Proposals Due July 7, 2000

1. Summary

The Indiana University High Performance Network Applications Program (HPNAP) is an initiative of the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology. It will provide funding to assist IU faculty, graduate students and staff on all campuses of the University to develop innovative applications in research and teaching that require high performance local, regional or national research networks.

One-time grants of up to $20,000 will be made for this purpose. Proposals are due July 7 and will be peer reviewed. Awards will be announced by August 1, 2000. Previous HPNAP awardees may submit proposals for new projects or for funding to significantly modify the direction or scope of their original inquiry.

2. Aim of the Program

High performance digital networks and distributed software systems are transforming the way we work, communicate, learn, retrieve and store information, and conduct research. The purpose of the Program is to promote development, implementation, and testing of innovative applications in research and teaching that use advanced local, national and international networks available to the IU community, as well as such emerging high performance domestic network connection technologies as cable modems, xDSL, satellite and wireless. Descriptions of previously funded projects may be seen at http://www.indiana.edu/~uits/hpnap/projects/index.html.

The Program aims to significantly accelerate the development of next generation network-based applications and development tools at IU through a joint effort of faculty, graduate students and staff and University Information Technology Services (UITS). The Program provides funds, access to advanced networks and support resources through peer reviewed proposals. Applications developed through the Program can be expected to provide considerable competitive advantage to the University.

Indiana University, through a number of recent major developments at state, national, and international levels, has been able to provide the IU community with unprecedented access to high bandwidth networks. IU has achieved a position of prominence in advanced networking through a number of efforts including participation in the Internet2 Abilene, development of the TransPAC international research network, and prior participation in the National Science Foundation vBNS project. Major enhancements to these networks can be expected to continue over the next few years.

The development of advanced applications that capitalize on the capabilities of high

performance networks is in its infancy. Routine access to such networks has only recently become available. At the moment the development of such applications takes considerable effort, though this will change as development techniques mature.

Some examples of areas in the sciences, humanities, teaching, learning and distributed education, and new collaboration technologies in which HPNAP funding could support the development of applications include:

· Sciences - storage, analysis and retrieval of large data sets of research interest; use of instruments at remote locations including seismographs, telescopes and microscopes; distributed high performance computing and visualization applications.

· Humanities - artistic expression using network-based facilities such as the CAVE VR environment and similar environments; virtual museums and organized collections with rich media content such as in music.

· Teaching, learning and distributed education - innovative student experiences involving network-based interaction with field experts or specialized facilities not available locally; delivery of digital media in support of teaching or research.

· New collaboration and communication technologies - persistent shared virtual workspaces for group work in research, instruction, consultation, or professional development; tele-immersion; middleware for the development and broad deployment of distributed applications.

Please note that this is NOT an exclusive list and the Program seeks to identify innovative applications not attempted before.

3. Proposal Requirements

Funding under the Program will be available August 1, 2000, and will be for one year. Funding is available principally for personnel, though proposals for hardware, software and other direct costs of developing proposed network applications will be considered. The involvement of staff from UITS Advanced Information Technology Laboratory and the Telecommunications Division is also encouraged where appropriate.

Proposed applications should require such high performance network capabilities as high bandwidth, bounded latency, IP multicast, and new protocols or services including distributed storage, computing and visualization. The application and the reason it needs such capabilities should be clearly described in the proposal. Proposals to develop applications that require only commercial Internet capabilities will generally not be considered. Projects based on campuses with T1 connections should consider how high volume or bandwidth services will be delivered, possibly by locating servers in Indianapolis or Bloomington and maintaining these remotely.

Emphasis will be placed on the potential of the proposed applications to advance the research or educational mission of the University, and on the use of IU's internal, national or international advanced network connections (Internet2 Abilene, TransPAC, etc). Proposals can be expected to involve multi-site collaborations within or outside the University but this is not a required condition.

In addition to the application description, proposals should also address the following:

· The importance of the application and its potential impact generally or in a specific area.

· Benefit to the University through improvements in the way research and teaching are carried out.

· Potential to strengthen connections between IU and such external organizations as institutions of higher education, national laboratories, state and federal government agencies and industry.

· Plans for deployment of the proposed application across local and national networks, including an assessment of specific assistance that may be needed from support groups in UITS and at the national networks (Internet2 Abilene, TransPAC, etc.).

Awardees are expected to participate in several HPNAP events. These will include an initial briefing to be held shortly after awards are made on the high performance networking resources available to IU and the UITS staff assistance available to those who will be developing applications, and a final workshop at the end of the funding year to discuss individual results and outcomes of the Program. A report from the principal investigator for each successful proposal is expected at the end of the funding year. Dates for events and deadlines will be issued with award announcements.

4. Proposal Submission Information

All Indiana University faculty members, graduate students, and staff on all campuses are welcome to submit proposals. The proposal should identify a Principal Investigator, though multiple-investigator projects involving researchers at different locations are encouraged. Proposals should be no more than 10 pages long, excluding references and appendices and should contain the following sections: executive summary (1 page), application description and expected outcomes, budget summary, and justification. Please send one unbound copy of your proposal to:

High Performance Network Applications Program

Office of the Vice President for Information Technology

c/o Rick McMullen

Franklin Hall 116

Indiana University

Bloomington IN 47405

Or electronically to: mcmullen@indiana.edu

The timeline for application, review, and award announcement is as follows:

Proposals Due: July 7, 2000

Awards Announced: August 1, 2000

For further information please consult the IU High Performance Network Application Program Web pages at http://www.indiana.edu/~uits/hpnap or contact Rick McMullen by e-mail at mcmullen@indiana.edu.