S2I2: Impl: The Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI) for the Democratization and Acceleration of Science

科学网关是方便用户的门户网站，使包括学生在内的各级科学家能够方便地获得和使用先进的计算、数据、联网和科学仪器，从而彻底改变科学研究和教育的方式。例如，科学家们正在通过Galaxy进行生物医学研究，这是一个用于数据密集型生物医学研究的科学门户，以及使用Snapshot Serengeti让公民参与调查狮子密度，这是一个公民科学的科学门户。科学网关通过网络方便地访问，扩大了对超级计算机、望远镜、传感器网络、独特的数据收集、协作空间的访问，并使其民主化，这些空间使解决复杂问题所需的多学科协作成为可能，并使分析能力成为可能。因此，科学门户扩大和拓宽了对科学的参与-这是国家科学基金会的一个重要目标。通过增加参与，科学网关增加了NSF在先进技术和设施方面的投资回报。科学网关社区研究所（SGCI）将加速开发和应用强大的，具有成本效益的，可持续的网关，以满足科学家和工程师的需求。该研究所的工作将增加科学和工程网关的数量以及有效性和可用性。这将导致从专业人员到公民科学家更广泛地使用网关和更广泛地开展科学活动，从而直接扩大SGCI的影响。此外，非常重要的是，随着时间的推移，研究所的社区参与和交流活动将增加其服务的受众，其与少数群体专业组织的伙伴关系将确保代表性不足的群体参与培训和劳动力发展。网络和科学仪器可供包括学生在内的各级科学家使用，从而彻底改变科学研究和教育的方式。网关使科学家能够更快地测试他们的假设，为他们提供更多的时间来深入思考尚未解决的问题类型。通过这种方式，网关成为“研究放大器”。它们还通过使用由高性能计算提供动力的建模和模拟工具，使合成科学跨越生态系统、地理距离、方法和学科。然而，尽管网关已经存在多年，但这些环境的开发通常是通过临时流程完成的，这限制了成功、资源效率和长期影响。网关的开发人员通常不知道其他人以前已经解决了类似的挑战，并且不知道从哪里寻求建议或专业知识。因此，项目浪费金钱和时间重新实现更基本的功能，而不是为其独特的受众构建增值功能。许多网关的努力都失败了。有些公司早期失败是因为不了解如何建立用户社区;另一些公司后来失败是因为没有制定可持续性计划。科学网关社区研究所（SGCI）旨在解决上述限制，同时为网关开发人员和学生提供职业道路。SGCI的五个组成部分的设计是几年研究的结果，包括许多焦点小组和研究界的5,000人调查。其孵化器组件将提供商业和可持续发展规划，网络安全，用户界面设计和软件工程实践方面的共享专业知识。扩展开发人员支持部分将为请求援助的项目提供长达一年的专家开发人员，并展示其对研究界产生影响的潜力。科学软件协作组件将为网关设计、集成和服务提供一个基于组件的、开源的、可扩展的框架，包括网关托管和外部开发人员将自己的软件集成到研究所产品中的能力。社区参与和交流组件将为NSF内部、跨联邦机构和国际上的网关开发人员提供一个交流和共享经验的论坛。最后，通过培训计划，劳动力发展部分将增加网关开发人员的渠道，特别强调招募代表性不足的少数族裔，并帮助大学组建网关支持小组。简而言之，该研究所的工作将增加科学和工程网关的数量、易用性和有效应用，从而使网关的使用范围更广，科学行为更广泛，从专业人员到公民科学家。随着时间的推移，研究所的社区参与和交流活动将增加其服务的受众，研究所与少数群体专业组织的伙伴关系将确保代表性不足的群体参与培训和劳动力发展。

Science gateways are user-friendly web portals that make advanced computing, data, networking and scientific instrumentation accessible and easily usable by scientists at all levels, including students, thereby revolutionizing how research and education is done in science. For example, scientists are conducting biomedical studies through Galaxy, a science gateway for data intensive biomedical research, as well as engaging citizens in investigating lion density using Snapshot Serengeti, a science gateway for citizen science. By being easily accessible via the Web, science gateways expand and democratize access to supercomputers, telescopes, sensor networks, unique data collections, collaborative spaces that enable the multidisciplinary collaborations needed to solve complex problems, and analysis capabilities. Thus, science gateways expand and broadening participation in science - an important goal of the National Science Foundation (NSF). By increasing participation, science gateways increase the NSF's return on investment in advanced technologies and facilities. The Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI) will speed the development and application of robust, cost-effective, sustainable gateways to address the needs of scientists and engineers across the sciences. The work of the institute will increase the number as well as the effectiveness and usability of gateways to science and engineering. This will result in broader gateway use and more widespread conduct of science ranging from professionals to citizen scientists, thus, directly amplifying the impact of the SGCI. Further, and very importantly, the Institute's community engagement and exchange activities will, over time, increase the audience for its services, and its partnerships with minority professional organizations will ensure involvement in training and workforce development from underrepresented groups.Science gateways are user-friendly web portals that make advanced computing, data, networking and scientific instrumentation accessible and easily usable by scientists at all levels, including students, thereby revolutionizing how research and education is done in science. Gateways enable scientists to test their assumptions more quickly, providing them more time for deeper thinking about the types of problems that have yet to be solved. In this way, gateways become "research amplifiers". They also enable synthetic science - by using modelling and simulation tools powered by high-performance computing - across ecosystems, geographic distances, methodologies, and disciplines. However, and despite the presence of gateways for many years, development of these environments is often done with ad-hoc processes, limiting success, resource efficiency, and long-term impact. Developers of gateways are often unaware that others have solved similar challenges before, and do not know where to turn for advice or expertise. Thus, projects waste money and time re-implementing the more basic functions rather than building the value-added features for their unique audience. Many gateway efforts fail. Some fail early by not understanding how to build communities of users; others fail later by not developing plans for sustainability. The Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI) has been designed to address the above limitations while providing career paths for gateway developers and for students. The five-component design of the SGCI is the result of several years of studies, including many focus groups and a 5,000-person survey of the research community. Its Incubator component will provide shared expertise in business and sustainability planning, cybersecurity, user interface design, and software engineering practices. The Extended Developer Support component will provide expert developers for up to one year to projects that request assistance as well as demonstrating the potential to achieve impacts on their research communities. The Scientific Software Collaborative component will offer a component-based, open-source, extensible framework for gateway design, integration, and services, including gateway hosting and capabilities for external developers to integrate their own software into Institute offerings. The Community Engagement and Exchange component will provide a forum for communication and shared experiences among gateway developers, within NSF, across federal agencies, and internationally. Finally, with its training programs the Workforce Development component will increase the pipeline of gateway developers, with special emphasis on recruiting underrepresented minorities, and by helping universities form gateway support groups. In short, the work of the institute will increase the number, ease of use, and effective application of gateways to science and engineering, resulting in broader gateway use and more widespread conduct of science ranging from professionals to citizen scientists. The Institute's community engagement and exchange activities over time will increase the audience for its services, and its partnerships with minority professional organizations will ensure involvement in training and workforce development from underrepresented groups.