Pervasive Technology Institute, Luddy School aid urgent COVID-19 research

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – With COVID-19 infections on the rise, Indiana University is providing services and resources to aid efforts to understand and contain the pandemic. IU’s efforts involving research and development enabled by advanced computing are led by the IU Pervasive Technology Institute and the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering.

Computing for a cure

These efforts include:

• Priority use of IU’s Jetstream cloud system to analyze the virus and search for cures and vaccines. Jetstream offers cloud-based, on-demand computing and data analysis resources. The IU Pervasive Technology Institute has joined the COVID-19 HPC Consortium, a new national partnership combining the computational assets of the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the private sector, and many universities and colleges. IU’s involvement comes via the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, known as XSEDE. Request use of Jetstream if you are working on COVID-19.
• The National Center for Genome Analysis Support, which helps the U.S. biological research community analyze, understand and make use of genomic information, is offering consultations for biologists and bioinformaticians who are involved in COVID-19 research.
• The Cyberinfrastructure Integration Research Center researches, develops and operates science gateways. These interfaces help a research community use high-performance computing resources and advanced cyberinfrastructures to pursue common scientific goals. The center is offering help to campus computing facility operators who want to install current best-of-breed bioinformatics software on their local computer clusters.
• The IU Pervasive Technology Institute is offering application assistance to campus cyberinfrastructure operators who want to join the COVID-19 HPC Consortium. Email pti@iu.edu for help.
• The NSF has funded IU’s Digital Science Center as part of a new Global Pervasive Computational Epidemiology project. Digital Science Center leaders are creating software that is used in nightly projections of the COVID-19 spread.
• The Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research and Trusted CI, the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, have posted recommendations for reducing cybersecurity risk while working remotely and protecting regulated data during the COVID-19 outbreak.
• The Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research and Cyberinfrastructure Integration Research Center, through their roles in Trusted CI and the Science Gateway Community Institute, are putting top priority on aiding research projects involved in tackling COVID-19.
• The Crisis Technologies Innovation Lab has built several tools to track the progress of the virus and governmental responses to it, and to help emergency managers respond to the crisis. The lab is also involved in aiding local civil response organizations in south-central Indiana.
• The eLearning and Discovery Lab will be analyzing the effects of “going virtual” on education within Indiana University, something that should inform the university’s strategies and tactics as everyone works to slow the progression of COVID-19 through social distancing.

The Pervasive Technology Institute is a collaborative organization designed to marshal IU’s computational experts and resources quickly in response to societal, research and educational needs. PTI’s collaborative partners span the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology; the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, primary home of the Digital Science Center; the College of Arts and Sciences; the Kelley School of Business; the Maurer School of Law; and the IU School of Education at IU Bloomington and at IUPUI.

COVID-19 resources for journalists

Looking for more Indiana University expertise related to the novel coronavirus? Find the latest list of IU scientists, researchers and clinicians who are available to discuss a wide range of topics, such as COVID-19’s impacts on our physical and mental health, the economy, politics, globalization, and more. This resource will be updated as we identify more experts to share with the media, so please check back often.