At the University of Michigan, many research groups, centers, and individuals are already using or are planning to use cyberinfrastructure. CI is being applied to computational- and data-intensive research or used for teaching purposes. In some groups, cyberinfrastructure is the object of the research.

Although much of this research (sometimes called “Computational Discovery”) is visible to specific research communities, it is not always visible to everyone. It can be difficult for researchers and students to discover people on campus with expertise and knowledge who could help answer their questions or become their collaborators. This was one of the main drivers for the creation of the “Computational-Discovery Discovery Project” (CD Squared) at U-M in late 2010.

CD Squared Project Objectives:

• Create an intellectual inventory of computational and data-intensive research and teaching at U-M and an efficient method to sustain such a process.
• Survey what’s happening at other universities around the nurturing and organization of activities that facilitate computational discovery.
• Form a clearer picture of the barriers that U-M faculty, staff, and students face when pursuing computational discovery activities.
• Help shape ways that ORCI can contribute to the intellectual vibrancy of cyberinfrastructure-enabled research at U-M.

To date, the CD Squared project has talked to and captured information about more than 90 centers and groups and individuals. If you would like to be included in the list (and in a future online database), please e-mail sgeva@umich.edu, and we will be happy to come out and talk to you or to your students.

We are also always looking for ways to contribute to the computational discovery community here at U-M, so any input is welcome! Email us comments or suggestions, or tell us if you would like to talk to us.