ICDS directly supports a number of research centers at Penn State that are dedicated to researching problems of societal and scientific importance through the application of computational and data sciences. Other centers affiliated with ICDS use the institute’s resources or perform work relevant to the ICDS mission.
ICDS Centers
Center for Resilience in Complex Systems
The Penn State Center for Resilience in Complex Systems, co-sponsored by Penn State’s five interdisciplinary research institutes, focuses on studying resilience analysis. In a world of rapid change, we must ensure that complex systems, including medical systems, infrastructure, and security systems, can rebound and even thrive after perturbation, stress or collapse. Ensuring resilience often requires complex systems analyses that draw on data from disparate sources to transform knowledge into understanding and beneficial solutions. Penn State has the potential to lead in the intellectual domain of resilience analysis by promoting a new paradigm.
Geoinformatics and Earth Observation Laboratory
The Geoinformatics and Earth Observation Laboratory was established to advance GIScience and cyberscience by developing new computational methodologies and cyberinfrastructure solutions for the analysis of geospatial “big data.” Our focus is on geoscience and Earth science problems with high impact to society, such as environmental hazards and renewable energy.
Director: Guido Cervone
Center for Big Data Analytics and Discovery Informatics
The Center for Big Data Analytics and Discovery Informatics aims to address emerging challenges in realizing the full potential of big data. Such challenges include organizing, storing, retrieving, and analyzing big data, gleaning useful information from large data sets through automated approaches, representing scientific knowledge in a form that can be processed by computers and also accessible to humans, and creating tools that can dramatically accelerate scientific progress in a wide range of fields.
Director: Vasant Honavar
Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
The Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CCBB) supports research in developing and applying computational biology and bioinformatic approaches across a wide range of biological questions. In order to enhance Penn State’s recognized strength in this area, the Center continues to foster collaborations and contribute to education and training. The Center’s diverse membership of both experimental and computational scientists reflects the importance of experimental validations of the bioinformatic predictions.
Director: Paul Medvedev
Other Affiliated Centers
Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (IGC)
The Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (IGC) is dedicated to fostering the highest quality education and research in cosmology, general relativity, gravitational wave astronomy, particle astrophysics, quantum gravity and string theory, focusing on the highest energy phenomena and fundamental issues in the science of the cosmos. IGC has synergistic interactions with Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College, the College of Information Science and Technology, the World University Network, and four departments in the Eberly College of Science.
Director: Abhay Ashketar
Center for Geomechanics, Geofluids, and Geohazards (G3)
The Center for Geomechanics, Geofluids, and Geohazards (G3) crosses departmental boundaries and integrates current activities in rock and fluid physics. Earthquake nucleation and recurrence, the triggering and timing of volcanic eruptions, the dynamics of ice sheets, the fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater, and the generation of submarine landslides are all influenced by the interaction of rocks and fluids.
Led by: Derek Elsworth, Shimin Liu, Chris Marone, and Demian Saffer
Materials Computation Center (MCC)
The primary aim of the Materials Computation Center (MCC) is to support Penn State faculty working in computer-based simulations of materials- across the various length and time scales. This support includes building connections with experimental and industrial partners, specifically connecting to the Nanofabrication and Materials Characterization Laboratories within the Materials Research Institute (MRI) at Penn State.
Director: Adri van Duin
Microbiome Center
The Microbiome Center supports transformative, interdisciplinary research in microbiomes by fostering long-term working relationships while simultaneously providing infrastructure and resources needed for increasing diversity and breadth of interdisciplinary microbiome research at Penn State.
Director: Carolee Bull (interim)