02 INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS/PROJECT DIRECTORS(PI/PD) and
    co­PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS/co­PROJECT DIRECTORS
    Submit only ONE copy of this form
    for each PI/PD and co­PI/PD
    identified on the proposal. The form(s) should be attached to the original
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    not be disclosed to external peer reviewers.
    DO NOT INCLUDE THIS FORM WITH ANY OF THE OTHER COPIES OF YOUR PROPOSAL AS
    THIS MAY COMPROMISE THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE INFORMATION.
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    example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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    information is voluntary and will not affect the organization’s eligibility for an award. However, information not submitted wi
    ll seriously undermine
    the statistical validity, and therefore the usefulness, of information recieved from others. Any individual not wishing to submit some or all the
    information should check the box provided for this purpose. (The exceptions are the PI/PD name and the information about prior Federal support, the
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    demographic category; to ensure that those in under­represented groups have the same knowledge of and access to programs and other
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    File and Associated Records", 63 Federal Register 267 (January 5, 1998), and NSF­51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records",
    63 Federal Register 268 (January 5, 1998).
    Homer A Neal
    02 INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS/PROJECT DIRECTORS(PI/PD) and
    co­PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS/co­PROJECT DIRECTORS
    Submit only ONE copy of this form
    for each PI/PD and co­PI/PD
    identified on the proposal. The form(s) should be attached to the original
    proposal as specified in GPG Section II.B. Submission of this information is voluntary and is not a precondition of award. This information will
    not be disclosed to external peer reviewers.
    DO NOT INCLUDE THIS FORM WITH ANY OF THE OTHER COPIES OF YOUR PROPOSAL AS
    THIS MAY COMPROMISE THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE INFORMATION.
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    Ethnicity Definition:
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    A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless
    of race.
    Race Definitions:
    American Indian or Alaska Native.
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    America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
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    example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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    WHY THIS INFORMATION IS BEING REQUESTED:
    The Federal Government has a continuing commitment to monitor the operation of its review and award processes to identify and address
    any inequities based on gender, race, ethnicity, or disability of its proposed PIs/PDs. To gather information needed for this important
    task, the proposer should submit a single copy of this form for each identified PI/PD with each proposal. Submission of the requested
    information is voluntary and will not affect the organization’s eligibility for an award. However, information not submitted wi
    ll seriously undermine
    the statistical validity, and therefore the usefulness, of information recieved from others. Any individual not wishing to submit some or all the
    information should check the box provided for this purpose. (The exceptions are the PI/PD name and the information about prior Federal support, the
    last question above.)
    Collection of this information is authorized by the NSF Act of 1950, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1861, et seq. Demographic data allows NSF to
    gauge whether our programs and other opportunities in science and technology are fairly reaching and benefiting everyone regardless of
    demographic category; to ensure that those in under­represented groups have the same knowledge of and access to programs and other
    research and educational oppurtunities; and to assess involvement of international investigators in work supported by NSF. The information
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    candidates to serve as peer reviewers or advisory committee members. See Systems of Records, NSF­50, "Principal Investigator/Proposal
    File and Associated Records", 63 Federal Register 267 (January 5, 1998), and NSF­51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records",
    63 Federal Register 268 (January 5, 1998).
    Julian J Bunn
    02 INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS/PROJECT DIRECTORS(PI/PD) and
    co­PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS/co­PROJECT DIRECTORS
    Submit only ONE copy of this form
    for each PI/PD and co­PI/PD
    identified on the proposal. The form(s) should be attached to the original
    proposal as specified in GPG Section II.B. Submission of this information is voluntary and is not a precondition of award. This information will
    not be disclosed to external peer reviewers.
    DO NOT INCLUDE THIS FORM WITH ANY OF THE OTHER COPIES OF YOUR PROPOSAL AS
    THIS MAY COMPROMISE THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE INFORMATION.
    PI/PD Name:
    Gender:
    Male Female
    Ethnicity:
    (Choose one response) Hispanic or Latino Not Hispanic or Latino
    Race:
    (Select one or more)
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    Asian
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    Check here if you do not wish to provide any or all of the above information (excluding PI/PD name):
    REQUIRED: Check here if you are currently serving (or have previously served) as a PI, co­PI or PD on any federally funded
    project
    Ethnicity Definition:
    Hispanic or Latino.
