CC* Planning: Leading Advanced University Computing for Higher Education (LAUNCH) MSU

Mississippi State University Leading Advanced University Computing for Higher Education, or MSU LAUNCH, is engaging with researchers to make plans to provide comprehensive research computing and data storage support to a broader group of MSU researchers. The team is gathering information about the current cyberinfrastructure on campus and writing a new cyberinfrastructure plan, which will serve as basis for future endeavors. The results of the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model are the starting point for these efforts. The initial assessment showed areas in which MSU excels and identified areas in which support to researchers could be improved. This project will enable interaction of campus IT leadership and researchers across several domain areas to assess the appropriate level of cyberinfrastructure and support services needed at MSU. The outcomes from this planning project will ensure the continued development of a competitive research environment to address the most challenging research questions. This project will also democratize science by including research domain areas that do not have regular and recurring access to computational resources. As Mississippi’s largest research institution, Mississippi State University serves a diverse undergraduate and graduate student population. Of the 21,961 students enrolled on the main campus in the Fall of 2022, 27% were classified as minority students (including Black or African American, American Indian, Asian, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and multiracial students). MSU LAUNCH will improve access to a broad community of users to computational resources and services, an objective that aligns with the long-term strategic goals of Mississippi State University, in an EPSCoR jurisdiction. This award by the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure is jointly supported by the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.