The Center for Research Computing or CRC is the organization that manages and supports access to advanced computing resources on campus and beyond. We have a team of dedicated experts working to empower our research community. As a core part of Rice's research infrastructure, the CRC team works with faculty, students, and staff to scale up: when your project has outgrown your laptop PC, the CRC helps you keep growing. We will help navigate the complex world of high-performance computing, and wrangle data management processes to accelerate your way to new knowledge.
In today's research landscape, advanced computing is often a key element of discovery. Whether it's processing massive datasets, creating complex simulations, exploring the frontiers of artificial intelligence, running Jupyter Notebooks, allowing new researchers to make data available to the community, these projects require specialized tools and, most importantly, the people who know how to use them. That's where the CRC's team of research facilitators, data scientists, and systems specialists comes in. Their expertise spans a wide range of services, including high-performance computing, data storage, cloud resources, and advanced data analytics and visualization.
The CRC has a key role in advancing the university's research mission, which is integral to the "Momentus" strategic plan. Our research enterprise is focused on global impact, and the CRC team provides the crucial support needed to achieve our ambitions. By offering personalized training and one-on-one consultation, the CRC ensures that researchers can effectively use the powerful High-Performance Computing systems, local and national cloud services, specialized scientific software, geospatial analytics and data services, and more. These enable groundbreaking work in areas like Responsible AI, Environmental Science & Sustainable Futures, and innovations in Digital Health—all core areas of Rice’s strategic vision.
For example, the CRC has partnered with Dr. Devika Subramanian's echocardiogram project, a research collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, to provide advanced computational facilities and large scale data storage to analyze data for heart defects. The CRC's Research Data Facility (RDF) is housing 6 terabytes of echocardiogram image data; meanwhile an additional 4 terabytes of new image data is now accessible on the Research High Performance Facility (RHF) storage to allow direct access from the RAPID GPU system that supports AI and Machine Learning applications. The CRC's facilitation staff helped coordinate the data transfer from Texas Children's, and provided extensive training to Dr. Subramanian's students on the use of RAPID, allowing the project to ramp up quickly and pursue analysis for this important pediatric health research.
For researchers using geospatial information, we provide expert analytics and mapping services. For example, the CRC's Spatial Studies Lab recently played a critical role in developing the Global Glacier Casualty List. The team worked with Professors Dominc Boyer and Cymene Howe to develop data sets and a web application to enable visualization of the impact of climate change on glaciers around the world. This is a perfect example of how the CRC's expertise in data analytics, visualization, and cloud-based resources helps turn complex data into a compelling story that resonates globally.
Get Started Today! Ready to unlock the potential of advanced computing for your research? The CRC team can assist with every stage of a research project, from designing workflows and optimizing code to helping with data management plans for grant proposals. If you have a research project that could benefit from advanced computing, the CRC is ready to partner with you. They provide the right combination of tools and expertise to help your ideas take flight.
Visit the CRC website or contact a research computing facilitator to schedule a consultation and learn more about the services and resources available to you.