VLSCI Steering Committee Minutes for meeting 1 2012

VLSCI STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING 2012.1CONFIRMED MINUTESBUSINESS1. Opening & Welcome1.1 Welcome to MembersThe meeting commenced shortly after 10am. The Chair welcomed all members presentnoting that several were expected to arrive before 10:30am and some had to leavearound 10:45am. A group picture would be taken in the boardroom when moremembers were to be present. Dr Ajay Royyuru joined the meeting via teleconference.1.2 ApologiesApologies were noted from Prof. Ian Smith, Prof. Justin Zobel and A/Prof. Ashley Buckle.1.3 AgendaIt was agreed that the sub-items of Item 3 would be renumbered so as to reflect thecorrect meeting numbers and action items.It was agreed that item 4.5 be considered immediately after item 4.2Two items of other business (Item 5) were identified as follows:5.1 VLSCI Business Plan5.2 VLSCI Governance structure (moved from 4.5).2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting (2011.4)Minor amendments were proposed as follows:2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting (2011.3) - Action – The word Committee is to be inserted.5. Other Business items to be reordered to appear in agenda item order.ACTION: The Committee approved the minutes from 2011.4 – 30 November 2011 as amended andthese will be circulated to all members as confirmed minutes.3. Action items from previous meeting3.1 The Chair noted that all items arising from Meeting 2001.4 have been actioned. Withregard to item 4.1 the ChairÊs exchange of letters with the Deputy Vice Chancellor(Research) was tabled. The Director updated the Committee, advising that, in response tothe letter as sent to the DVCR, he felt things have moved on and recent developmentssuggest a more positive outlook. The Committee agreed that no further action is requiredat this stage.2 | P age

VLSCI STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING 2012.1CONFIRMED MINUTES4. Reports4.1 DirectorÊs Report4.1.1 Progress Report - (document SC2012.1/2): Prof. Taylor spoke to the circulatedDirectorÊs report, highlighting the following points:§ With regard to the Stage 2 announcement, the Director noted that, in thedrawing up of the media release for that announcement, the University ofMelbourne, Marketing & Communications needed to be reminded of thecontractual requirements under the Grant that VLSCI is a Victorian, not just aUniversity of Melbourne initiative. Media, communications and outreachactivities need to recognise other stakeholder institutions. Prof. Taylor askedthat his concern be noted in the minutes. The Committee strongly endorsedhis view.§ In February 2012, the Director met with Dr Mike Sargent (the Independentassessor) to discuss Stage 2 progress and planning for future sustainability.§ The Director was very pleased to attend a recent afternoon series ofpresentations by eight summer interns, noting the very high quality of thesepresentations, which were attended by representatives from Monash andaround the precinct. These interns, supervised through the LSCC and IBM,are employed across the three LSCC hubs and the IBM collaboratory.§ The University continues to play a part in the technical discussions of Stage 2.4.1.2 Sustainability Planning: (Document SC2012.1/2.1) The development of an agreedstrategy for the long-term sustainability of the initiative is required to be submittedto the Victorian Government, Department of Business and Innovation (DBI) by mid2012. In initial discussions with DBI, the Director was encouraged to consult withall interested VLSCI and potential partners to develop options for new funding andgovernance arrangements that would foster stronger buy-in from the VLSCIstakeholders and open up additional opportunities for ongoing funding after 2014.§ As a first step towards a more nationally based approach to VLSCIsustainability, which will capitalise on the substantial increase in resourcesthat the Stage 2 upgrade will provide, the Director proposed committing upto 15% of the available Blue Gene/Q service units to the NationalComputational Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS), with a continued emphasison supporting life sciences research. At present, under the Business Plan,VLSCI compute resources are shared 75%/12.5%/12.5% between theVLSCI Resource Allocation Scheme (RAS), University of Melbourne (UoM), andVLSCI internal use/discretionary awards/start-up awards, respectively.§ Prof. Taylor reported that initial discussions with DBI representatives aboutthis proposal had been positive and an appropriate step into the arena as thiswould be a valuable addition to NCMAS.§ Following discussions, the Committee gave this proposal its strong support.Prof. Taylor stated that if the schedule is followed, Blue Gene/Q should beoperational by July 2012 and a mid-year RAS & NCMAS round could beoffered.§ The Committee also considered broader aspects of sustainability strategy forVLSCI. It encouraged the Director to consult with all interested VLSCIpartners and potential partners to develop options for new funding andgovernance arrangements that would foster stronger buy-in from VLSCIpartners and open up additional opportunities for ongoing funding after2014.ACTION:The Steering Committee endorsed the proposal to commit up to 15% of theavailable Blue Gene/Q Service Units to allocation through the National3 | P age