    A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless
    of race.
    Race Definitions:
    American Indian or Alaska Native.
    A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central
    America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
    Asian.
    A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for
    example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
    Black or African American.
    A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
    Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
    A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa,
    or other Pacific Islands.
    White.
    A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.
    WHY THIS INFORMATION IS BEING REQUESTED:
    The Federal Government has a continuing commitment to monitor the operation of its review and award processes to identify and address
    any inequities based on gender, race, ethnicity, or disability of its proposed PIs/PDs. To gather information needed for this important
    task, the proposer should submit a single copy of this form for each identified PI/PD with each proposal. Submission of the requested
    information is voluntary and will not affect the organization’s eligibility for an award. However, information not submitted wi
    ll seriously undermine
    the statistical validity, and therefore the usefulness, of information recieved from others. Any individual not wishing to submit some or all the
    information should check the box provided for this purpose. (The exceptions are the PI/PD name and the information about prior Federal support, the
    last question above.)
    Collection of this information is authorized by the NSF Act of 1950, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1861, et seq. Demographic data allows NSF to
    gauge whether our programs and other opportunities in science and technology are fairly reaching and benefiting everyone regardless of
    demographic category; to ensure that those in under­represented groups have the same knowledge of and access to programs and other
    research and educational oppurtunities; and to assess involvement of international investigators in work supported by NSF. The information
    may be disclosed to government contractors, experts, volunteers and researchers to complete assigned work; and to other government
    agencies in order to coordinate and assess programs. The information may be added to the Reviewer file and used to select potential
    candidates to serve as peer reviewers or advisory committee members. See Systems of Records, NSF­50, "Principal Investigator/Proposal
    File and Associated Records", 63 Federal Register 267 (January 5, 1998), and NSF­51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records",
    63 Federal Register 268 (January 5, 1998).
    Thomas Finholt
    02 INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS/PROJECT DIRECTORS(PI/PD) and
    co­PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS/co­PROJECT DIRECTORS
    Submit only ONE copy of this form
    for each PI/PD and co­PI/PD
    identified on the proposal. The form(s) should be attached to the original
    proposal as specified in GPG Section II.B. Submission of this information is voluntary and is not a precondition of award. This information will
    not be disclosed to external peer reviewers.
    DO NOT INCLUDE THIS FORM WITH ANY OF THE OTHER COPIES OF YOUR PROPOSAL AS
    THIS MAY COMPROMISE THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE INFORMATION.
    PI/PD Name:
    Gender:
    Male Female
    Ethnicity:
    (Choose one response) Hispanic or Latino Not Hispanic or Latino
    Race:
    (Select one or more)
    American Indian or Alaska Native
    Asian
    Black or African American
    Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
    White
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    (Select one or more)
    Hearing Impairment
    Visual Impairment
    Mobility/Orthopedic Impairment
    Other
    None
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    (Choose one) U.S. Citizen Permanent Resident Other non­U.S. Citizen
    Check here if you do not wish to provide any or all of the above information (excluding PI/PD name):
    REQUIRED: Check here if you are currently serving (or have previously served) as a PI, co­PI or PD on any federally funded
    project
    Ethnicity Definition:
    Hispanic or Latino.
    A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless
    of race.
    Race Definitions:
    American Indian or Alaska Native.
    A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central
    America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
    Asian.
    A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for
    example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
    Black or African American.
    A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
    Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
    A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa,
    or other Pacific Islands.
    White.
    A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.
    WHY THIS INFORMATION IS BEING REQUESTED:
    The Federal Government has a continuing commitment to monitor the operation of its review and award processes to identify and address
    any inequities based on gender, race, ethnicity, or disability of its proposed PIs/PDs. To gather information needed for this important
    task, the proposer should submit a single copy of this form for each identified PI/PD with each proposal. Submission of the requested
    information is voluntary and will not affect the organization’s eligibility for an award. However, information not submitted wi
    ll seriously undermine
    the statistical validity, and therefore the usefulness, of information recieved from others. Any individual not wishing to submit some or all the
    information should check the box provided for this purpose. (The exceptions are the PI/PD name and the information about prior Federal support, the
    last question above.)
