The CAREERS (Cyberteam to Advance Research and Education in Eastern Regional Schools) CyberTeam Program is a 3-year initiative funded by the NSF to build a regional pool of Research Computing Facilitators (RCF) to support researchers at small and midsized institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. RCFs are experts at figuring out how to match the right compute resources to the task at hand, something that can stymie researchers who are, for example, sifting through billions of records to find a specific pattern of genes that correlates with a particular form of cancer; or examining massive quantities of sensor data to understand movements of the sea floor; or modeling complex molecular structures. When computing needs exceed the capacity of the researcher’s desktop, the RCF’s role is to help make use of local, regional, and national high-performance computing resources to meet the researcher’s needs.
The program is looking both for new projects and for undergraduate or graduate students who have some research computing experience and are interested in learning about research computing facilitation through an experiential training program where participants join the project team of a scientist working on a computationally intensive project for a 3-6 month engagement. If matched to a project, the student facilitator will be assigned an experienced mentor, and together they will provide research computing assistance to the scientist to help to move the project forward. Typically, a time commitment of ~10 hours per week is required and a stipend ranging from $4,500- $7,000 is available to students. As part of the program, student RCFs will become part of a community of facilitators that has up-to-the-minute visibility into research computing projects and programs taking place in the region. In addition to project work, student-facilitators will also have the opportunity to work on a live help desk with a mentor, honing their consultative skills while getting exposure to a broad range of research computing topics.
Currently available projects can be viewed at the Careers CyberTeam Portal, but the number of projects and their scientific diversity is expected to grow. The location of each researcher is noted, but co-location is not required in most cases. We encourage qualified women and minorities to participate, as increasing diversity in the RCF community is also a program goal. To apply to participate in any of the projects listed on the Portal, or to be considered for future projects, join the mailing list; or to volunteer as a mentor, please create a profile on the portal by clicking on “Join the Team”, OR send an email expressing your interest along with a brief bio to Dr. Gaurav Khanna, Director of Research Computing at URI.
Email us at itrcs-group@uri.edu with questions, comments, suggestions — anything!
Latest News:
- Faculty Spotlight: Chris Hemme (Pharmacy)
Bridging the Gap: How Research Computing Powers the Future of Molecular Informatics At the University of Rhode Island, the move toward data-intensive research is led by scientists who maintain a dual fluency in biological systems and the high-performance computing environments used to analyze them. For Dr. Christopher Hemme, Director of the Rhode Island INBRE Molecular Informatics Core, URI’s research computing infrastructure is the backbone of a mission to democratize data… Read more: Faculty Spotlight: Chris Hemme (Pharmacy) - Faculty Spotlight: Russell Shomberg (GSO)
Dr. Russell Shomberg is a Research Associate at GSO and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering. Dr. Shomberg gained experience applying IDR methods while working under Dr. Christopher Metzler at UMD. He will be acting as project lead. His experience with both ocean robotics and AI applications will be valuable in bridging both fields. QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Could you tell us about the focus of your research… Read more: Faculty Spotlight: Russell Shomberg (GSO) - World Quantum Day — Friday, April 10th
URI’s annual celebration of World Quantum Day will be held on Friday, April 10th! Here are the details: https://events.uri.edu/event/world-quantum-day-uri-7928 Senators Reed and Gu will be at the event! 2026 World Quantum Day - IACR participates in URI Day at the State House!
The AI Lab represented the IACR on URI Day at the State House! It was a super fun day with lots of participation. Governor McKee and Lt. Governor Matos celebrated the day with us! URI to turn Rhode Island State House Keaney Blue Thursday in celebration of University’s successes, statewide impact during annual URI Day - Rhody Today story on IACR’s state-level efforts
URI professors Gaurav Khanna and Drew Zhang contributed to a statewide AI task force report outlining how Rhode Island can advance innovation, support workforce development, and responsibly implement artificial intelligence across key sectors.