IU has some of the most sophisticated cyberinfrastructure in higher education -- and undergraduate students are welcome to apply for accounts on advanced systems including the Quarry (http://pti.iu.edu/ci/systems/quarry) virtual machine environment, and the Big Red (http://pti.iu.edu/ci/systems/big-red), RockHopper (http://pti.iu.edu/ci/systems/rockhopper), and Data Capacitor (http://pti.iu.edu/ci/systems/data-capacitor) parallel computing environments.

You can apply for an account for two different types of use:

1. Undergraduate research projects (proposals from individual undergraduate students with a faculty sponsor)
2. Classroom use of IU’s advanced cyberinfrastructure (proposals from faculty members who would like to use these systems in classroom instruction)

Applications are intended to be brief, and will be acted on quickly. The application process is based directly on the processes and guidelines used for NSF proposals – to enable UITS to report its activities to the NSF and other funding agencies effectively, and as a form of early practice for future researchers who may apply to the NSF or other federal funding agencies for grant funding.

The undergraduate research project application should include the following in a single PDF file:

• A brief description of the project (1-2 pages) that addresses the “intellectual merit” and “broader impact” review criteria used by the NSF (see http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/nsf04_23/3.jsp)

• The IU network ID (username) and a two page biographical sketch of the undergraduate researcher in the NSF format (see item “f. Biographical Sketch(es)” in http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/papp/gpg_2.jsp) -- applications from groups of undergrad researchers should include a bio for each student involved.

• A letter from a faculty sponsor indicating their supervisory role for the proposed undergraduate research project

• A two page biographical sketch of the faculty sponsor

The faculty use in a class project application should include the following, with the proposal and bio as a single PDF file and the class roster as a separate Excel spreadsheet:

• A brief description of the project (1-2 pages) that addresses the “intellectual merit” and “broader impact” review criteria used by the NSF (see http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/nsf04_23/3.jsp)

• A two page biographical sketch of the proposing faculty member in the NSF format (see item “f. Biographical Sketch(es)” in http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/papp/gpg_2.jsp)

• An appendix with the full names and IU network IDs (usernames) of the students in the class

Please email your application – and any questions about the application process – to cesg [at] iu [dot] edu.

The due date for spring 2012 applications is February 15, 2012. We expect to approve all clearly written requests, provided we have sufficient capacity on IU systems to support them. Undergrads at IU regional campuses are especially encouraged to apply.

This process is overseen by the Collaboration and Engagement Support team of the Research Technologies Division of UITS, and executed as part of its mission of support for IU cyberinfrastructure and as part of the Pervasive Technology Institute’s efforts to foster a well-educated 21^st century workforce in the US.