In the current era of research, many novel devices based on the principles of electronics, photonics and magnetics are being developed as well as novel materials such as layered materials with low-symmetry crystal structure. Innovative research studies physical phenomena and basic properties and leads to more device applications. Computational tools and simulations for supporting these studies are crucial in research and teaching. Such tools often demand the use of command line tools and lack usability as well as visualization possibilities. nanoHUB is a widely used end-to-end solution with access to over 500 tools, more than 1.4 Million users and more than 5500 resources world-wide with an easy-to-use interface. Its goal is to be a resource to the entire nanotechnology discovery and learning community and can be categorized as a so-called science gateway. In general, a science gateway provides an end-to-end solution providing an intuitive user interface for a set of computational tools and data of a specific application domain while hiding the complex underlying infrastructure. The overall goal of science gateways is to increase the usability of complex tools and computational and data infrastructures. With a wide uptake of a science gateway by the community, the need for sustainability of the solution arises to allow serving the community in the long run in its innovative research. The Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI) has been funded for this goal: to serve science gateway developers and users in achieving more science gateways employing novel devices and infrastructures and increase the sustainability of science gateways. Science gateways form a subgroup of research software and the conceptualization of the US Research Software Sustainability Institute (URSSI) aims at supporting sustainability of research software in general and thus, the sustainability of simulations and tools for nanotechnology. The talk gives a brief introduction to nanoHUB, goes into detail for sustainability challenges addressed by SGCI and the conceptualization of URSSI.

1. Award Number
ACI-1547611
Sandra Gesing
sandra.gesing@nd.edu
October, 12 2018
NcN Workshop
Alexandria, VA, USA
Science Gateways for Electronics,
Photonics and Magnetics: Achieving
Usability and Sustainability

2. 2
Nanotechnology
• Global nanotechnology market is expected to grow
around 17% during 2018-2024
• 2017: impressive growth
• increase in government and private sector funding
for R&D
• partnerships & strategic alliances between countries
• increased in demand for smaller and more powerful
devices at affordable prices
• Currently:
• major breakthrough in healthcare industry for the
diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases like
cancer
• significant developments in sectors like electronics,
agriculture, and energy
https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4536705/global-nanotechnology-market-outlook-2018-2024

3. 3
Data and compute-
intensive problems
High-speed networks
Users generally not
IT specialists
Tools and workflow
engines
Web-based
agile frameworks Distributed data and
computing infrastructures

4. 4
Data and compute-
intensive problems
High-speed networksTools and workflow
engines
Web-based
agile frameworks Distributed data and
computing infrastructures
Users generally not
IT specialists
Need for science gateways!

5. 5
Data and compute-
intensive problems
High-speed networksTools and workflow
engines
Web-based
agile frameworks Distributed data and
computing infrastructures
Users generally not
IT specialists

6. 6
“After all, usability really just means that making sure that
something works well: that a person … can use the thing -
whether it's a Web site, a fighter jet, or a revolving door - for
its intended purpose without getting hopelessly frustrated.”
(Steve Krug in “Don't make me think!: A Common Sense
Approach to Web Usability”, 2005)
Usability

7. 7

8. 8
It’s a
Science
Gateway
It’s a
Research
Portal
It’s a
Collaboratory
It’s a
Cyber-
infrastructure
It’s
a Virtual
Research
Environment
It’s a
Virtual
Lab

9. 9

10. 10

11. • 370+ Simulation Tools
• 4700+ Other Resources
• 3000+ Online Presentations
• 540+ Teaching Materials
• 35,000+ Students Reached

12. Science Gateways Community Institute
12
• Diverse expertise on
demand
• Longer term support
engagements
• Software and visibility
for gateways
• Information exchange in
a community
environment
• Student opportunities
and more stable
career pathshelp@sciencegateways.org
http://sciencegateways.org/

13. Conceptualizing a US Research So5ware
Sustainability Ins:tute (URSSI)

14. Conceptualizing a US Research So5ware
Sustainability Ins:tute (URSSI)

15. URSSI Team

16. Research So5ware
h?p://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.843607

17. Research So5ware
h?p://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.843607
> 50% neither formal nor informal training
in so5ware engineering

18. Research So5ware
h?p://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.843607
Lack of career paths

19. Research So5ware
h?p://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.843607
How to cite so5ware?

20. Areas of Concern
• Func:oning of the individual and team
• Func:oning of the research so5ware
• Func:oning of the research field itself

21. Thanks!
21
h?ps://sciencegateways.org/
h?ps://twi?er.com/sciencegateways
h?p://urssi.us/
h?ps://twi?er.com/si2urssi
https://nanohub.org/