Access for Faculty

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Access for Faculty

The Research Computing and Cyberinfrastructure (RCC) group fully supports faculty doing research and other computationally heavy projects. In fact, RCC encourages departments and faculty to use BigDawg to save both departmental resources and grant funds. Departments and faculty are encouraged to involve students in projects where BigDawg’s power is used. This experience not only prepares students to use the most powerful academic High Performance Computing Cluster (HPCC) in the U.S., but gives them experience running computationally-rich projects and analyzing “big data.” Generally speaking, BigDawg is available to faculty by request and at no cost. Currently, there are no subject restrictions on projects—especially those supporting research. Similarly, there is no restriction on time used. Scheduling is on a first-come-first serve basis, although projects that require days or weeks of continuous time may be interrupted to allow other projects timely access to BigDawg. 

The RCC assists SIU Faculty developing computationally intense projects. Contact the RCC about services such as project consultation, collaborative grant writing, and technology support.

Request Access

Submit a Request

The RCC shows preference to projects that:

  • Benefit multiple areas of the University 
  • Run in parallel or across distributed nodes
  • Are supported by grant income
  • Attract additional grant income
  • Involve student participation
  • Are currently in process
  • Use existing resources
  • Run free or low-cost software
  • Support campus-based issues and initiatives
For additional information about the Research Computing and Cyberinfrastructure (RCC) group contact us at research-computing@siu.edu or complete the form to request access to BigDawg, SIU's High Performance Computing Cluster (HPCC). Although you may be granted access and credentials, you will still need to attend a BigDawg startup session before you can login.  Note: Students requesting BigDawg access must have a faculty sponsor and must be supervised.