June Newsletter

Issue No. 22
June 2015
  • Case Study: Multi-Scale Modelling of Saliva Secretion
  • The Research Bazaar is coming to NZ in 2016
  • Join NeSI's team: Grow the computing and analytics capability of NZ researchers 
  • Warm reception at Massey Workshop
  • Queenstown Research Week 
  • SC15 Doctoral Showcase
  • Researcher support for attending RDA Plenary 6
  • NZ National Research Data Programme
  • Recent research outputs

Case Study: Multi-Scale Modelling of Saliva Secretion

Biological samples of salivary cell clusters were digitised and the image slices used as the basis for a full 3D graphics model reconstruction of one cluster of cells. The 3D model was then used as a basis for simulations and visualisations.

Thanks to NeSI, we were able to render higher quality images and run many more simulation variants than would have been possible on a desktop computer.” Prof. James Sneyd. Read more

The Research Bazaar is coming to NZ in 2016

Opportunity to participate in, sponsor and/or host the NZ event in 2016


The Research Bazaar (ResBaz) is a researcher digital literacy and skills training and community building event. A diverse cohort of early career researchers (or more senior researchers) are offered skills training on contemporary software development tools to support their research. 

This event leapt into life at the University of Melbourne in February, and is going global in 2016. A ResBaz Organising Committee has been established to share insights gained from Melbourne and ensure guidance is available for the community to reproduce their success.

ResBaz is calling for interest from institutions that might sponsor, participate in, and/or host a ResBaz in NZ. An approach is also being explored for several ResBaz ‘lite’ events in a handful of locations that would operate at a smaller scale so that local communities can take first steps and grow as confidence builds and demand increases. NeSI’s team is open to helping institutions prepare for ResBaz, and is offering to guide and mentor instructors so they can lead future events on their own. Read More

Join NeSI's team: Grow the computing and analytics capability of NZ researchers  

NeSI positions are currently available at the University of Otago (Dunedin) and the University of Auckland  (Auckland)


NeSI is offering unique opportunities to join a collaborative national team and work along side NeSI’s High Performance Computing (HPC) systems. We are currently recruiting for positions in Dunedin and Auckland.

Join us as we continue to innovate and support the research community in New Zealand. In return we offer the chance to work for a group committed to HPC best practice and excellence.

New Zealand eScience Infrastructure is a collaboration of five research institutions, working in partnership with the Crown, providing HPC, analytics and consultancy services to the NZ Research sector, Government Initiatives/Agencies and Industrial Research.  NeSI’s primary aim is to grow the computing and analytics capability of researchers to ensure New Zealand’s future prosperity. Read more about available positions

Warm reception at Massey Workshop

The Massey Software Carpentry Workshop was held on 23-24 June


In the midst of New Zealand being hit by record cold temperatures and floods, NeSI successfully co-hosted a Software Carpentry workshop in collaboration with the Institute of Fundamental Sciences at Massey University in Palmerston North. The workshop went extremely well thanks to a very warm reception from participants.

NeSI’s own Software Carpentry instructors, Sung Bae and John Rugis, teamed up with Richard Brown from Massey University to deliver the two-day training event for 25 researchers from Massey University, WelTec, Horizons Regional Council and Crown Research Institutes such as Scion and Landcare Research.

Software Carpentry workshops are designed to help researchers and engineers get more research done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic scientific computing concepts and tools, including program design, version control, data management and task automation. 

NeSI is an affiliate member of the Software Carpentry Foundation and has already delivered four workshops in Christchurch, Auckland, Dunedin and Palmerston North in 2015. Read More

Queenstown Research Week

New Zealand's biggest annual scientific gathering

Queenstown Research Week is New Zealand's premier annual biological sciences event encompassing 3 major annual meetings: Queenstown Molecular Biology Meeting, Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research and NZ Medical Sciences Congress, plus six additional satellite meetings  on a diverse range of themes.   

This year, participants registering for one meeting can freely attend any of the other meetings being held at the same time, maximising potential for inter-disciplinary interactions. Click here to register

SC15 Doctoral Showcase

Opportunity for Ph.D. students

This year’s SC Conference will be held in Austin, TX. SC15 brings together the international supercomputing community for an exceptional program of technical papers, informative tutorials, timely research posters and Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions.

The SC15 Technical Program includes a Doctoral Showcase that provides an important opportunity for students near the end of their Ph.D. to present a summary of their dissertation research in the form of short talks and posters.  

Researcher support for attending RDA Plenary

Support for Early Career Researchers & Scientists 

The next Research Data Alliance (RDA) Plenary Meeting will be held from 23-25 September 2015 in Paris, France. The Plenary will feature a special focus on research data for climate change.

Data experts, scientists, researchers and other professionals are encouraged to attend, in particular students and Early Career professionals in industries related to the fields of research data sharing and exchange.  

Early Career Researchers & Scientists can apply by 11 July for travel and subsistence support. Read more

NZ National Research Data Programme

New Zealand's data capability focus

National Research Data Strategy Workshop was jointly hosted on 26 June by NeSIREANNZ,NZGL, and Te Punaha Matatini in order to form the basis of a cohesive approach to research data in New Zealand. 

Sir Professor Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, addressed the workshop  by outlining his views on the challenges ahead as researchers come into possession of significant databases along with the powerful means for integrated data analysis.

Over the coming months the eResearch 2020 team aims to formulate a business case outlining key strategies for building research data capabilities in New Zealand. Read More

Recent research outputs

Below is a sample of research outputs that NeSI has been made aware of. To notify NeSI of upcoming publications, please email pubs@nesi.org.nz.
  • Anisotropic Continuum Damage Model for Prediction of Failure in Flax/Polypropylene Fabric Composites. S. M. Panamoottil, R. Das and K. Jayaraman. Polymer Composites10.1002/pc.23453
  • Joint Inference of Microsatellite Mutation Models, Population History and Genealogies Using Transdimensional Markov Chain Monte Carlo. C-H. Wu and A. J. Drummond. Genetics10.1534/genetics.110.125260
If you would like to be kept up to date with research outputs as NeSI includes them, please join our Mendeley group.

Have a question?

If you would like to ask anything, please email us support@nesi.org.nz
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