GridPP4 Tranche-II ScotGrid-Durham Staff Grant

This proposal, submitted in response to the 2009 invitation from STFC, aims to
provide and operate a computing Grid for the exploitation of LHC data in the UK.
We propose to operate a Grid as the main mechanism for delivering very large-scale
computational resources to the UK particle physics community. This foundation will
underpin the success and increase the discovery potential of UK physicists. We
will operate a production-quality Grid, delivering robustness, scale and
functionality. The proposal is fully integrated with international projects and we
must exploit the opportunity to capitalise on the UK leadership already
established in several areas.
The main objectives (equal priority) are:
1) To operate and maintain the UK Tier-1 center at RAL meeting national and
international obligations to the wLCG and the LHC experiments.
2) To operate and maintain the UK Tier-2 infrastructure, meeting national and
international obligations to the wLCG and the LHC experiments.
3) To deploy, operate and support the Grid middleware in the UK across the Tier-1
and Tier-2 facilities.
4) To support the experiments in the use of the UK Grid.
5) To manage the GridPP project in an open, efficient, and cost-effective manner.
6) To collaborate and communicate across the UK and international communities.

GridPP's knowledge exchange activities fall into two main areas: firstly, those
aimed at other academic disciplines, and secondly, business and industry. GridPP
has a strong outreach programme to a public and academic audience, and intends to
continue this in GridPP4. The Dissemination Officer will organise GridPP's
presence at conferences and events. This includes booking and manning booths,
arranging backdrops, material, posters, screens, and rotas where appropriate.
Examples of events that we have attended include The British Science Festival, The
Royal Society Summer Exhibition, the British Science Association Science
Communication Conference and Meet The Scientist at the Museum of Science and
Industry in Manchester.
In the last 8 years GridPP has developed an extensive website that is central to
project communications and won 'Best e-Science project website' at the 2004 All
Hands Meeting. The Dissemination Officer will be responsible for producing news
items for the website and drafting GridPP press releases. We have had broad
coverage from these in the past, including many national newspapers and online
publications.
Additional activities will include producing GridPP material, such as leaflets,
posters, t-shirts, bags and magic cubes. We have found these very valuable in
raising GridPP's and LHC's profile at minimal cost. The Dissemination Officer will
also promote outreach training for members of the collaboration, will identify
GridPP staff who have specific expertise in this area and will arrange occasional
GridPP events, such as the QMUL opening and the Tier-1 open day.
On KE, our initial work has proved that GridPP's technology can be of use across a
range of disciplines and sectors, and we plan to continue this work during
GridPP4. The objectives of this program will be to improve awareness of the
technologies developed by GridPP and its partners in academia and industry, and
hence facilitate the increase in use of these technologies within new areas.