VLSCI STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING 2012.1CONFIRMED MINUTESComputer Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS), with a continued emphasis onsupporting life sciences research.ACTION:The Director to consult with partners and potential partners to developoptions for new funding and governance arrangements that might contributeto the long-term sustainability of the Initiative.4.2 Business ManagerÊs ReportMs. Diamond spoke to her report (document SC2012.1/3), noting that all accounts for2011 were finalised and presented to the internal Auditors early February 2012, with theaudit certificate expected within the next week or so. Ms. Diamond was pleased to notethat 2011 results were in line with those forecast and referred the Committee to viewattachments provided (documents SC2012.1/3.1 & SC2012.1/3.2), drawing attentionto:ØØØØUniversity Contribution Account – (document SC2012.1/3.3) the income budgetedhas been accounted for and overall the University contribution account wasunderspent by 35%.VLSCI Grant funds - (document SC2012.1/3.4) Trust Accounts. Income to the TrustAccount was higher than budget, reflecting the better interest rate climate. Interestincome was 20% over budget for the year and underspent by overall 12%.In-kind contributions - (documents SC2012.1/3.5 & SC2012.1/3.6) In-KindContributions for 2011 are currently being reviewed by the external auditors.Preliminary figures show that contributions from all organizations exceeded budgetforecasts by 25%.There have been staffing additions; a complete report was circulated to theCommittee.ACTION: The Committee noted and commended the Business ManagersÊ report.4.3 Life Sciences Computation Centre (LSCC) ReportA/Prof. Lonie spoke to his report (document SC2012.1/4) highlighting key activities asfollows:Ø LSCC staff has grown to 11 (not including theme leaders and head): the LSCC hasadvertised for a new member at LaTrobe (genomics) and new members at Parkvilleand Clayton (Genomics and Computational Bio imaging). Total expected ~20. Thecurrent staffing profile is up to 14 full time equivalent staff.Ø The Advisory Committee met in December 2011 and approved the resource plan for2012.Ø A full list of approved projects as per ÂLSCC Approved ProjectsÊ (documentSC2012.1/4.1) was circulated. The objectives of the project and staffing proposalput to the LSCC Advisory Committee were to: broaden the base of projects andactivities, particularly around capacity building and have more interaction modelswhere there is representation from each theme at a Hub, and for this to bebroadened even further.Ø Most of the plans are being carried out for 2011-12. The Genomics presence atLaTrobe has been established.Ø Roadshows for LSCC Computational Bioimaging theme were held late Nov/early Dec2011 at: Melbourne Brain Institute - Parkville, Monash University - Clayton, LaTrobeUniversity - Bundoora and Melbourne Brain Institute - Austin and RepatriationHospital.Ø A more formal process of LSCC allocation has been established for 2012-13.Ø The LSCC-Cancer Council Victoria funding agreement has been signed. The LSCC - StVincentÊs agreement is nearly signed.Ø LSCC has begun appointing staff under the NeCTAR funding.4 | P age

VLSCI STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING 2012.1CONFIRMED MINUTESØACTION:The Collaboration agreements are now in place with Bundoora, Monash and ClaytonUniversities.The Committee noted and commended the LSCC activities as reported.4.4 Peak Computing Facility Report (PCF)Mr. Bannon spoke to his report (document SC2012.1/5) highlighting the following points:Ø The Resource Allocation Scheme (RAS) for round four was substantially oversubscribed, with 67 viable applications and very few projects not up to the mark.Ø In reflecting on the RAS allocation process, Mr. Bannon commended on the RASCommitteeÊs reluctance to deny resources to small projects, which has led to 15projects running out of quota by end of February 2012. Mr. Bannon noted this issomething the RAS Committee needs to address in the future.5 | P age

