About Research IT

The Research IT team's goal is to bridge any gaps that may exist between researchers and the technology that enables research. Research IT partners with units, researchers, and IT Professionals to provide the best possible collaborations to assist research. We can consult to learn about your research, discover your technology needs, and put you in contact with the appropriate services, resources, and professionals to accelerate your research. 

More specifically, we are focused on connecting people with technology-based resources like trainings and access to high-throughput, cluster, and cloud computing, as well as data storage solutions; software development assistance, expert consulting in any variety of topics including statistics analysis, programming and software optimization, visualization and much more.

Research IT started with the Year of CI

Over the course of a year, the Year of Cyberinfrastructure committee used surveys and focus groups to understand what tools and services researchers need now and how to best provide them. These findings were compiled into the Final Report and published to the campus on December 1, 2015. Following the Year of CI, the findings resulted in the report,  “A Bold Investment in Research for the University of Illinois”.  This was followed with the supplemental, “Prioritizing a Bold Investment in Research for the University of Illinois”.

What is CI?

Cyberinfrastructure (CI) is the collection of core technological resources and human expertise and communities which underpin and support the research and educational missions of the University of Illinois.

CI provides the University of Illinois with:

  • Current and future support of our research disciplines’ technology needs
  • Competitiveness in the research community and among granting agencies
  • A platform from which new research areas can be developed
  • Collaborative environments for partnering across institutional and international boundaries
  • A recruitment tool to help attract the best faculty, researchers, and students to Illinois

About the Research IT Portal

The Research IT Portal version 1 was a partnership between Technology Services, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), the School of Information Sciences (iSchool), the University Library, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR). That continued partnership has evolved into a slightly more formalized Advisory Group, https://publish.illinois.edu/researchitportaladvisorygroup/. Our partners and advisers are the key to the success of the Portal, allowing us to better understand the needs of campus and direct our planning.