A versatile platform for Multidisciplinary MArine Computing APplications

f72b678f-5c4c-464a-9485-fd2331bcee21

Closed

NERC
NERC
NERC
NERC
NERC

£1,691,215

Nov. 4, 2013

April 3, 2014

The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS, http://www.sams.ac.uk/) is Scotland's foremost independent marine research institute. Our aim is monitor, model and predict the marine environment in order to improve its sustainable use. Thus, we deliver cutting edge multidisciplinary research & education in marine processes and climate, marine biotechnology, biodiversity, extreme environments and marine renewable energy. To meet our need for bespoke integration of large interdisciplinary marine environmental datasets, we request high performance processing, storage resources and an improved internet connection. This local repository will facilitate efficient data management and increase our modelling and analysis capability by alleviating the complexity associated with using multiple remote High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities.

Potential Impact:
Impact from our science beyond academia is an institutional strength, with uptake of SAMS research outputs & data into policy, legislation and business. Our growing subsidiary company SAMS Research Services Ltd (http://www.samsrsl.co.uk, £2M annual turnover) provides a pathway for our science to reach end-users for economic impact, both in the UK & internationally. Previous NERC grants & capital funding have provided the skills, knowledge and capability to underpin the delivery of work for business and government agencies in the mining (e.g. Papua New Guinea Mineral Resource Authority), energy (e.g. Scottish Power Renewables) and biotechnology sectors (e.g. Mars Group).
The capital will facilitate innovation in biotechnology through increased bioinformatics capacity. In particular, it will further our vision to establish an Algal Genome Centre complementing the Culture Collection of Algae & Protozoa (CCAP, a NERC National Capability). This centre will fill a known gap towards the establishment of algal aquaculture, and the development of algae as a sustainable feedstock for biofuels & high value products such as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals1.
The equipment will also complement our MAREMAP activities by enabling us to assemble maps (GIS), satellite and other remote sensing imagery on a single server. It will provide a more efficient platform from which to produce a 'data portal' for the marine renewable energy industry (proposal to be submitted to the NERC/TSB Environmental Data call in September, the design parameters of which are currently being scoped under the NERC Environmental Data Scoping Study). The proposed capital will facilitate advances in developing real time and long term models with integrated biological and geochemical parameters. Such multidisciplinary modelling capability is essential to fully understand the potential impact of marine industry developments such as renewable energy and inform effective marine governance such as the designation of Marine Protected Areas and fisheries.

1 Research needs in ecosystem services to support algal biofuels, bioenergy & commodity chemical production in the UK. 2012, Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group Publication.