What we do

About the RFS

The RFS is available to NC State’s research community to consult with researchers on various topics related to research computing and data (RCD) and connect researchers to appropriate RCD service providers, remaining engaged to help ensure needs are met. Given our staff’s computing and data skill sets, we are also available to provide hands-on support to develop and implement various technical solutions on a case-by-case basis.

Below is an outline of the facilitation areas the RFS typically engages in and five anonymized examples. If something resonates with you and your research, please contact us to learn more about how we can help.

Areas of support

  • Publication of research outputs to meet FAIR, open access, and reproducibility needs and requirements, with specific expertise in research data and code
  • Research Data Management (RDM) and data storage support:
    • Tier 1: RDM education and connecting to related campus services, including lab or research group consultations on RDM best practices (virtual and in-person) and collaboration with the Institutional Review Board, OIT's Information Security, Risk & Assurance, and ORI's compliance units
    • Tier 2: Hands-on assistance in building or configuring one-off solutions to automate currently manual data workflows
  • Proposal development and project planning support, including boilerplate language and consultation for available resources at NC State, coordination with the Libraries' Data Management Plan Review Service, and collaboration with College Research Offices to help researchers budget for IT resources during proposal planning
  • Research Computing, including coordinating with NC State's High Performance Computing unit, on-boarding to various nationally allocated computing systems, and, increasingly, support for use of commercial cloud options
     

How can we help?

Connecting researchers with appropriate institutional colleagues

A faculty member working with collaborators at another institution was considering moving the project's data from the collaborating institution to NC State and contacted their college IT to ask about storage options for sensitive data. College IT staff referred the question to RFS. RFS staff were able to do some investigatory work and eventually bring together the researcher, College IT, and the IRB to review the sensitivity level of the project's data and convey the correct process for amending the project's existing IRB agreement, should the PI ultimately decide to move the data to NC State.

Identifying university-supported solutions for research problems

Referred by one of their colleagues, a researcher reached out to the RFS when they were unable to connect a local NAS drive to the NC State network. In the past, a departmental IT staff member had set up such storage devices, but they had left the institution, along with their specific expertise. As a lab group dependent on big data, they required 100+TB of storage and assumed that a local NAS was their only cost-effective option. Rather than assist in provisioning additional decentralized storage, the RFS directed them to a centrally supported resource: OIT Research Storage. OIT staff were able to work with the researcher to secure a sufficient amount of individual and shared storage, allowing the researcher to shift their workflow to a secure, centrally supported service.

Creating tailored instructional content for research best practices

A researcher and their lab struggled with data management. Between local machines, Google Drive, and HPC scratch space, they found it challenging to keep data structures consistent, navigable, and secure. They reached out to the RFS for assistance in general data best practices and a breakdown of relevant NC State tools available. The RFS scheduled a consultation, walking them through data-management basics, pointed them to vetted resources on the subject, and engaged in an explanation and discussion of Globus and NC State’s Research Storage. Following the consultation, an RFS member made an instructional tutorial on setting up automated, scheduled backups between the university’s HPC scratch space and Research Storage, as well as between Google Drive and Research Storage, allowing their data to be consistent, backed up, and secure.

Long term collaboration on a high-impact technical project

A research unit at NC State needed to regularly provide large (multi-TB) amounts of data to both internal and external customers at any increasing pace. The existing solution involved a large number of manual steps, and the lab machine that served as the final location for data to be shared was running out of space. The RFS identified this as an opportunity to create a solution that would have an impact on research at NC State, with additional potential utility to multiple research groups across campus, and reached out to the research unit to see if they would benefit from a long-term collaboration to automate the movement and sharing of research data. The solution integrated a number of diverse technologies, including the Mendix platform, NC State OIT HPC cluster, NC State OIT Research Storage, and Globus, turning an inefficient, manual research workflow into an automated, secure, and replicable research workflow.

Helping researchers navigate changing funder requirements for public access to federally funded research

A PI in the process of developing a grant proposal planned to collect a sizable amount of moderately sensitive qualitative data. The PI contacted the RFS with questions about the funder-mandated sharing and long-term preservation of the data. Knowing that NC State's generalist data repository would be inappropriate for this use case, the RFS helped the PI to obtain cost estimates from two disciplinary repositories scoped to social sciences and qualitative data. They were then able to incorporate the outcome of that consultation into feedback on the PI's draft DMSP.