Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science Center

The Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science (CNS) Center was founded in October 2005 by Professor Katy Börner at Indiana University. The Center’s mission is to advance datasets and tools for the study of biomedical, social and behavioral science, physics, and other networks. A specific focus is research on the structure and evolution of science and technology (S&T) and the communication of results via science maps (see Mapping Science exhibit at http://scimaps.org).

As of May 2010, the Center has eight full time staff members (five programmers, one database expert, one graphic designer, and one assistant), several PhD students and graduate students working on an hourly basis.

The Center co-organizes international workshops and conferences, promotes network science and visualization at NSF workshops and NIH meetings/roadmap initiatives, organizes and finances a weekly talk series on Networks and Complex Systems and annual Open Houses, hosts about 20 national and international visitors/faculty each year, and teaches regular workshops on the infrastructures and tools it develops and supports.

The Center hosts and serves powerful computing resources (five multi-core servers, 100 TB of disk space, and backup devices), and it designs and serves infrastructures such as the Scholarly Database, the Network Workbench, the Epidemics Cyberinfrastructure, and the Sci2 (Science of Science) Tool.

The Center has its administrative home in the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Indiana University, Bloomington. Physically, it occupies seven offices and part of a server room in the Wells Library. Since its creation in 2005, the Center has received more than 20 external funding awards for the national Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Agriculture, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the James S. McDonnell Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. SLIS extensively supports the IT and financial administration needs of the Center.

Functions of the CNSC

• Co-organizing international workshops and conferences
• Promoting network science and visualizations at National Science Foundation workshops and National Institutes of Health meetings/roadmap initiatives
• Organizes and finances a weekly talk series on Networks and Complex Systems at Indiana University
• Hosts an average of 20 national and international visitors/faculty each year
• Teaches regular workshops on the infrastructures and tools that the Center develops and supports
• Designs and serves infrastructures (such as the Scholarly Database, Network Workbench, EpiC (Epidemics Cyberinfrastructure), and the Sci2 (Science of Science) Tool)

External links

• http://cns.slis.indiana.edu/ (Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science Center)
• http://scimaps.org/ (Places & Spaces: Mapping Science)
• http://vw.indiana.edu/talks-fall10 (Talk Series on Networks and Complex Systems)
• http://sci.slis.indiana.edu (Science of Science Cyerbinfrastructure Portal)
• http://sdb.slis.indiana.edu (Scholarly Database)
• http://nwb.slis.indiana.edu (Network Workbench)
• http://epic.slis.indiana.edu (EpiC Tool)
• http://sci2.slis.indiana.edu (Sci2 Tool)