Reading e-Science Centre
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What is e-Science?
A short definition of e-Science might be "collaborative science performed using distributed computing and data resources". This captures the idea that e-Science is collaborative in nature, bringing together several people and institutions in order to solve a problem. The way in which these collaborations are realized is through the sharing of computing resources across the Internet. These resources might be used as a source of processing power, or as a distributed store of data. A report summarising the impact of e-Science can be found here.
Aims of the Reading e-Science Centre (ReSC)
ReSC aims to promote e-Science methods in the environmental science community by developing demonstrator projects with collaborators in academia, government agencies (e.g. the Met Office) and industry. These projects will showcase the great potential of e-Science to be a useful method that environmental scientists in many disciplines can use in their everyday research. Tasks that were previously difficult and time-consuming, such as sharing and working with very large data sets, can be made much more efficient.
It is not only the research community that can benefit from e-Science. Many organizations in both the public and private sectors rely on environmental data to do their work. In many cases, their effectiveness could be improved if they had constant access to real-time, up-to-date data, such as forecasts of weather patterns and ocean currents. ReSC aims to reach out into these communities to identify such needs and provide advice and solutions.
Although we are already involved in many projects, we are always looking for more areas to which we can contribute. If you have any ideas for collaborations, or if you require more information about e-Science, please contact us.
ReSC Background
Reading University's strong historical record in environmental science research (the University's Meteorology Department is 5* rated) and its close links with the Met Office, ECMWF, etc mean that it is ideally placed to host an environmental e-Science Centre. ReSC complements NIEeS, the National Institute for Environmental e-Science, through its links with ocean and atmospheric scientists. ReSC is hosted in the NERC Environmental Systems Science Centre (ESSC) at the University of Reading and is a joint venture between ESSC and the School of Systems Engineering.
The Reading e-Science Centre (ReSC) was formed in November 2003. It is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). It is one of 7 e-Science Centres of Excellence in the UK.
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