    Collection of this information is authorized by the NSF Act of 1950, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1861, et seq. Demographic data allows NSF to
    gauge whether our programs and other opportunities in science and technology are fairly reaching and benefiting everyone regardless of
    demographic category; to ensure that those in under­represented groups have the same knowledge of and access to programs and other
    research and educational oppurtunities; and to assess involvement of international investigators in work supported by NSF. The information
    may be disclosed to government contractors, experts, volunteers and researchers to complete assigned work; and to other government
    agencies in order to coordinate and assess programs. The information may be added to the Reviewer file and used to select potential
    candidates to serve as peer reviewers or advisory committee members. See Systems of Records, NSF­50, "Principal Investigator/Proposal
    File and Associated Records", 63 Federal Register 267 (January 5, 1998), and NSF­51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records",
    63 Federal Register 268 (January 5, 1998).
    Shuichi Kunori
    List of Suggested Reviewers or Reviewers Not To Include (optional)
    SUGGESTED REVIEWERS:
    Not Listed
    REVIEWERS NOT TO INCLUDE:
    Not Listed
    COVER SHEET FOR PROPOSAL TO THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
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    Page 1 of 2
    0427312
    PHY ­ ITR FOR NATIONAL PRIORITIES
    NSF 04­012 02/24/04
    386006309
    University of Michigan Ann Arbor
    0023259000
    University of Michigan Ann Arbor
    3003 S State St. RM 1062
    Ann Arbor, MI. 481091274
    ITR: A Global Grid­Enabled Collaboratory for Scientific Research:
    GECSR
    3,999,480 48 07/01/04
    Department of Physics
    734­763­9694
    Department of Physics,
    2477 Randall Lab, East University Ave.
    Ann Arbor, MI 481091120
    United States
    Homer A Neal PhD 1966 734­764­4375 haneal@umich.edu
    Julian J Bunn PhD 1983 626­395­6681 julian@cacr.caltech.edu
    Thomas Finholt PhD 1993 734­764­6131 finholt@umich.edu
    Shuichi Kunori PhD 1981 301­405­6269 kunori@fnal.gov
    073133571
    Electronic Signature
    CERTIFICATION PAGE
    Certification for Authorized Organizational Representative or Individual Applicant:
    By signing and submitting this proposal, the individual applicant or the authorized official of the applicant institution is: (1) certifying that
    statements made herein are true and complete to the best of his/her knowledge; and (2) agreeing to accept the obligation to comply with NSF
    award terms and conditions if an award is made as a result of this application. Further, the applicant is hereby providing certifications
    regarding debarment and suspension, drug­free workplace, and lobbying activities (see below), as set forth in Grant
    Proposal Guide (GPG), NSF 04­2. Willful provision of false information in this application and its supporting documents or in reports required
    under an ensuing award is a criminal offense (U. S. Code, Title 18, Section 1001).
     
    In addition, if the applicant institution employs more than fifty persons, the authorized official of the applicant institution is certifying that the institution has
    implemented a written and enforced conflict of interest policy that is consistent with the provisions of Grant Policy Manual Section 510; that to the best
    of his/her knowledge, all financial disclosures required by that conflict of interest policy have been made; and that all identified conflicts of interest will have
    been satisfactorily managed, reduced or eliminated prior to the institution’s expenditure of any funds under the award, in acco
    rdance with the
    institution’s conflict of interest policy. Conflicts which cannot be satisfactorily managed, reduced or eliminated must be disc
    losed to NSF.
    Drug Free Work Place Certification
    By electronically signing the NSF Proposal Cover Sheet, the Authorized Organizational Representative or Individual Applicant is providing the Drug Free Work Place Certification
    contained in Appendix C of the Grant Proposal Guide.
    Debarment and Suspension Certification
    (If answer "yes", please provide explanation.)
    Is the organization or its principals presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded
    from covered transactions by any Federal department or agency? Yes No
     
     
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    contained in Appendix D of the Grant Proposal Guide.
    Certification Regarding Lobbying
    This certification is required for an award of a Federal contract, grant, or cooperative agreement exceeding $100,000 and for an award of a Federal loan or
    a commitment providing for the United States to insure or guarantee a loan exceeding $150,000.
