The research computing and data (RCD) landscape is enriched by numerous organizations working to advance computational research support. While CaRCC serves as one vital hub for RCD professionals, several other organizations play similar and complementary roles in supporting and advancing the field. Understanding these organizations and their missions can help RCD professionals leverage resources, build connections, and contribute to the broader community.
Campus Champions
The Campus Champions program, supported by the National Science Foundation’s ACCESS program (formerly XSEDE), creates a network of local experts who help researchers effectively use national cyberinfrastructure resources. Campus Champions serve as bridges between their local research communities and national-scale computing resources.
Champions receive training, priority access to allocations for educational purposes, and opportunities to engage with the broader community of cyberinfrastructure professionals. They play a crucial role in democratizing access to advanced computing by helping researchers at their institutions navigate the process of obtaining and using national resources.
For institutions without extensive local HPC resources, Campus Champions can be particularly valuable in extending computational capabilities available to researchers. The program also provides professional development opportunities through workshops, webinars, and annual meetings where Champions share experiences and learn about new resources and technologies.
CASC: Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation
The Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC) represents a strategic alliance of advanced computing centers across North America. Founded in 1989, CASC focuses on advocating for sustained investment in advanced computing infrastructure and promoting the role of computational science in research and education.
CASC members typically include major supercomputing centers and advanced computing facilities at universities and national laboratories. The organization serves as a collective voice for these centers, engaging with federal agencies, policymakers, and funding organizations to advocate for computational research infrastructure. Through position papers, workshops, and direct engagement with stakeholders, CASC helps shape national priorities for scientific computing.
For RCD professionals, CASC provides valuable insights into national-scale computing trends and policy developments. Their annual meetings and reports offer perspectives on emerging technologies, funding landscapes, and strategic directions for advanced computing. While CASC membership is institutional rather than individual, their resources and advocacy efforts benefit the entire RCD community.
EDUCAUSE Research Computing and Data Community Group
Within the broader EDUCAUSE community, the Research Computing and Data Community Group brings together professionals who support computational research in higher education. This group serves as a forum for sharing best practices, discussing challenges, and collaborating on solutions specific to research computing in academic settings.
The EDUCAUSE Research Computing and Data Community Group maintains active discussions through mailing lists, organizes sessions at the annual EDUCAUSE conference, and produces resources tailored to the intersection of IT and research support. Topics of focus include cloud computing for research, data management strategies, research security, and the evolving role of research computing in institutional IT portfolios.
What makes this group particularly valuable is its connection to the broader higher education IT community through EDUCAUSE. This linkage helps RCD professionals communicate the unique needs of research computing to institutional leadership and IT decision-makers. The group also facilitates conversations about how research computing fits within enterprise IT strategies and governance structures.
MS-CC: Minority Serving Cyberinfrastructure Consortium
The Minority Serving Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) addresses the critical need to expand access to advanced computing resources and expertise at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). This organization works to bridge the digital divide in computational research by building capacity, fostering partnerships, and advocating for equitable access to cyberinfrastructure.
MS-CC focuses on developing sustainable cyberinfrastructure capabilities at MSIs, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other minority serving institutions. The consortium facilitates knowledge sharing, provides training opportunities, and helps member institutions develop local research computing capabilities while connecting them to national resources.
For the broader RCD community, MS-CC represents an important partner in efforts to democratize access to computational research. Collaboration with MS-CC helps ensure that advanced computing resources and expertise reach all research communities, fostering diversity in computational science and expanding the pipeline of future RCD professionals.
RDAP: Research Data Access and Preservation Association
The Research Data Access and Preservation Association (RDAP) brings together information professionals who work with research data. While RDAP members often come from library and information science backgrounds, their work intersects significantly with RCD as data management and computational research become increasingly intertwined.
RDAP focuses on the full lifecycle of research data, from creation and analysis through preservation and reuse. The organization addresses challenges in data management planning, metadata standards, repository services, and long-term preservation strategies. Their annual summit provides a forum for sharing innovations and best practices in research data services.
For RCD professionals, understanding RDAP’s perspective is valuable as computational workflows increasingly need to incorporate data management best practices. Collaboration between RCD and research data professionals ensures that computational infrastructure supports not just analysis but also reproducibility, sharing, and preservation of research outputs.
US-RSE: United States Research Software Engineer Association
The United States Research Software Engineer Association (US-RSE) represents a rapidly growing community of professionals who develop and maintain research software. Founded in 2018, US-RSE advocates for the recognition of research software engineering as a distinct professional path and works to improve career paths, professional development, and community building for RSEs.
Research Software Engineers occupy a unique space in the research ecosystem, combining software development expertise with domain knowledge to create tools that enable scientific discovery. US-RSE provides a community where these professionals can share experiences, develop best practices, and advocate for appropriate recognition of their contributions to research.
The organization hosts community calls, maintains active communication channels, organizes workshops and conferences, and works to establish RSE positions and career paths at institutions across the country. For RCD professionals, collaboration with RSEs is often essential, as they develop the software tools that researchers run on RCD-managed infrastructure.
Building Connections Across Organizations
These organizations, while distinct in their missions and memberships, share common goals of advancing research through improved infrastructure, services, and professional development. For RCD professionals, engaging with multiple organizations can provide:
- Diverse perspectives on common challenges
- Opportunities for cross-domain collaboration
- Access to specialized expertise and resources
- Broader professional networks
- Multiple venues for professional development
The most effective RCD programs often draw insights and practices from across these communities. For instance, working with US-RSE members can improve software support services, collaborating with RDAP professionals ensures robust data management, and engaging with Campus Champions extends the reach of local resources.
RCD Community-Builders Group
The RCD Community-Builders Group serves as a unique experience-sharing forum that brings together organizers from various open communities of RCD professionals. Established in 2022, the group creates a space for leaders of different RCD organizations to meet regularly and discuss their community-building efforts, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration.
Unlike a traditional professional organization with individual members, the RCD Community-Builders Group consists of representatives from other RCD organizations – including many featured in this post such as CaRCC’s People Network, EDUCAUSE RCD, Campus Champions, Academic Data Science Alliance, Regulated Research Community of Practice (RRCoP), US-RSE, and the Research Data Access and Preservation (RDAP) Association. Each member organization can have up to two representatives who participate in monthly meetings to share insights about their organizational priorities, discuss common challenges in supporting RCD professional communities, and identify opportunities for coordinated action.
What makes this group particularly valuable is its role as a “community of communities.” By bringing together leaders from diverse RCD organizations, it facilitates cross-pollination of ideas, helps avoid duplication of efforts, and enables coordinated responses to opportunities like funding announcements or requests for information that affect the broader RCD community.
Moving Forward Together
As the research computing and data landscape continues to evolve, these organizations provide essential forums for collective action, knowledge sharing, and professional growth. Whether advocating for resources, developing best practices, or building communities of practice, each organization contributes unique value to the RCD ecosystem.
CaRCC members are encouraged to explore these organizations, participate in their activities where appropriate, and build bridges that strengthen the entire RCD community. By understanding and engaging with the broader ecosystem, we can better serve our researchers and advance the frontiers of computational research.