality data. We also support researchers and their organisations with digital research services, most of which are either available to all or to merit-based researchers at no cost.
Our digital research infrastructure activities directly support the Australian research community to generate real and tangible outcomes for society.
The ARDC is enabled by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
About Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre
The Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre accelerates scientific discoveries and fosters innovation across Australia’s research landscape. Named after Dr Joseph Pawsey, a pioneering Australian radio astronomer, we honour his legacy by enabling breakthroughs for over 4,000 researchers.
Our impact spans diverse fields such as radio astronomy, energy, resources, engineering, bioinformatics, and health sciences. As an unincorporated joint venture between CSIRO (Australia’s national science agency), Curtin University, Murdoch University, and The University of Western Australia, collaboration is our driving force.
Pawsey is an NCRIS facility funded by the Department of Education. The Australian Government also provided a $70 million grant for the Pawsey Capital Refresh project. Additionally, support for the Centre comes through the Western Australian Government and our partner organisations.
Learn more about the ARDC’s partnerships.
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