Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Recent advances in experimental technology have driven revolutionary and transformative discoveries in neuroscience. One crucial factor in these new technologies is that they produce a huge amount of data. Analysis of these ‘big data’ requires very powerful computing resources, namely a computer cluster. In 2010, the researchers at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) of the University of Lethbridge (UofL) acquired their first computer cluster. The cluster was utilized extensively and contributed to their research significantly. Now, 5 years after the acquisition of the existing cluster, the processors have become obsolete and the manufacturer’s warranty has expired. It is expected that this kind of high-performance computer is likely to break down any time after 5 years of extensive use. However, the extension of the warranty of the current cluster is not possible because of an unrealistically high renewal cost. If the current cluster stops working, which is expected to happen any time in the near future, it will significantly damage the CCBN productivity. We are therefore requesting a new computer cluster that replaces the existing one. The new computer cluster consists of one head node and eight computing nodes. The head node manages the entire system and distributes the submitted jobs to the computing nodes. The computing nodes are equipped with a total of ~1.3 TB memory for big data analysis and ~20,000 graphics core for highly parallel computation. We also request MATLAB software licenses because MATLAB has become a standard analysis tool for neuroscience and health sciences. The new computer cluster will be used by ~25 professors at the CCBN and the associated departments as well as ~300 trainees. It will support the data analysis of >50 research projects that utilize the cutting-edge electrophysiological, imaging, cellular, molecular and cognitive neuroscientific technologies. In addition, the new cluster will also provide an excellent opportunity for students to gain experience with high-performance computing. All these activities will significantly contribute to translational health researches that are performed at UofL and the associated institutions and hence to the health of people in Canada.