Edinburgh e-Science MSc Bob Mann Institute for Astronomy & NeSC University of Edinburgh

Overview of e-Science MSc Due to start in September 2005 Due to start in September 2005 –~15 students in the first year –~80 students within five years Take broad view of e-Science Take broad view of e-Science –Multi-disciplinary course –Aiming at suiting a wide range of students Build on existing Edinburgh strengths

What kind of students? We see three types of students: We see three types of students: 1. Science students needing to develop IT skills for their future research 2. Computer scientists looking to future work in scientific computing 3. Computer scientists looking to web and Grid services in commercial IT Challenge – to satisfy all three types

What kind of course? Basic requirements Basic requirements –Underlying principles and hands-on experience of current technologies –Discipline in software engineering –Range of options, given range of students Requires strength in computer science and in a range of application areas

What can Edinburgh offer? Informatics Informatics –Existing MSc offering a wide range of courses NeSC NeSC –Expertise in training in e-science technologies EPCC EPCC –HPC and mix of CS and application students Applications Applications –Physical, earth and life sciences, plus new national Digital Curation Centre

Basic programme structure Semester 1 (Sep-Dec) Semester 1 (Sep-Dec) –Four mandatory courses –Two optional courses Semester 2 (Jan-Mar) Semester 2 (Jan-Mar) –Four mandatory courses –Two optional courses “Semester 3” (Apr-Sep) “Semester 3” (Apr-Sep) –Individual research project MSc Diploma

Mandatory courses Semester 1 Semester 1 –Distributed Computing for e-Science 1 –Scientific Software Engineering 1 –Introduction to Scientific Data –Programming for e-Science Semester 2 Semester 2 –Distributed Computing for e-Science 2 –Scientific Software Engineering 2 –Topics in e-Science –Project Preparation

Distributed Computing for e-Science 1 & 2 Topics to include: Topics to include: –Models of distributed computation and their appropriateness for different tasks –Generic problems in distributed computing Platform dependence, security, fault recovery, resource discovery and unavailability Platform dependence, security, fault recovery, resource discovery and unavailability –Hands-on experience of current packages Condor, web services, Globus Toolkit, etc Condor, web services, Globus Toolkit, etc To be taught by NeSC Training team

Scientific Software Engineering 1 & 2 Topics to include: Topics to include: –Software development cycle From initial requirements to maintenance of code From initial requirements to maintenance of code –Benefits from disciplined software engineering –Unified Modelling Language (UML) Its use in the design of object-oriented software Its use in the design of object-oriented software –Managing distributed software teams –Development of distributed software Developing existing Informatics courses

Introduction to Scientific Data Topics to include Topics to include –The role of data in the scientific process Validation, reproducibility, provenance Validation, reproducibility, provenance Passage from raw state to archived products Passage from raw state to archived products –Data management strategies Databases, files, XML, etc Databases, files, XML, etc –Metadata for data discovery & integration –Case studies from several disciplines Seek collaboration with Digital Curation Centre

Optional courses Three types of optional course Three types of optional course –Courses from existing MSc programmes e.g. Informatics, High Performance Computing e.g. Informatics, High Performance Computing –New courses from application areas e.g. astronomy - The Virtual Observatory e.g. astronomy - The Virtual Observatory Preparing students to undertake projects in several Schools within the University Preparing students to undertake projects in several Schools within the University –Advanced (4 th /5 th year) undergrad. courses Wide range of existing options

Examples of individual study programmes 1. Student wants to work in drug discovery –Core, plus Bioinformatics 1 & 2, Applied Databases and Learning from Data 1 2. Student wants to be astronomer –Core, plus Virtual Observatory, Astrophysical Cosmology, Applied Databases, High Energy Astro. 3. Student wants to work in IT industry –Core, plus Computer Networking, Computer Graphics, Parallel Architectures, Parallel Algorithms and Programs

Current status Anticipate first admissions in Sept 2005 Anticipate first admissions in Sept 2005 –course approved at School & College level –awaiting rubber-stamping at University level Seeking funding to support students Seeking funding to support students –Priority in recent EPSRC CTA bid –Marie Curie EST proposal in Dec (Dip.?) –Student Awards Agency for Scotland (Dip.) Long-term goal Long-term goal –All-Scotland (or all-UK?) collaboration