Research Computing and Data Services Expands Support for the Research Community

Northwestern IT's Research Computing and Data Services (RCDS) team provides essential services and support for University faculty, staff, and student researchers across all disciplines. The team recently expanded its service and support offerings to empower researchers to work with complex datasets, manage research data confidently, and run efficient computational workflows.

As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods increase on campus, RCDS is responding by delivering technologies to enable faster research outcomes in this area.

High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Software

• New Compute Nodes and Operating System—Northwestern IT is preparing to increase the total compute available with 144 new nodes and 24 NVIDIA H100 (4-card) GPU nodes. As Quest’s operating system is upgraded from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL7) to RHEL8, these new nodes will first be available through a pilot environment to allow researchers to test their workflows in the updated operating system.
• New HPC Storage System—In December, Quest will undergo maintenance to implement a new storage system that will improve overall performance and further accelerate AI and Machine Learning applications by providing 12 PB of disk (HDD) storage and 500 TB of flash (SSD) storage.

Consider attending one or more of the dozens of free Research Computing and Data Services workshops and training sessions this fall. At a variety of workshops offered on campus and online, you can acquire new skills, upgrade your existing skill set, and learn how to maximize your research efforts.

You can choose from nearly 30 workshops, virtually or in person (on the Chicago campus), such as AI for Research, Next Steps in Python, Topics in Research Computing, Foundations in Genomic Analyses, and Data Management. Register for free today.

The group also offers multi-day bootcamps for those looking to become proficient coders in only a few days. Sign up for the four-day R Fundamentals or Python Fundamentals happening in December.

See the RCDS Impact in Action: Case Studies  

RCDS supports researchers from all disciplines via consultations and project collaboration. One-on-one consultations are available upon request to all University researchers. The group's consultants can help researchers with data science, statistics, visualization, Quest High-Performance Computing, Genomics Compute Cluster, Cloud Computing, National Computing Resources, Data Management, and Workflows.

RCDS has consulted with more than 550 researchers in the past year, like the Life-Span Development Laboratory, who worked with data visualization consultants to create a custom data analysis and visualization app. In another example, research computing consultants also worked with a radiology professor to maximize Quest jobs and analyze CT scans six times faster. Data management experts worked with an incoming economics professor to ensure research continuity. Request a consultation today.

The data science, statistics, and visualization team also offers direct project collaboration support for research projects in the exploratory and research phases. This service is available to faculty from any school. Postdocs, research staff, and graduate students with faculty sponsorship can apply, but faculty-led projects receive priority. Learn more.

Meet the Team

In addition to expanding services, the RCDS team has also grown to accommodate the needs of Northwestern’s research community, including adding two full-time statisticians.

• Data Science, Statistics, and Visualization—Collaborate with researchers and apply methods from statistics, data science, computer science, and other fields to analyze and visualize data in their research domain. Learn more about these services.
• Research Data Management—The group provides resources and consultation services encompassing all the practices researchers perform to care for their research data, including organizing, securing, preserving, and sharing. Find data management resources.
• Computing and Software—Helping researchers leverage computational resources and software to achieve their research goals. Learn more about computing services.

Learn More

Please visit the Research Computing and Data Services website for resources and tools that support research activities at Northwestern. Questions about the site's information and research resources across Northwestern can be directed to Jackie Milhans, director of research computing and data.