Research Reality: Research projects can include multiple collaborators, generate large amounts of data, include hundreds or thousands of participants/samples, and require significant computing resources for data storage, transfer, and analysis. The data needs to be shared, combined, and manipulated by researchers who may sit on the other side of a wall, across campus, or across the ocean from each other.

Plan for the Future: Now imagine that the project expands to include even more collaborators, or that it becomes accessible to other researchers or even the general public. It is critical that effective collaboration is facilitated among all research partners, including:

• Establishing what data partners can contribute, view, and edit
• Determining where/how data should be stored and organized
• Ensuring that all processes and protocols meet HIPAA regulatory standards
• Monitoring system and data activity by all collaborators
• Determining what data, reports, and results can be accessed by others and processing requests

While all of these tasks can become a monumental job that is time consuming and complicated, with the right research computing solutions, it can be easy.

Go Globus

Globus is a non-profit service for secure, reliable research data management. It’s been around for over 20 years and is the industry standard for data transfer in research computing.  With Globus, subscribers can move, share, and discover data via a single interface. Whether your files live on a supercomputer, lab cluster, tape archive, public cloud, or your laptop, you can manage the data from anywhere, using your existing identities, with just a web browser.​

Globus removes data management roadblocks and headaches by providing unified access to all storage locations—in short, Globus makes it much easier to work with data (even sensitive data requiring additional controls), while ensuring security and reliability. Researchers (and the IT teams who support them) can worry less about moving and sharing their data, authenticating new users, or connecting new storage systems, so that they can focus more time and energy on research.

Take Research Data Management to the Next Level

Pitt IT is committed to supporting science and research through information technology and services.  Pitt research projects and IT developers can use our Globus subscription at no charge. Our Globus subscription provides access to premium features that aren’t available in the basic free version. These premium features include file sharing, HTTPS support, cloud-connectors, endpoint management and reporting, expert support, and more.  

Globus service owner Brian Stengel acknowledges that the premium features—such as cloud-connectors, API, and the software development toolkit—are a different level of functionality than just using Globus for file transfer. “Sometimes, it takes some upfront work to consider how these features can help you get control over research data usage. Pitt IT is eager to work with research projects to build the tech solution that is right for their people, process, and technology needs,” he says.

Even if your project team has its own data scientist or IT support, solutions development may not be in their wheelhouse. Stengel notes, “The first step of using Globus is to work with Pitt IT so we can help you determine the best way to proceed and the technical requirements you’ll need to consider.”

To get started request a Globus consultation via the online Service Request form. The Pitt IT team will help you evaluate your options and help you develop a plan.

-- By Karen Beaudway, Pitt IT Blogger