VLSCI STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING 2012.1CONFIRMED MINUTESØ Mr. Bannon relayed the RAS CommitteeÊs concern that it felt they may not be theappropriate body to evaluate LSCC and Collaboratory applications that are not, bynature, self-contained 'projects', as these particular applications are more requestsfor capacity to support a number of strategically important sub-projects. Given thatthey are intended for a different way of working, the Committee finds it difficult tocompare them to the project applications that make up most of their workload.Ø The usage report (document SC2012.1/5.1) shows that quite a few projects wereactive and got more than 150% to ensure all CPUs hours were best utilized.Ø A number of shut downs are planned in preparation for the major upgrade andgetting the current facility Stage-2 compliant. Timelines are aggressive sincedeadlines have to be met.ACTION: The Committee noted and commended the PCF report.4.5 Communications and OutreachMs. Gardiner highlighted the following items from her report (document SC2012.1/6):Ø The Summer Media Campaign (document SC2012.1/6.1) achieved some high profileresults for the Initiative.Ø Stage-2 announcement (document SC2012.1/6.2) also received significantcoverage.Ø Further media strategies will involve targeting more diverse media outlets.Ø Once again, VLSCI sponsored Bioinfosummer, organised by AMSI and WEHI, whichwas held at GTAC in early December 2011. Over 100 young researchers andstudents attended. The Communications Manager addressed 40 teachers at asponsored lunch and Dr Bernie Pope and A/Prof. Andrew Lonie ran two interactiveworkshops for over 50 people.Ø VLSCI sponsored a presentation to 100, year ten students attending the UoMSummer Science Experience in January 2012. The presentation, delivered by CSIROEducationÊs Dr Caitlin Lewis and based on the theme of new technologies in science,included a summary of Mr. Jason RobertsÊ poliovirus modeling work.Ø In late 2011, the process for awarding VLSCI travel and conference grants wasestablished and launched on the website, with awards being judged on merit.Ø VLSCI sponsored the Lorne Protein conference and expects to repeat this in 2013.Ø As part of further industry engagement, VLSCI has joined the Bio Melbourne networkand is to present at the March Bio Breakfast.Ø The Director is to embark on a series of presentations for Stage-2, in order to getthe word out about the x86 upgrade and Blue Gene/Q systems.ACTION:The Committee commended the actions reported in Ms. GardinersÊ report andendorsed the various initiatives proposed for the coming year.At this stage of the meeting, the Chair invited Dr. Royyuru to comment on any of the proceedingsor reports. Dr. Royyuru congratulated Prof. Taylor and his team for the excellent pressgenerated on the announcement of Stage 2, and on all expectations being met to date.5 Other Business5.1 VLSCI Business PlanThe deadline (end of February 2012) for submission of the Business Plan to DBI will notbe able to be met because the financial figures have yet to be finalised due to delays infinalizing The Stage 2 contract figures. The Committee noted that, under its Terms ofReference, it is responsible for reviewing and advising The University on the Business Planand should thus see this document before it goes to DBI. Prof. Taylor will provide a draftof the sustainability portion of the Business Plan to Committee members when it isavailable. The Committee accepted that this might be only an outline of the more broadly6 | P age

VLSCI STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING 2012.1CONFIRMED MINUTESbased sustainability strategy proposed under Item 4.1.2. Other sections of the plan(which are in the main body) require modest revisions to previous plans, which can beprovided separately when finalised.ACTION: Prof. Taylor to circulate a draft of the sustainability portion of the Business Plan whenavailable for out-of-session consideration by the Steering Committee.5.2 VLSCI, Governance StructureDue to time constraints, the Governance structure (document SC2012.1/6.3) documentwas not discussed. The Chair suggested this be an agenda item for the next meetingand Committee members contact Prof. Taylor if there is any matter they wish tocomment on regarding the circulated Organisational chart. The Chair noted that themain aim for the Steering Committee is to have a common understanding ofrelationships between the different committees and their governance mechanisms.ACTION: This item to be added on the agenda for the next Committee Meeting. The simplifiedconcept developed by Ms. Gardiner is to be used for the present, including, if desired, forthe purposes of the Annual Report.6 Next MeetingsNew dates for Meeting numbers 2 & 4 will be circulated around with a revised start time of10:30am and conclusion time of 12:30, followed by light lunch.1) 29 May – new date to be arranged.2) 14 August.3) 13 November – as this date now coincides with Super Computing12, a new date is to bearranged.The meeting closed at 12:02pm7 | P age