November 17, 1998

KU TO HOST INTERNET2 WORKSHOP

LAWRENCE -- The University of Kansas, a national leader in the development of Internet2, will host more than 60 research scientists at a workshop Nov. 18 and 19 to explore new information and supercomputer technology now available via Internet2.

At the workshop, titled "Collaborative Research in Earth Systems Science" and sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, scientists will discuss research and prepare proposals in several areas, including:

  • use of satellite data for improved weather prediction;

  • study of aviation weather hazards;

  • use of information technology to assemble and integrate data on the animals and plants of the Great Plains;

  • study of the geologic record of the Red River.

    "We are delighted to have AAAS provide this forum for collaboration among scientists in our region," said Barbara P. Paschke, who is coordinating local arrangements for the workshop through the Kansas National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Office.

    According to Paschke, this workshop would have been unheard of in the Midwest two years ago. However, because of the development of high-speed computer technology and KU's leadership role in the development of Internet2 and the Great Plains Network, the workshop will bring together scientists and researchers who can take advantage of increased knowledge in information technology.

    The Great Plains Network is a high-speed computer communications system linking North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Developed with funds from the National Science Foundation, it gives researchers new opportunities to exchange data and use off-site supercomputers for their research.

    "The purpose of the workshop is to enable researchers to collaborate via modern communications networks," Paschke said. "And because of these high-speed computer networks, we are able to foster this collaboration while refining and analyzing computer models in a way that we were unable to do before."

    At the workshop, scientists from Kansas and the other Great Plains states will collaborate with their colleagues from other parts of the country, as well as Canada, to develop requests for funding from federal agencies. Representatives of federal agencies will attend the workshop to provide information about funding opportunities.

    "The main goal of this workshop is to nurture and advance such projects," said Ed Derrick, who is coordinating the workshop for AAAS.

    Potential sources of research funds are NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Federal Aviation Administration. The AAAS, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., is working under a grant from NSF's EPSCoR to help states improve their funding for research.

    Additional funds for the workshop are being provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR office and the University of Kansas Center for Research Inc. (CRINC).

    The workshop builds on a similar event held in Sioux Falls, S.D., in November 1997. At that workshop, scientists in the region gathered to discuss uses of the new Great Plains Network. The projects chosen for discussion at the KU workshop grew out of collaborations started at the Sioux Falls workshop.

    Story by Dann Hayes, University Relations, (785) 864-8855

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