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For up to date information on eResearch, go to our NEW Manchester e-Research Centre Site, MeRC http://www.merc.ac.uk

Frequently Asked Questions

Sustainability

1. What does sustainability mean?

That researchers' needs are met in the long term. This involves consideration of the relationship between usage, technological development and service provision as well as the development of funding mechanisms from within normal research funding streams (i.e. in the absence of dedicated e-Research funding).

2. What is e-Research?

An extension of the concept of e-Science, broadening it beyond its original focus on "big science". The aim is to include all forms of research, in all disciplines by all people, whatever context they might be doing research in. Think wider involvement of the general public and the engagement of future generations of researchers.

3. What are the benefits of sustainability?

The aim of the e-Science Institute Theme on Adoption and Sustainability is to foster a community of researchers working on the subject and to inspire a debate about how e-Research technologies can come to have a wider impact beyond the early adopters. This has been achieved through the funding of the two JISC Community Engagement projects and a number of broad-ranging activities workshops and talks at conferences. In the second phase of the project, we will be aiming to produce concrete examples of how this kind of work can have a substantial impact on technological development and the the socio-technical arrangements in which e-Research takes place.

4. What are the obstacles which need to be overcome?

One problem we have had was that the project was often identified as a "usability" project and that people were confused about our object of study (i.e., they might think we were interested in building easier to use portals for access to e-Research). Another problem that we still need to tackle is how we can get this kind of work embedded in the development of e-Research technologies, how we can get the technologists to take on board some of our concepts and reshape the way they are engaging with users and usage.

5. Why is sustainability important?

Because e-Research needs to move from being a dedicated funding effort towards becoming a self-sustaining, essential, taken-for-granted element of all research to fulfill its bold promises.

6. What implications does it have for me?

As a user, this work will help you find ways to adopt e-Research technologies and to find and use the resources you need to advance your research. It will help to reduce the costs of adoptions so that the benefits clearly outweigh them.

As a systems developer working on e-Research projects, it will help you foster a fruitful relationship with users that will lead to a better mutual understanding of how the system will be used and what the users' needs are. It will also help you to build advanced research environments more easily by making the right choices in desinging them.

As a technology developer, it will help you better understand the issues of adoption and sustainability so that you can better understand what the requirements are that your products will need to meet, what its place in the unfolding world of e-Research will be. This work will also help you manage the relationship with systems developers and users, leading to wider long-term adoption of your technologies.

As a funder, it will help realise the societal return on your investment in e-Research.

7. Who else is working on this?

There is now a network of people working in this area and coordinating their activities. The EPSRC-funded Usability Task Force and e-Science User Group have been working in this area in the past years and are now complemented by the two JISC Community Engagement projects and a number of projects funded by EPSRC under its Usability call. We are also liasing with researchers throughout the world, e.g., people in Michigan who have many years of experience in researching collaboration in e-Research.

8. What events are happening which I can attend?

Have a look at the wiki at http://wiki.esi.ac.uk/Adoption_of_e-Research_Technologies for a list of upcoming and past events.

9. Where can I get further information?

There is further information on the wiki at http://wiki.esi.ac.uk/Adoption_of_e-Research_Technologies but we are also developing a website at www.e-ResearchCommunity.org which will serve as a one-stop shop for information in the longer term and will provide descriptions of all activities in this area.