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On the Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Teaching Facility (ACTF), learners and instructors explore computation at the big-data end of the spectrum, in topics ranging from Bioinformatics to Data Science.
The ACTF, hosted by the CQLS, provides high-performance-computing resources dedicated to instructional needs. These include:
To inquire about utilizing the ACTF for your course, or guidance on developing curricula to most effectively use these high-performance resources, please contact Brent Kronmiller.
Using a systems biology approach, Martin, Aayushi, and Yvonne analyzed gene expression data from three tissues of grape berries (skin, pulp and seed) with Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) to identify hub genes and modules associated with ripening processes.
Utilizing GPU-enabled deep learning, this project aimed to automatically identify and measure tree trunks from images for forest management purposes.
The ACTF is dedicated to instructional use for classes, workshops, and student clubs. Research or personal projects are strictly disallowed, unless they serve as a project for a class, workshop, or club.
Instructor setup and onboarding is handled by Brent Kronmiller; email Brent if you wish to use ACTF resources for your instructional needs. Once a space has been created, students may request access to it by filling out the form at https://shell.cqls.oregonstate.edu/access/actf.php.
User details (username, first name, last name) must be available to CQLS staff. Normally this happens as a matter of course during student registration. Instructors should also be cognizant of which students have registered to access their space.
We generally turn off access to spaces after the class/workshop has ended. Although we don't delete previous class data, we may archive it to tape and request that instructors minimize space usage at the end of each class (see Resource Sharing and Usage).
OSU Colleges fund support for the ACTF to different levels; the support model depends on which college instructors are affiliated with. For classes in "full support" colleges, we provide as much support as we can at no additional charge. For others, "class-specific" support is charged at the CQLS bioinformatics hourly rate of $78/hr. Class-specific support includes anything needed by a single class or workshop, such as custom software installs or debugging. Standard ACTF features (setup, permissions structure, space, software and packages already present) are provided at no charge. Note that department heads have been made aware of these charges, which have been approved by Deans, and thus may have an index ready for ACTF support requests.
To submit a support request, please fill out the form here: http://shell.cqls.oregonstate.edu/support/, selecting "actf-support" in the dropdown.
The ACTF hosts a large number of globally-installed command-line software packages. To accomodate the needs of instructors, this software set is *not* a mirror of that available on the CQLS research cluster. Upgrades and changes to this set do occur term-to-term, though we strive to not make adjustments mid-term.
As a result, it is important that instructors check for software availability, ideally well before the term starts, each term. If you need software packages or libraries that aren't present, CQLS staff will try to install them if we receive at least 2 weeks’ notice before the start of the term or class (though see 'Support' below as some fees may be applicable). We cannot guarantee support for all software, as some software is incompatible with other currently-configured packages.
Each class space comes with a class-specific location for locally-installed software and scripts (/ACTF/Course/
While we do not restrict resource availability per-user or per-class (in terms of number of CPU cores or RAM used), please remember that the ACTF is a shared resource accessed by dozens to hundreds of users. If one class uses all available resources, there are none left for others! If you are unsure the best way to meet your instructional needs with the resources available, contact Brent for a free consultation.
We recommend the following as good general practices: