Collaborative Research: Sustainability: A Community-Centered Approach for Supporting and Sustaining Parsl

现代研究计算需要跨不同的研究计算基础设施协调复杂的计算工作流。为了满足这一需求，开放源码软件包PARSL使科学家和工程师能够并行化Python程序，并在小到非常大的本地和远程资源(例如，笔记本电脑、集群、云和超级计算机)上可伸缩高效地运行它们，同时还可以根据需要移动数据。PARSL有效地实现了对NSF日益广泛和强大的网络基础设施资源的访问，使研究人员能够在熟悉且多产的Python编程语言和环境中工作，同时还允许他们轻松地扩展和分配他们的工作，以充分利用当今的尖端网络基础设施。PASL是研究人员用来解决世界上一些最重大挑战的关键工具：从理解宇宙的开始到探索巨大的分子搜索空间以确定可行的疗法。该项目正在为这一重要工具的可持续性奠定基础，使新的长期科学进步成为可能，从而造福社会。参加了几个教育项目，让一群不同的学生接触到了日益重要的并行和分布式计算领域。该项目正在将PASL过渡到一个由社区管理和社区支持的开源项目，未来的收入将由一个非营利性组织管理，由选举产生的PASL协调委员会领导。该项目正在通过a)有针对性的技术活动来减少成本和贡献障碍，减少未来的维护成本；b)通过外联、参与和教育计划建立PASL社区，增加未来的潜在贡献者；以及c)建立途径和激励机制，将用户转化为贡献者，并将贡献者转化为领导者，从而培养下一代社区。该项目采用数据驱动的方法，通过衡量整个项目的努力和资金来揭示关于努力花在哪里、如何支持以及如何平衡这些因素的洞察力。从这个项目中吸取的经验教训正在被转化为类似项目的蓝图。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Modern research computing requires orchestration of complex computational workflows across diverse research computing infrastructure. To meet this requirement, Parsl, an open source software package, enables scientists and engineers to parallelize Python programs and run them scalably and efficiently on small to very large local and remote resources (e.g., laptops, clusters, clouds, and supercomputers), while also moving data as needed. Parsl effectively democratizes access to NSF's increasingly broad and powerful cyberinfrastructure resources by enabling researchers to work in the familiar and productive Python programming language and environment while also allowing them to easily scale and distribute their work to fully use today's cutting-edge cyberinfrastructure. Parsl is a key tool used by researchers to tackle some of the world's most significant challenges: from understanding the beginning of the universe to exploring an enormous molecular search space to identify viable therapeutics. This project is laying the foundation for the sustainability of this crucial tool, enabling new long-term science advances and thereby benefiting society. Participation in several education programs is exposing a diverse group of students to the increasingly important area of parallel and distributed computing. This project is transitioning Parsl to a community-governed and community-supported open source project, with future income to be managed by a nonprofit organization under the direction of an elected Parsl Coordination Committee. The project is delivering a sustainable Parsl community by a) targeted technical activities that reduce costs and barriers for contribution, reducing future maintenance costs; b) building the Parsl community via outreach, engagement, and education programs, increasing potential future contributors; and c) establishing pathways and incentives to convert users to contributors and contributors to leaders, growing the next generation of the community. The project takes a data-driven approach by measuring effort and funding across the project to reveal insights about where effort is spent, how it is supported, and how these factors can be balanced. The lessons learned in this project are being converted to a blueprint for similar projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.