Researchers continually adopt new and innovative technologies in support of advanced and ground-breaking research in fields ranging from cancer research to physics and environmental sciences to the humanities. Contemporary research is increasingly reliant on integrated IT infrastructure platforms (Cyberinfrastructure) that enable advanced networking, grid and cloud computing, identity and access management, advanced visualization, data mining, multimedia collaboration, process improvement and shared resources. Our research communities are trying to figure out how to develop, fund, and sustain Cyberinfrastructure to enhance research and innovation.

Research VPs are concerned with the research excellence and are typically not concerned with details of Cyberinfrastructure or the technical and administrative challenges of providing it. They simply want to know what impact the technology will have on their research and their organization. CIOs are responsible for delivering the institutional IT infrastructure to support scholarship – learning and research. Problem is … researchers, research VPs, and CIOs aren’t always on the same page ... or campus!

In this discussion, invited research and technology leaders from across Canada explore how institutional leadership can address the delivery of a campus IT infrastructure to support Cyberinfrastructure (CI) and e-research for pure and applied research in universities and colleges across Canada. Among the questions to be explored are:

• Given that they attract the funding, do researchers have sufficient voice and influence to contribute to the development of campus resources to access major Cyberinfrastructure resources?
  
• Since the research agenda is driven by researchers, and funding models influence their decision making, how should researchers participate in decisions about the provision of campus Cyberinfrastructure?
  
• To what extent are CIOs, VPs of research and PIs working together to ensure the institutions have the tools and resources researchers need?
  
• While millions of dollars are invested in research by federal and provincial governments each year, are we paying enough attention to the underlying infrastructure that can support and drive research priorities?
  
• How can our research funding models adapt to the evolving nature of how collaborative research is conducted now, across multiple disciplines and multiple institutions, sometimes oceans apart, yet instantly together in virtual collaborative environments?
  
  

• Hugh Couchman, Scientific Director, SHARCNET; Professor, Physics & Astronomy, McMaster University
  Hugh Couchman is professor of Physics and Astronomy at McMaster University. He did his undergraduate and graduate work at Cambridge University, receiving his Ph.D. from the Institute of Astronomy in 1986. Following postdoctoral work at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, he held faculty positions at the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario before moving to McMaster in 1999. Dr. Couchman has been involved with the Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET) since its inception and has been the Scientific Director since 2003. He has been involved in many activities to help develop high-performance computing (HPC) in Canada including co-authorship of the Long-Range Plan for HPC and of the recent national proposal for HPC to the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Dr. Couchman's research interests are in the numerical modelling of cosmic structure in the post-recombination universe (from 10^5 years after the Big Bang to the present, 10^10 years later). He uses large-scale simulation to understand the formation and evolution of galaxies, clusters of galaxies and the distribution of matter on the largest scales in the universe. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Cosmology program.
  
  
• Dr. Peter H. Poole, Interim Associate Vice-President Research, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Department of Physics, St. Francis Xavier University
  Peter Poole is presently Interim Associate Vice-President Research at St. Francis Xavier University. He is also a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Physics at StFX, positions he has held since 2002. Prior to that he was a faculty member in the Department of Applied Mathematics at the University of Western Ontario (1995-2002). Dr. Poole is a native of Nova Scotia and obtained his undergraduate degree in physics from StFX in 1987. His graduate work in physics at Boston University (1987-92) was followed by post-doctoral positions at Arizona State University (1992-94) and Dalhousie University (1994-95), both in Chemistry Departments. His research exploits computer simulation methods to solve problems in materials science concerning the properties of liquid, crystalline, and glassy materials, with a particular focus on the properties of deeply supercooled water and amorphous ice. He has also been involved in regional and national efforts to expand Canada’s high performance computing research infrastructure. He was a founding member of the teams that created both the SHARCNET and ACEnet HPC consortia, and has served as SHARCNET’s Research Director, as a member of the ACEnet Research Directorate, and on the Board and Executive of C3.ca.
  
  
• Mark Whitmore, Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Manitoba; Chair, CANARIE Board of Directors
  Mark Whitmore obtained his Ph.D. in 1978 from McMaster University, in an area that is now called computational condensed matter physics. His research, which has been supported continuously by NSERC, has continued in that general field, with a focus on soft materials physics. Mr. Whitmore was a member of the faculty at Memorial University of Newfoundland from 1977 to 2004, promoted to full professor in 1982. While at Memorial, he served as deputy department head, acting department head, and associate dean (research) for the Faculty of Science. He spent sabbaticals at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada and the University of Ottawa. Effective July 1, 2004, he became the Dean of Science at the University of Manitoba. He has been deeply involved in the world of high performance computing (HPC). He is one of the founders of the national organization C3.ca, and served on its board of directors, executive committee, and other committees for many years. Mr. Whitmore has participated actively in regional and national projects related to computing and networking. He was the principal investigator on an NSERC Major Facilities Access grant for HPC support across Canada. In 2003 and 2004, he led the team that created the successful CFI application for a regional HPC consortium called ACEnet, or the Atlantic Computational Excellence Network.