    Certification for Contracts, Grants, Loans and Cooperative Agreements
    The undersigned certifies, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, that:
    (1) No federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid, by or on behalf of the undersigned, to any person for influencing or attempting to influence
    an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection
    with the awarding of any federal contract, the making of any Federal grant, the making of any Federal loan, the entering into of any cooperative agreement,
    and the extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of any Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement.
    (2) If any funds other than Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or
    employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with this
    Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement, the undersigned shall complete and submit Standard Form­LLL, ‘‘Disclos
    ure of Lobbying
    Activities,’’ in accordance with its instructions.
    (3) The undersigned shall require that the language of this certification be included in the award documents for all subawards at all tiers including
    subcontracts, subgrants, and contracts under grants, loans, and cooperative agreements and that all subrecipients shall certify and disclose accordingly.
    This certification is a material representation of fact upon which reliance was placed when this transaction was made or entered into. Submission of this
    certification is a prerequisite for making or entering into this transaction imposed by section 1352, Title 31, U.S. Code. Any person who fails to file the
    required certification shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not more than $100,000 for each such failure.
    AUTHORIZED ORGANIZATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE SIGNATURE DATE
    NAME
    TELEPHONE NUMBER ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESS FAX NUMBER
    *SUBMISSION OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS IS VOLUNTARY AND WILL NOT AFFECT THE ORGANIZATION’S ELIGIBILITY FOR AN AWARD. HOWEVER, T
    HEY ARE AN
    INTEGRAL PART OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEM AND ASSIST IN PROCESSING THE PROPOSAL. SSN SOLICITED UNDER NSF ACT OF 1950, AS AMENDED.
    Page 2 of 2
    Marvin Parnes
    Feb 25 2004 10:30AM
    Electronic Signature
    734­936­3933 fastlane­admin@umich.edu 734­764­8510
    Project Summary
    ITR: A Global Grid­Enabled Collaboratory for Scientific Research
     
    The High Energy and Nuclear Physics (HENP) communities face unprecedented challenges as they seek to
    effectively execute the next generation of experiments involving hundreds to thousands of collaborators around the
    world. The very success of these experiments will critically depend on sustaining vigorous geographically
    distributed collaborations that are coherent, efficient and effective while accessing, processing, and sharing
    Petabyte­scale data. This has never been done before and there are serious concerns that the science emerging from
    these projects will be limited by the absence of robust tools to make such large­scale, highly interactive
    collaborations possible. We seek to address these challenges by developing and deploying a collaborative
    environment, called the
    Grid­Enabled Collaboratory for Scientific Research
    (GECSR), that both integrates existing
    technologies and develops innovative new technologies that will be readily adopted by the target communities.
    GECSR will combine the best open­source applications from within the HENP communities (and from allied Grid
    and National Middleware efforts) within a common portal interface. To ensure that the capabilities of the GECSR
    meet the needs of target users, we will follow an iterative development model that in each cycle will include
    systematic assessment of user requirements, tool development and deployment consistent with requirements, and
    evaluation to determine whether deployed tools will satisfy requirements. A distinguishing feature of this approach
    is that the combination of expertise in physics, computer science, and social science will greatly enhance the chances
    of both technological and sociological success. Institutions in our proposal have established track records of
    international leadership in each of these areas.
    The recent report of the NSF Blue­Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure identifies five key service
    categories that will provide a foundation for the comprehensive knowledge environments that will enable
    individuals, teams and organizations to revolutionize scientific practice. The HENP community, working with
    computer science and communities in astrophysics and other disciplines, has addressed four of these services, based
    largely on common underlying middleware, in the widespread deployment of grid­enabled high performance
    computing resources, and through several data grid projects. The proposed Grid­Enabled Collaboratory for
    Scientific Research will provide the collaboration services, the fifth of these service elements of cyberinfrastructure,
    that is required for the HENP community to fully realize a functionally complete environment, with the potential to
    significantly transform the conduct of research.
     
    Broader Impact
    This proposal is distinguished by a tight integration between
    1)
    the science of collaboratories
    , 2)
    a globally scalable
    working environment built on the foundation of a powerful fully functional set of working collaborative tools,
    3)
    an
    agent­based monitoring and decision­support system that will allow collaborating scientists to perform data
    intensive analysis tasks efficiently, and
    4)
    an education and outreach agenda that is inclusive of minorities, and
    reaches high­school physics programs through vehicles such as QuarkNet and CHEPREO and success models such
    as ThinkQuest. Assessment of the methodology of scientific collaborations and the iterative evaluation of the tools
    by a team independent of the developers will be a critical element ensuring the success of the proposed work and
    insuring its value beyond HENP.
