Yearly Archives: 2014

Building better classifiers for reproducible science

RENCI’s Clark Jeffries recently presented a webinar for Orion Bionetworks called “Seeking Best Practices in Classifier Construction and Testing.” Jeffries is a PhD-level bioinformatics specialist with an interest in interpreting neuroscientific information to better understand and treat psychiatric and neurological conditions. For years he has worked with researchers in the School of Medicine at UNC-Chapel […]

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Blood test may help determine who is at risk for psychosis

CHAPEL HILL, NC – A study led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers represents an important step forward in the accurate diagnosis of people who are experiencing the earliest stages of psychosis. Psychosis includes hallucinations or delusions that define the development of severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Schizophrenia emerges in late […]

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Environmental science infrastructure across continents

  Infrastructure for research in the environmental sciences shouldn’t be constrained by national boundaries. That’s the idea behind Cooperation EU-US, or CoopEUS. Launched by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the European Union through its Research Infrastructures action of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, CoopEUS brings together American and European scientists involved […]

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Codefest to focus on collaboration and results

Here’s a concept: a conference where people get real work done. I’m not attempting to be snarky or to criticize the many worthwhile conferences offered to professionals every year; I’m simply paraphrasing a statement on the Open Science Codefest website. OSCodefest will bring together scientists and programmers involved in developing scientific software who think their […]

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Better storm surge modeling using high performance computing

When hurricanes or tropical storms head toward the North Carolina coast, RENCI’s Dell PowerEdge cluster, called Hatteras, springs into action, producing finely-detailed models of possible storm tracks and resulting coastal storm surge several times a day. A recent upgrade to Hatteras means more capacity to produce  a large number of storm surge forecast ensembles and […]

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Software skills for scientists

Forty-five students from around the globe spent the last three weeks in classrooms at RENCI in Chapel Hill and at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, learning the software and technology skills needed for open, collaborative, and reproducible synthesis research.

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Putting data in its place

With many large data sets, place is an important component. From the emergency manager looking for the best evacuation route to the historian trying to understand urban development patterns over the years, people rely on geographically referenced data to meet a variety of research, business, and government needs. RENCI’s Geoanalytics platform provides intuitive, map-based visualizations […]

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In science, software matters

In the 21st century, it’s impossible to separate science from the software scientists use to collect data, run computer models and analyze model outputs. Several RENCI experts make the case for sustainable software development practices in scientific research in two articles recently published in the Journal of Open Research Software.  In the first article, written […]

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Participants from around the world to participate in bicoastal Open Science for Synthesis course

CHAPEL HILL, NC and SANTA BARBARA, CA – A unique training course that will take place simultaneously on both U.S. coasts will get underway July 21 at RENCI headquarters in Chapel Hill, NC, and at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Open Science for Synthesis […]

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REACH NC Resource Finder expands capabilities of successful statewide researcher portal

CHAPEL HILL, NC – REACH NC, a Web portal that connects businesses, developers, government officials, other researchers and citizens to thousands of experts working in higher education and research institutions throughout North Carolina, now helps users find university assets and resources across the state through a new tool called the REACH NC Resource Finder.

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