Research Computing

Harnessing computing power to address new questions in science

Research Computing

The Research Computing team often uses the hospital emergency room as a metaphor. Like an ER, Research Computing is not dedicated to one disease or one family of health challenges. It takes all comers — whether it’s particle physics or brain science or infectious disease. It answers the question: What is the right computational “medicine” to help scientists accomplish great things?

The Research Computing theme innovates new computing approaches and uses computing as a tool to advance scientific discovery and advance the Morgridge mission. An important part of the team’s approach is translational Computer Science, bringing new ideas and approaches to the researchers at Morgridge and using the resulting problems and insights for the next generation of techniques.

The group has a close relationship with UW–Madison through the Center for High Throughput Computing (CHTC) to bring high throughput computing – the shared utilization of autonomous computational resources toward a common goal – to bear on a broad range of computational problems. Recent examples include a study on the dynamics of galaxies, from formation to death; a simulation of the optimal parameters for engine efficiency; and an effort to improve cochlear implants by analyzing how the brain processes sound.

Together, Research Computing and CHTC has a unique facilitation model to bridge the gap between the scientific goal and the best way to harness computation to achieve that goal. Annual, the services work with over 300 projects which run millions of computing tasks per year, with many growth opportunities emerging in biomedicine, the humanities and social sciences. We work to foster collaboration with global partners in the public and private sector.

Core Computation Director Miron Livny’s center is driven to advance data intensive science through high-tech computing.

Livny serves both the Morgridge Institute and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery by providing the advanced computing tools and infrastructure necessary to facilitate the leading-edge work of scientists in both institutes. Livny, a UW–Madison professor of computer sciences and director of the UW–Madison Center for High Throughput Computing, specializes in distributed computing and will continue his work with researchers around the world to advance computer and data intensive science.

Miron Livny

Brian Bockelman

Ron Stewart

Anthony Gitter

Timothy Grant

Kevin Eliceiri

Randy Bartels

Juan Caicedo