     
    The broader implications of this proposal, and its mission to grant full partnership to groups in all world regions, are
    driven by
    (1)
    the right of groups and governments that have contributed to the global Collaborations to share and
    collaborate in the data analysis, and thus in the process of search and discovery that is at the root of all basic
    research.
    (2)
    the need to justify global projects, and global Collaborations as a valid and vital means of conducting
    future leading­edge scientific research and other endeavors, without exploitation of the poorer nations and world
    regions and
    (3)
    the need to develop effective means of collaboration and cooperation among sub­groups with vastly
    different academic and cultural backgrounds, and especially to allow effective collaboration by university­based
    students in the native cultural milieu of their home countries. Six percent of this proposal s budget is allocated to
    Education and Outreach that specifically targets minority populations: this should produce a sea
    change in how high
    energy physics experimentation, and the necessary global collaboration, impacts the quality of science education and
    addresses the needs of underserved populations across the US, and around the world.
    TABLE OF CONTENTS
    For font size and page formatting specifications, see GPG section II.C.
     
    Total No. of Page No.*
    Pages (Optional)*
    Cover Sheet for Proposal to the National Science Foundation
    Project Summary
    (not to exceed 1 page)
    Table of Contents
    Project Description (Including Results from Prior
    NSF Support) (not to exceed 15 pages)
    (Exceed only if allowed by a
    specific program announcement/solicitation or if approved in
    advance by the appropriate NSF Assistant Director or designee)
    References Cited
    Biographical Sketches (Not to exceed 2 pages each)
    Budget
    (Plus up to 3 pages of budget justification)
    Current and Pending Support
    Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources
    Special Information/Supplementary Documentation
    Appendix (List below. )
    (Include only if allowed by a specific program announcement/
    solicitation or if approved in advance by the appropriate NSF
    Assistant Director or designee)
    Appendix Items:
    *Proposers may select any numbering mechanism for the proposal. The entire proposal however, must be paginated.
    Complete both columns only if the proposal is numbered consecutively.
     
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    ITR: A Global Grid­Enabled Collaboratory for Scientific Research
    The High Energy and Nuclear Physics (HENP) communities face unprecedented challenges as they seek to
    effectively execute the next generation of experiments involving hundreds to thousands of collaborators around the
    world. The very success of these experiments will critically depend on sustaining vigorous geographically
    distributed collaborations that are coherent, efficient and effective while accessing, processing, and sharing
    Petabyte­scale data. This has never been done before and there are serious concerns that the science emerging from
    these projects will be limited by the absence of robust tools to make such large­scale, highly interactive
    collaborations possible. We seek to address these challenges by developing and deploying a collaborative
    environment that both integrates existing technologies and develops innovative new technologies that will be readily
    adopted by the target communities. That is the purpose of the proposal presented herein.
    The HENP communities have a strong history of innovative use of information technology to support collaborative
    activity, as indicated by HENP leadership in development of the world s most advanced Grid­based systems
    [1,2,3,4], in deployment of scalable videoconferencing tools [5], and in the use of Grid­enabled analysis
    environments [6]. However, despite this important progress, there is no unifying collaborative framework that links
    these key capabilities together. Recent work has shown that heterogeneous collaborative tools i.e., where
    physicists must shift from one application to another as they perform different tasks can introduce new sources of
    complexity that impede rather than aid collaborations [7]. We will seek to avoid this problem by adopting a holistic
    design approach that involves representatives from the end­user community in all stages of the research,
    development and deployment processes.
    We propose to produce an integrated collaborative environment, called the
    Grid­Enabled Collaboratory for
    Scientific Research
    (GECSR), that will combine the best open­source applications from within the HENP
    communities (and from allied Grid and National Middleware efforts) within a common portal interface. To ensure
    that the capabilities of the GECSR meet the needs of target users, we will follow an iterative development model
    that in each cycle will include systematic assessment of user requirements, tool development and deployment
    consistent with requirements, and evaluation to determine whether deployed tools will satisfy requirements. A
    distinguishing feature of this approach is that the combination of expertise in physics, computer science, and social
    science will greatly enhance the chances of both technological and sociological success. Institutions in our proposal
    have established track records of international leadership in each of these areas.
