Travel: Conference: Gateways 2024

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

Gateways 2024 is the major event for the science gateway community in the US to discuss challenges and solutions in the area, to identify new issues, to shape future directions for research, foster the exchange of ideas, standards and common requirements and push towards the wider adoption of science gateways. The topics covered by the Gateways conference series range from technical topics to use cases to related content such as usability or sustainability of science gateways. The knowledge transfer can be transformative between different research domains and technical content. The building blocks of science gateway frameworks are re-usable in diverse research areas evident in widely used frameworks such as Hubzero and Tapis. The Gateways conference series sets the stage for learning, engaging and empowering the different stakeholders in the community who are science gateway users, developers and providers as well as funders and decision makers. Providing travel grants for students and early-career researchers allows to include a diverse audience and support underrepresented minorities. Science gateways are a key part of NSF funded Cyberinfrastructure, and they are used by hundreds of thousands of researchers and students, supporting both publication-quality science and at-scale education. Science gateways involve a comprehensive set of research domains that has a broad impact on society, addressing considerable challenges such as pandemics, climate change, global sustainability of food, water, and land use driven by growing populations and rising per capita incomes. In recognition of their importance, NSF has funded the Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI) and more recently the SGX3 Science Gateways Center of Excellence to provide leadership for the science gateways community. The Gateways conference series is one of the of flagships of SGCI and SGX3 and the major event in the US to bring the science gateways community together. The conference series has existed since 2016 and has attracted each year between 100-170 participants. In 2023 it has moved from an SGX3-organized conference to a community-driven conference with the first time the general chair being selected by a newly established advisory board for the conference and who is not part of the SGCI/SGX3 team. The goal is to attract additional research domains and tap into the chair's networks that are not already in contact with SGCI/SGX3. SGX3 continues to guide the conference while inviting each year since 2023 a different general chair. Gateways 2024 features various program formats such as keynotes, presentations, tutorials, demos, panels, posters and Bring Your Own Portal. Accepted submissions are published in open-access proceedings and accepted papers are invited to a special issue in a journal. SGCI/SGX3 has an impressive record of underrepresented minority involvement within the science gateway community. The travel grant allows to involve more students and early-career researchers at Gateways 2024 and they are selected under consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion. 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.