NSF grant to enhance cyberinfrastructure along with internet connectivity at DePauw

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded DePauw University a $210,000 grant for “CC* Network Design: Network Infrastructure for Improved Student Engagement in Science Discovery and Innovation,” a project designed to enhance cyberinfrastructure and internet connectivity on the campus.

The successful grant proposal, which aims to “reduce limitations that hinder effective data exchange and use of remote applications in the process of scientific discovery and education,” was led by Carol Smith, chief information officer at DePauw, with collaboration from professors Daniel Gurnon, David A. Berque, Pascal Lafontant and Gloria C. Townsend.

The project promises to increase the campus connection to national research networks through Indiana’s regional network provider, I­Light, from 1Gpbs to 10Gbps; create internet redundancy via a secondary fiber optic link to I-Light; and implement a “science demilitarized zone” with high performance data transfer and PerfSonar nodes.

“This important and exciting grant will propel undergraduate research at DePauw forward, as it will allow large amounts of data to move and be exchanged between our institution and research institutions,” Anne F. Harris, vice president for academic affairs and professor of art and art history, noted. “The benefits will be felt throughout the DePauw campus, and will open up all sorts of possibilities for our students and their faculty collaborators to produce research at the national level.”

The improvements enabled by this project will significantly improve the transfer of large data sets, which in turn will lead to an improved ability for DePauw faculty and undergraduate researchers to conduct research in STEM disciplines using both on-campus and off-campus resources.

Among other things, the grant will impact:

-- Professor Berque’s “Computer Science and Visualization Laboratory Support” project, which has the potential to improve our understanding of techniques and tools that allow authors to develop interactive documents that blend textual description and data-driven arguments, even if they do not have the ability to code.

-- Professor Lafontant’s “Comparative Cardiovascular Development and Regeneration in Model Fish Species,” a project that will add to general understanding of heart regeneration in selected species of tropical fish whose damaged heart tissue is replaced with new functional tissue. In humans, heart regeneration after a heart attack leads to permanent scarring of the heart muscle, which weakens the heart significantly. Lafontant’s work has the long-term potential to influence treatments for humans who have experienced a heart-attack.

-- Professor Gurnon’s “Variant Analysis with the Rare Genomics Institute,” a project which will help the scientific research community better understand how cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology can be used to help patients and families with rare genetic diseases. The project will also help identify ways that undergraduate students can contribute to this effort.

-- Professor Townsend’s “Scholarly Collaborations in the Sciences to Build Community among Women and Underrepresented Students” project ,which will lead to an improved understanding of the role that video conferencing can play in helping underrepresented students persist in STEM fields by decreasing feelings of isolation through interaction with mentors and role models during video conferences.

An independent federal agency, the NSF funds research and education in science and engineering, through grants, contract and cooperative agreements. Each year, NSF receives more than 48,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.