RCN: Coordinated Computing in Structural Biology

结构生物学--确定和分析与其生物功能有关的大分子结构--不仅依赖于其核心实验方法，而且依赖于使收集和解释相关数据成为可能的计算方法。SBGrid研究协调网络(RCN)的一个主要目标是为所有结构生物学群体提供统一水平的计算网格访问和软件可用性，包括那些地理代表性不足的社区和较小的大学。RCN将整合大量参与实验室的高性能计算资源，并通过与开放科学网格的联合，在结构生物学和物理科学界之间架起一座桥梁。该奖项将提高各个实验室解决具有挑战性和雄心勃勃的结构生物学问题的能力，特别是需要使用多种实验技术的问题。该网络将适应一些结构生物学应用，以利用网格资源和当代硬件技术。它将鼓励在附属实验室开发并行的、网格兼容的软件，并将协调它们的安装、测试和分发。在这方面，区域中心还将支持为结构生物学家举办的计算机编程短期课程。通过使人们能够接触到广泛的机构和调查人员，这一区域资源中心将产生重大的更广泛的影响。

Structural biology -- the determination and analysis of macromolecular structures in relation to their biological functions -- rests not only on its core experimental methodologies but also on the computational approaches that make it possible to collect and interpret the relevant data. A primary objective of the SBGrid Research Coordination Network (RCN) is to provide a uniform level of computing grid access and software availability to all structural-biology groups, including those in geographically underrepresented communities and smaller universities. The RCN will consolidate the high-performance computing resources of a large number of participating laboratories and build a bridge between the structural biology and the physical-sciences communities, through federation with Open Science Grid. The award will enhance the capacity of individual laboratories to solve challenging and ambitious structural biology problems, particularly ones that require use of multiple experimental technologies. The network will adapt a number of structural?biology applications to take advantage of grid resources and contemporary hardware technologies. It will encourage development of parallelized, grid-compatible software in affiliated laboratories, and will coordinate their installation, testing, and distribution. In this connection, the RCN will also support short courses in computer programming for structural biologists. By enabling access to a wide array of institutions and investigators, this RCN will have significant broader impacts.