Member Login - Account - Logout

Science and Technology Australia
  • Home
  • About STA
    • Who is STA?
    • Our history
    • Alliances and Partnerships
    • Board and Executive
    • Governance
    • Work for us
    • Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan
    • Policy Vision
  • News and Publications
    • Latest news
    • Reports and publications
  • Our Programs
    • Science meets Parliament
    • Science meets Policymakers
    • Parliamentary Friends of Science
    • Superstars of STEM
    • Science Policy Fellows Alumni
    • Super STEM communicator workshop
    • STEM Ambassadors
  • Events
    • STA events
    • Member events
  • Membership
    • Our Members
    • Why be a member?
    • Member Benefits Program
    • Join STA
    • Member How-to Guides
    • Login to member portal
    • Register for member portal
  • Contact
    • Media
  • Home
  • About STA
    • Who is STA?
    • Our history
    • Alliances and Partnerships
    • Board and Executive
    • Governance
    • Work for us
    • Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan
    • Policy Vision
  • News and Publications
    • Latest news
    • Reports and publications
  • Our Programs
    • Science meets Parliament
    • Science meets Policymakers
    • Parliamentary Friends of Science
    • Superstars of STEM
    • Science Policy Fellows Alumni
    • Super STEM communicator workshop
    • STEM Ambassadors
  • Events
    • STA events
    • Member events
  • Membership
    • Our Members
    • Why be a member?
    • Member Benefits Program
    • Join STA
    • Member How-to Guides
    • Login to member portal
    • Register for member portal
  • Contact
    • Media
9 April 2020

STA members offer data support for COVID-19 research

NCI_GadiSupercomputer

Australian leaders in high-performance computing (HPC) have come together to offer additional computation and data resources in the fight against the global COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Accelerated Access Initiatives from the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre and the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI Australia) will help research projects analyse, store and share data.

Services available include high-performance computing on the NCI’s new Gadi supercomputer – the most powerful in Australia – and cloud resources through Pawsey Supercomputing Centre’s large data stores with up to 100TB of storage available.

The Pawsey Cloud service, which officially opened on 1 April 2020, is being re-prioritised to support researchers involved in COVID-19 research gain accelerated access.

Five projects have already been granted allocations for cloud resources through Pawsey Supercomputing Centre to bolster COVID-19 research. They include The University of Western Australia, Monash University, WA Department of Health, the Queensland Facility for Advanced Bioinformatics and Telethon Kids Institute.

Pawsey Executive Director Mark Stickells and NCI Director Professor Sean Smith, came together to discuss opportunities to support varying scientific communities tackle the pandemic.

“A number of researchers are forming collaborative teams across government, health and university sectors and identified a need for HPC access,” Mr Stickells said.

“In pandemic situations such as the COVID 19, accelerating breakthroughs is a matter of life or death. This initiative is about accelerating scientific outcomes.”

“Having access to resources like the ones available at Pawsey and NCI is an opportunity for Australian researchers to contribute to mitigating the pandemic in the least amount of time possible.”

Both NCI and Pawsey Supercomputing Centre would provide dedicated code optimisation, workflow debugging, visualisation expertise, and data management support as required.

Professor Smith stated that the interest in access to NCI’s HPC and data services was immense.

“To date we have received over ten applications from leading research groups, who have the capacity to drive Australia’s research efforts in this global fight,” Professor Smith said.

The services are available to Australian researchers working on projects to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The services will support critical COVID-19 research in areas such as:

  • Processing and analysing gene sequences;
  • Mathematical modelling predicting transmission and containment;
  • Computational predictions and biomolecular modelling of protein structures;
  • Economic modelling of the COVID-19 global pandemic;
  • Population mapping and demographics;
  • Global biosecurity; and
  • Epidemiological modelling.

Science & Technology Australia Chief Executive Misha Schubert said it was inspiring to see Australia’s technological workforce coming together to tackle COVID-19.

“Thank you to NCI and Pawsey Supercomputing for opening these facilities to Australia’s research community in the fight with COVID-19. It’s a powerful resource for our nation in such a time of need,” Ms Schubert said.

“This is also a testament to why long-term, large-scale investments in critical national research infrastructure matter. These huge specialist facilities will speed our advances to save lives, protect our frontline health workers, and help our nation through this crisis.”

If you think this initiative could benefit your research, please make contact with the centres to see if you can qualify: help@pawsey.org.au or help@nci.org.au

Applications for cloud resources related to COVID19 through the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre will not close. To apply: https://apply.pawsey.org.au/

Applications for access to NCI’s high-performance computing closed on April 8, with successful applications to be announced on April 17. Late applications may be considered if additional resources remain.

Share
Previous StoryAustralia can’t afford to lose R&D investment in recovery
Next StoryScience and tech sector backs call for greater sovereign capability

Related Articles

  • climate_change_legislation(2)_220815
    Pass the climate legislation and ‘name and fame’ transition leaders
  • Paul Fletcher MP speaks at National Science Week Launch
    Shadow Science Minister Paul Fletcher's speech at National Science Week launch

ABOUT US

Science & Technology Australia (STA) is Australia’s peak body in science and technology. We represent more than 80,000 scientists and technologists. STA is an influential voice for evidence and expertise in public policy.

Recent news

  • Pass the climate legislation and ‘name and fame’ transition leaders
  • Shadow Science Minister Paul Fletcher’s speech at National Science Week launch
  • National Science Week 2022 events

Our members

  • All Members
  • Agricultural and Food Sciences
  • Aquatic Sciences
  • Biological Sciences
  • Chemical Sciences
  • General Science and Technology
  • Geographical and Geological Sciences
  • Mathematical Sciences
  • Medical and Cognitive Sciences
  • Physical Sciences
  • Plant and Ecological Sciences
  • Technological Sciences

Search for news

Most popular

  • Nominations open for the STA Policy Committee and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee
  • Shadow Science Minister Paul Fletcher’s speech at National Science Week launch
  • Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ speech to launch National Science Week
  • National Science Week 2022 events
  • Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic’s speech to launch National Science Week

Sign up to our newsletter

STA PRIVACY POLICY

OTHER STA POLICIES

Twitter feed

  • RT @mishaschubert: On behalf of Australia’s science and tech sectors, we at @ScienceAU urge the Senate to pass the #climatechange legislati…
  • Australia’s #climatechange legislation should be passed - and improved further with an added commitment to ‘name an… https://t.co/PnSgknmr3N
  • RT @NYSFoz: Do you want to become a role model for young people thinking of entering the STEM sector? Then get your application in for #Su…
  • 🎙️ @ScienceAU CEO @mishaschubert will be speaking about how to turn more of Australia's amazing science into the pr… https://t.co/088cqJ4Lly
Follow us
The Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) trading as Science & Technology Australia (STA) is an association incorporated under the ACT Associations Act.

ABN 71 626 822 845
Registered charity logo
Click here for more info
  • HOME
  • News and media releases
  • Become a member
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2022 Science & Technology Australia. All Rights Reserved