Cyberinfrastructure Facilitation Skills Training via the Virtual Residency Program

Abstract

Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Facilitation is the process of helping researchers to use research computing systems and services to advance their computing/data-intensive research goals. The growing need for CI Facilitation isn’t being met by traditional academic degree/certificate programs, so informal education is required. Since 2015, the Virtual Residency Program (VRP) has been teaching key CI Facilitation skills to pre-service and in-service CI Facilitators, at introductory, intermediate and advanced levels, via a combination of (a) workshops, (b) conference calls, and (c) apprenticeships. The demand for CI Facilitation has expanded exponentially, with the known CI Facilitator population growing from dozens in the late 2000s to over a thousand presently, so the need for this kind of training has become increasingly acute. The 2019 VRP workshop was presented at a combined introductory/intermediate level, with content suitable for both new and experienced CI Facilitators, to attract both of these populations, in many cases presenting the same topic first at the introductory level and then intermediate, to maximize impact. Since 2015, the VRP has served 924 participants from 370 institutions in every US state and 3 US territories plus 11 other countries.

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