Research Services
At UIC, researchers have access to a multitude of resources and services including access to high-performance computing clusters, big data analytics clusters, collaborative research data storage, secure research environments, high-performance networking as well as consulting services to researchers to support their broad range of research aims.
Research Services Heading link
Chicago Computes
Part of the Forward Initiative at UIC, the Chicago Computes program provides fully-subsidized access to high-performance computing resources, secure computing environments for sensitive datasets, and research data storage solutions. It also provides broad access to research computing facilitators, data scientists, and visualization specialists to aid in project planning and problem-solving to help achieve the research and scholarship goals of our faculty. All UIC faculty are eligible to request resources under this program, which can be shared with their lab-members or other UIC collaborators.
High-Performance Computing
High-Performance Computing (HPC) is a use of parallel processing concepts by aggregating computing power to run heavy and large-scale applications with high throughput and efficiency. One of the best-known types of HPC systems is a supercomputer. A supercomputer consists of thousands of compute nodes called clusters which run parallel programs for time-intensive computations that work together to complete one or more tasks.
Research Data Storage
UIC offers several data storage services which are optimized for specific research data needs including options for semi-frequently accessed data or light-archival purposes, and preservation storage for archiving completed research projects with rarely accessed data.
Secure Computing Environments
Secure Computing Environment is a secure environment that mitigates the risks of working with electronic personal health information and other types of high-risk data. The SCE eases the burden on the researcher of having to configure and ensure that their computational work environment has been configured with the appropriate security controls and to minimize the risk of exposing high-risk data. The SCE makes it easier for researchers to implement necessary safeguards that is subject to regulatory or compliance requirements, including but not limited to, HIPAA, FISMA, Personal Information Protection Act of Illinois and other grant-specific regulations.
Research Consultation & Training
To meet unique technical needs of our researchers, ACER provides one-on-one consultation services to all campus researchers. From getting access to the appropriate resources to application (mobile/web) development, researchers can request these consultations to utilize available resources to the fullest. We are available to help you decide if our services meet your needs.
Survey Software
Available to students, faculty, and staff, UIC offers software for creating, publishing, and analyzing survey data to support teaching and academic research. The Qualtrics survey platform is highly customizable and offers advanced questions and the ability to collaborate with others.
Specialized Software for Research Computing
Researchers increasingly rely on a multitude of software packages to analyze their data. Researchers in need of specialized software can still request the installation of additional packages on our systems.