April 2020 National eResearch Newsletter

Kicking off on 6 April, we’ve been delighted with the attendance numbers participating via Zoom.  Sessions are running daily from 12-2pm AEST starting last week.

We are adding additional speakers each day to the Draft Program and encourage you to check back regularly to confirm sessions and timings.  See https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1S2SafVw5y45kimlPM8btG9Dg8LyIpUTgK9zZOq2kZ4s.

ATTENDANCE IS OPEN TO EVERYONE (ie not just for previously registered attendees).  However, you must register to obtain the Session link (at https://aarnet.eventsair.com/c3dis/registration).  We would appreciate your assistance in helping to promote this event via your networks.  Thank you for your on-going support – we look forward to your participation over the coming days.

Please note that all sessions will be recorded for those unable to attend on the day.

Thu 16 Apr, 13:00 – 14:00 AEST.
Come along to the quarterly meeting of ARDC’s Data Management Planning (DMP) Interest Group.  This DMP Interest Group will enable a community of practice for those interested in discussing, building and improving Data Management Plans best practice and technical tools.

For further information, see:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FiT65bnS2Y0TkXeTdSHdnn9x38KSOnYng9nPPKAt1Jc/edit#

The next presentation in the Australian BioCommons webinar series will be by Prof David Cantrill, Executive Director Science, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.  He’ll provide an overview of the Genomics for Australian Plants initiative on Thursday, 23 April 2020 at 12:00 pm AEST.

0n 5-May, you can learn how you can build a bioinformatics pipeline once and run anywhere when Michael Franklin presents the JANIS framework for creating specialised, simple workflow definitions that are then transpiled to CWL or WDL.  More information here: https://www.biocommons.org.au/events.

Previous webinars can be seen here:  https://www.youtube.com/AustralianBioCommons.  If you would like to hear about more bioinformatics training opportunities, follow @AusBioCommons on twitter and subscribe to the Australian BioCommons newsletter: https://www.biocommons.org.au/subscribe

EoI open 27 Mar – 4 May.

The ARDC is seeking expressions of interest to participate in the Cross-NCRIS Data Assets program.  The program has been designed to partner with groups of National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) facilities to establish cross-NCRIS national-scale data assets to support leading edge research.

Read more at:  https://ardc.edu.au/collaborations/strategic-activities/national-data-assets/cross-ncris-data-assets/cross-ncris-open-call-2020/.

The Sensitive Data CoP provides an opportunity for anyone interested to discuss the challenges and strategies for managing this type of data.  See the Sensitive Data community document at https://bit.ly/2TYVkOZ.

Tue 5 May, 12:00 – 13:00 AEST.

This (virtual) meeting will discuss the challenges of working with sensitive data in the current conditions.

We know it must be challenging for the research community to continue their research during these extraordinary times and we want you to know that AARNet is here to support you.  The AARNet eResearch Team will be hosting fortnightly webinars to discuss remote research challenges and solutions.

The first webinar – ‘Remote Research Basics’ will be held on 7 May 12:00pm – 1:30pm.

Find out more about the webinar series and topics, and register here: https://news.aarnet.edu.au/supporting-our-research-community-during-isolation/.

Managing research outputs for your institution?  Join Symplectic Elements, the Australian Access Federation and ORCID for this ORCID-hosted webinar on 13 May.  We’ll have a look at how these two systems work together and how research institutions in the Asia Pacific region use Symplectic Elements (scholarly information management software) and ORCID to connect the research infrastructure.

The registration URL (which includes time zone details) is https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/978876916126445837.

Linking data for social exclusion research.
Wed 13 May, 12:00 – 12:45 AEST.
Register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7531743016094248204.

Using linked data for improved policy and support for vulnerable children and families.
Wed 20 May, 12:00 – 12:45 AEST.
Register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7806495578712691980.

Recordings from the ARDC webinars can be found on YouTube.  View recordings at https://www.youtube.com/c/ARDC_AU

Open for comments 14 Apr – 15 May.

The Research Data Alliance (RDA) has released its draft FAIR maturity model for comment and feedback.  This document describes a maturity model for FAIR assessment with assessment indicators, priorities and evaluation methods.  This is useful for the normalisation of assessment approaches to enable comparison of their results.

Further information here:  https://www.rd-alliance.org/group/fair-data-maturity-model-wg/outcomes/fair-data-maturity-model-specification-and-guidelines#comment-form.

Considering the current climate, GovHack has made the decision not to run any physical events over the GovHack 2020 competition weekend.  Although this is disappointing, our community’s safety is our priority.

Our 2020 event will still continue on the dates scheduled (14 – 16 August), however, as a fully digital event.  While it will look different to previous events, the digital platform presents a number of new opportunities.  Hackers will get the chance to help us shape and influence the way that we deliver our very first digital version of the competition, the opportunity to provide government bodies with ideas and recovery concepts in response to the Covid-19 pandemic – which will in turn help to drive future policy and decision-making opportunities and the chance to connect with an expanded community of participants, mentors, observers and judges.

Click here for further information:  https://govhack.org/govhack-2020-competition/.

Even though RDA’s 2020 March Plenary was cancelled, a keynote was delivered online on Tuesday 24 March.  Priyanka Pillai, Bioinformatician and Data Steward, Melbourne Data Analytics Platform, University of Melbourne, spoke about “The Role of Data in a Rapid and Coordinated Response to Infectious Disease Outbreaks”.

She documented the many ways the quality and availability of data for the infectious diseases community can be vital to challenges to public health such as COVID-19, demonstrating how the COVID-19 genome data is being shared, analysed and reproduced in an efficient and transparent way.

Visit the virtual Plenary 2020 here:  https://www.rd-alliance.org/rda-virtual-plenary-programme.

Save the date:  our highly anticipated biennial conference is set to take place from 10-15th April 2021 in Perth Australia.  The conference theme “Making Waves” will involve discussions around sustainability, integration, and the development of an adaptable and skilled workforce.  See https://www.vision6.com.au/ch/52260/1b8h0/2683359/rNT9ajywryPNyG3MPIBHIAFwIiWp5IERLqMonuds.html.

Stay updated by subscribing to THETA News (https://www.vision6.com.au/ch/52260/1b8h0/2846228/rNT9ajywryPNyG3MPIBHR_7VX3G8UQLLLKzYpEuM.html).

Explore previous THETA Conference Programs and Presentations at https://www.vision6.com.au/ch/52260/1b8h0/2846225/rNT9ajywryPNyG3MPIBHEEA.ZdUIS3IyLceRjs_G.html

In the past few months, data about the COVID-19 pandemic has been collected, aggregated and analysed at a rapid pace.  As data are collected, published and updated daily worldwide, the coronavirus outbreak may become the most visualised data ever.  As part of its response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic across the world, AARNet has gathered content from online resources that are freely accessible to assist researchers and any others who want to explore the data further.

For more information, see:  https://news.aarnet.edu.au/how-covid-19-data-is-being-shared-with-researchers-globally/.

AeRO provides details of the latest eResearch job opportunities in the sector.  Jobs are posted immediately to https://twitter.com/AeRO_eResearch, and the website at http://aero.edu.au/jobs/ is also updated.

This is a free service for the whole eResearch community – to advertise a position, simply email loretta@aero.edu.au.

Here’s a sample of current vacancies: Biostatistical Research Officer, Scientific Visualisation Software Research Engineer, ARDC Outreach Director, Carpentries Executive Director, Industry and Member eResearch Engagement Managers, ARDC Science Communicator, ARDC Executive Support Officer, Data Management & Analysis Research Assistant.