    The significance of the GECSR effort is underlined by the recent report of the NSF Blue­Ribbon Advisory Panel on
    Cyberinfrastructure[8], which identified five key service categories that form the foundation for comprehensive
    knowledge environments to enable individuals, teams and organizations to revolutionize scientific practice. These
    include: high performance computation services; data, information knowledge management services; observation,
    measurement, fabrication services; interfaces, visualization services; and collaboration services. The HENP
    communities have generated coordinated activity within the first four of these categories primarily through: the use
    of common underlying middleware; widespread deployment of grid­enabled high performance computing resources;
    data grid projects for management of data, information and knowledge [9]; instruments that can be monitored
    remotely through eLogs and other interfaces; and development of the Grid­enabled Analysis Environment [6]. In
    contrast, progress within the collaboration services category has not been at a comparable level. As a result, there is
    some risk that the important work done in the other areas may be diminished if physicists lack highly usable and
    standard collaborative interfaces that tie together the disparate computational, data, and instrument resources. The
    proposed GECSR fills this gap by creating a coherent community­sanctioned activity within the collaboration
    services category that is equal in caliber and level of coordination to ongoing efforts within the other four categories.
    HENP s Collaboration Challenges
    The major HENP experiments of the next twenty years will break new ground in our understanding of the
    fundamental interactions, structures and symmetries that govern the nature of matter and space­time in our universe.
    Among the principal goals at the high energy frontier are to find the mechanism responsible for mass in the
    universe, to discover the Higgs particles associated with mass generation, to understand the unification of the
    fundamental forces of nature, to search for new symmetries and extra dimensions, and to explore the fundamental
    mechanism that led to the predominance of matter over antimatter in the observable cosmos.
    The largest collaborations today, such as CMS[10] and ATLAS[11] who are building experiments for CERN s[12]
    Large Hadron Collider (LHC; [13] ) program, each encompass of the order of 2000 physicists from 150 institutions
     
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    in more than 30 countries. Each of these collaborations include 300­400 physicists in the US, from more than 30
    universities as well as the major US HEP laboratories. The LHC experiments are expected to begin collecting data in
    2007, with a high level of collaborative activity required up to that date and well beyond. The current generation of
    experiments now in operation and taking data at SLAC[14] and Fermilab (D0[15] and CDF[16]) are similar in scale
    to the US contingent of the next­generation experiments. Each of these experiments faces unprecedented challenges
    in terms of:
    •
    The global extent and multi­level organization of the physics collaborations, leading to the need to
    collaborate and share data­intensive work in fundamentally new ways.
    •
    The data­intensiveness of the work, where the data volume to be processed, distributed, accessed and
    analyzed by a major experiment are in the Petabyte (10
    15
    Bytes) range now, and are expected to rise to the
    Exabyte (10
    18
    Bytes) range within the next ten years.
    •
    The complexity of the data, particularly at the LHC where the physics discovery potential is related to the
    very high intensity (luminosity) as well as the high energy of the collisions, such that ~20 interactions
    accompany the particle interaction of interest
    The new paradigm of Grids and grid­computing[17] is thought to hold the key to meeting the collaboration,
    computing and data­management needs of HENP and there are significant efforts underway to explore and develop
    the grid toolkits and middleware that will be required for success in HENP. The complex problems of connecting
    and enabling resources like networks, computers and storage certainly justify the attention and support from the
    funding agencies and the HENP communities. However, these purely technical issues are equaled in complexity by
    the socio­technical problems of effectively and efficiently connecting and enabling physicists to do their science
    using emerging cyberinfrastructure and these topics have not received as much attention from HENP physicists or
    the agencies. There is considerable risk in allowing this discrepancy to persist and the primary goal of this proposal
    is to redress this situation.
