This spring, 19 undergraduate students from around the United States completed the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CI Compass Fellowship Program (CICF), where they learned about technical cyberinfrastructure (CI) and the data lifecycle of multiple NSF Major and Midscale Facilities.

The 2024 program was the third cohort of CICF student fellows since it began in 2022. The undergraduate students experienced an updated program with direct coaching from program leaders, hands-on opportunities to learn programming, and in-depth lectures from cyberinfrastructure practitioners and experts at NSF major science facilities around the country.

“Each year, we are excited to bring more students into the cyberinfrastructure and data lifecycle arena of computer science and engineering,” said Angela Murillo, co-principal investigator (co-PI) and CICF director for NSF CI Compass, and assistant professor at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University Indianapolis. Murillo led the year three program developments to dive deeper into each program topic and create more hands-on technical opportunities than the years before.

“Introducing undergraduate students to the world of scientific research and showing them directly how their work can support discoveries through software development, programming, data processing, archiving, using cloud technologies, and machine learning, enables them to envision the impact of their work,” she said. “During the program, we introduce the students to leaders in research facilities around the country. It is rewarding to have them make connections and ask questions to deepen their understanding.”

During the students’ time in CICF, they engaged each week with recorded, technical lectures and had weekly lab sessions, discussions, and presentations from CI Compass members, NSF Major and Midscale Facilities, and CI leaders. Lessons in CI development, including aspects of computer science, research, and software development, played a critical role in introducing student fellows to the various necessary CI skills and how CI can impact research facilities.

“My favorite part of the program was delving into diverse cyberinfrastructures,” said CICF 2024 student fellow Palina Pauliuchenka, an undergraduate student in Computer Science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. “Hearing first-hand from professionals that are passionate about their work and contributions was particularly interesting.”

“This program has been a catalyst to my academic career and has sparked a new interest in high-performance computing, something I previously knew nothing about,” said CICF 2024 student fellow Raymond Gallant, an undergraduate student in cybersecurity and information systems at Eastern New Mexico University.

At the finale of the fellowship program, fellows presented group research projects focused on the unique data lifecycle and cyberinfrastructure considerations in major- and mid-scale facilities. For the program’s third year, these included:

• CERN’s (European Council for Nuclear Research) Large Hadron Collider, by Andrew Su, Lisa Schulz, Safia Mesiya, Cailin Cobey, and Linqing Zhu

• The NSF IceCube Neutrino Observatory (NSF IceCube), by Raymond James Gallant, Stephen Schertz, Matthew London, and Palina Pauliuchenka

• The NSF International Ocean Discovery Program (NSF JOIDES/IODP), by Ingrid Carlson, Jay Nimbalkar, Jordan Weinstein, Brandon Lozano, and Rosio Rodriguez

• The NSF Network for Advanced NMR (NSF NAN), by Revolution Rivera-Felix, Matthew Chung, Jay Jones, Connor Vessely, and Quan Quy

The final presentations have been recorded and may be viewed on the CI Compass YouTube channel.

“CICF is a remarkable fellowship that broadens perspectives for young researchers, demonstrating that research extends beyond traditional Ph.D. programs,” said Pauliuchenka. “I am especially grateful for the internship opportunity with the Ocean Observatory Initiative, as it aligns perfectly with my aspirations for pursuing a PhD.”

Multiple student fellows in the Spring 2024 CICF cohort earned the opportunity to work with Major Facilities and large CI projects over the summer through the CICF Summer Program.

“The program gave me an overview of the different technologies used at NSF Major Facilities and allowed me to spend the summer at a Major Facility engaging with the different technologies hands-on,” said Gallant, who is working on a summer project at the NSF National Center of Atmospheric Research. “This program has made a significant impact on my future."

Learn more about CICF by visiting the CI Compass Student Fellowships page. Applications for the Spring 2025 CICF cohort will open in mid-September. Please visit the CICF Apply page to learn more and sign up for program updates.

About CI Compass

CI Compass is funded by the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering under grant number 2127548. Its participating research institutions include the University of Southern California, Indiana University, Texas Tech University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Utah.

To learn more about CI Compass, please visit ci-compass.org.

Contact: Christina Clark, Research Communications Specialist
CI Compass / Notre Dame Research / University of Notre Dame cclark26@nd.edu / 574.631.2665

Originally published by Christina Clark at ci-compass.org on July 23, 2024.