    A particular problem for the organization and conduct of cyberinfrastructure­based physics is that past practice and
    experience provides only limited guidance for what should be done in the future. Up to the present, HENP physicists
    have performed experiments and analyses in tightly coupled cooperating groups. Day­to­day research was typically
    conducted in smaller teams (1­5 physicists) that work closely together and then share their results within a larger
    overarching collection of teams for verification and further analysis. The scale of these enterprises, combined with
    frequent geographic concentration of collaborators, meant that communication could be organized primarily through
    informal and formal face­to­face contact (e.g., hallway encounters or lab meetings). By contrast, the worldwide
    scope and large size of newer HENP collaborations, such as CMS and ATLAS, make dependence on face­to­face
    communication unrealistic. The geographic dispersion of these next generation collaborations highlights the need for
    novel tools and work practices. For example, while experiments may run twenty­four hours a day, physicists are
    most likely to be active during working hours in their local time zones. Working together under these circumstances
    will require collaboration tools that support both synchronous and asynchronous activity.
    To summarize, we argue that a focused effort to develop a robust collaborative environment for large­scale HEPN
    experiments is critical, because physicists will receive their primary exposure to the other components of
    cyberinfrastructure via collaboration services and if these services are deficient, then the potential benefit of the
    other capabilities will be reduced. The GECSR, then, is an effort to create a collaboration services element that is
    equal to the outstanding work already accomplished and underway in other physics cyberinfrastructure projects.
    Approach and Architecture
    To ensure the highest probability of meeting user needs, we will employ an iterative
     
    development strategy that
    combines assessment, development, deployment, and evaluation within each release cycle [18,19,20,21,22]. Our
    goal is the creation of a common portal interface that provides a standard look and feel for uniform access to a
    diverse array of the best open source applications from within the HENP communities, and from related Grid and
    NMI efforts. The basis for the GECSR portal interface will be the Open Grid Computing Environment (OGCE)
    [23]. The advantage of the OGCE is that it provides a common context to plug­in specialized capabilities such as
    features specific to the HENP communities alongside a standard set of collaboration tools and services (e.g.,
    announcement capabilities, persistent chat, shared calendars, role­based access control, and threaded discussions).
    At the University of Michigan, a variant of the OGCE is currently in use as an enterprise­wide course management
     
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    system with approximately 30,000 users per term. In the OGCE, the common context to add specialized features is
    achieved through the use of open­source components and standards, such as JSR 168, a java standard that defines
    elements called portlets for delivery of applications through portals. An advantage of the portlet approach, as
    implemented in OGCE, is that portlets are decomposed into their presentation components supported by persistent
    services accessed via a standardized API. In addition, the OGCE optionally extends login authentication to use the
    Grid [24] as an authentication provider, such that a proxy credential can also be stored by OGCE to allow portlets to
    perform Grid operations.
    Users will organize activity in the GECSR portal environment through
    sessions
    , or combinations of people, data,
    and communication that are tracked by the system. For example, in the case of a research group with ongoing
    meetings a new session will begin by calling up archived data, metadata, and tools that the group has used in the
    past. A key feature of any session is that resources available to users will be consistent with preferences and
    access/authorization levels of everyone involved in the session. For instance, a session will not employ a given
    capability, such as audio recording, unless a group decision rule is satisfied (e.g., majority approval or unanimous
    approval). Sessions will consist of both synchronous and asynchronous activity. In the synchronous setting,
    participants in a session will be able to access a wide array of communication capabilities, including video and audio
    conferencing, supplemented by the ability to view and control common applications, such as text editors, data
    analysis tools, or graphics viewers. In the asynchronous setting, users will be able to access previous sessions and to
    receive notifications when aspects of a session have changed, such as the addition of new or revised data. To aid
    retrieval of session content, the GECSR will use automatic archiving, where all versions of artifacts used in a
    session, such as documents, will be captured and cataloged.
    GECSR sessions will draw on the features of leading collaboration tools many developed by or with the help of
    personnel involved with this proposal. A key motivation for selection of these tools, rather than comparable
    commercial products, is that the applications proposed for the GECSR are open source and in the public domain.
    This distinction is critical because the costs of commercial collaboration tools ­­ such as WebEx, Microsoft Office
    Live Meeting (formerly Placeware), or Xerox Docushare represent a significant barrier to widespread adoption
    and use. Further, customization of these off­the­shelf products is unlikely due to proprietary control of the
    underlying software. Therefore, for synchronous audio and video communication, the GECSR will employ both the