November 2007 - sem-grd - lists.ogf.org

JOB: SKUA - Semantic Knowledge Underpinning Astronomy
by Norman Gray 14 Nov '07

14 Nov '07

Greetings [somewhat crossposted, but please feel free to forward] The SKUA project is advertising a SemWebby job, lasting 18 months and starting as soon as possible next year, which will nod to semantic desktops, social software and linking data. Further details are linked to below, but note that the timescale is short -- the closing date is 5 DECEMBER -- unfortunately forced by the funding deadlines. The job will be ideal for a research-focused developer with SemWeb interests. If they have UI talents, too, that's even better. The SKUA project has received JISC funding <www.jisc.ac.uk> to prototype a network of shared annotation services, which will support annotation of resources (including bookmarking, tagging, scrapbooking and commenting), via a network -- really a DAG -- of triplestores delegating to each other. The nodes will include personal annotations, ones shared with a group or ad-hoc collaboration, and one or more global ones. As well as this infrastructure, we're aiming to produce a couple of applications building on it, ranging from a simple bookmarking service, via a suggestions service ('get me more resources like this one!', using some semantic knowledge about astronomy built in to the node or to the service), up to a broadly Facebook-like VRE. The applications are focused on astronomy in the first instance, but the infrastructure is intended to be generic. We thus have some clear use-cases, and we have close links with an existing developer and user community in AstroGrid and in the European Virtual Observatory project. The job details, including background and use-cases, are at http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/YX815/ Research_Associate_Software_Developer/ which points to http://www.le.ac.uk/personnel/jobs/r3527p.html and there's an initial web site, also giving background, at http://www.myskua.org If anyone has any questions I'd be delighted to answer them. Norman -- ------------------------------------------------------------ Norman Gray : http://nxg.me.uk eurovotech.org : University of Leicester, UK

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AIST Data Integration & Semantic Grid demonstrations at SC07
by Isao Kojima 09 Nov '07

09 Nov '07

Dear The opening of SC07(http://sc07.supercomputing.org/) in Reno is quickly approaching. At the conference, the Data Grid Team(http://www.dbgrid.org/) of the Grid Technology Research Center, AIST, Japan will offer software demonstrations related to several Data Integration and Semantic Grid activities. If you are attending SC07, please kindly visit our booth #765 to see these active projects and to discuss them in detail. You are always welcome to stop by the AIST booth. 1) S-MDS(Semantic resource discovery and monitoring system) technical preview. S-MDS is a Semantic Metadata Discovery and Monitoring system which extends the Globus Toolkit4 MDS/Index Service by using the semantic web technologies. The system semantically describes grid resources (services) so that they can be more efficiently and effectively discovered and monitored. It does not require any change to the (targeted) grid resources so that it can "peacefully" work with your grid resources. 2) OGSA-DQP extensions to support XML and OGSA-WebDB : OGSA-WebDB is an OGSA-DAI extension that provides access to Web databases via the OGSA-DAI framework. During SC07, we will demonstrate data integration from heterogeneous data sources including Web databases and XML databases exposed via OGSA-DAI. This is achieved by extensions to OGSA-DQP that we are currently developing in order to investigate distributed query processing with various data representations. 3) Federated SPARQL prototype as a database infrastructure for Semantic Grid applications. We will demonstrate our federated SPARQL processor prototype using our RDFCube index structure which facilitates a reduction in the amount of data transfer during query execution. The new prototype of OGSA-DAI-RDF, which supports federated SPARQL processing using OGSA-DAI 3.0, will also be demonstrated. 4) Data integration application of GEO Grid: GEO Grid is a grid based e-infrastructure for geosciences and we will have several demonstrations including a data integration application which integrates several satellite image databases using the OGSA-DAI 3.0 framework. We also have a presentation session titled "Data Integration and the Semantic Grid Workshop". This is scheduled to start at 15:30 on Tuesday 13th, at our booth. The guest presenters will include Dr. Neil Cheng Hong of OMII. Please come and join the discussion if you are interested. We are looking forward to seeing you soon at SC07. Sincerely Data Grid Team Grid Technology Research Center, AIST Japan

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Postdoctoral position - eInfrastructure - - University of Aberdeen, Scotland
by Edwards, Dr Peter 08 Nov '07

08 Nov '07

The PolicyGrid project within the Department of Computing Science at the University of Aberdeen invites applications for a postdoctoral research fellow post, to work on a new eInfrastructure activity funded by the United Kingdom ESRC eSocial Science Programme. PolicyGrid (www.policygrid.org) is one of the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) National Centre for eSocial Science research nodes. The vision of the Semantic Grid lies at the centre of our research agenda. The ESRC has recently committed to the construction of an e-Infrastructure on the UK National Grid Service (NGS) to provide integrated access to a variety of resources for social science research, including datasets, tools, services and easy-to-use user environments. You will focus on the development of Grid services and software tools in the context of the metadata infrastructure and simulation workpackages of the ESRC eInfrastructure effort. These include (but are not restricted to) the following: making an existing natural language interface for creation of RDF metadata robust, pluggable and usable; developing a Grid based metadata/ontology infrastructure; simulation portal development; Grid-enabling social simulation models. The work will entail extensive collaboration with other sites involved in the eInfrastructure project, and regular access grid, telephone and face-to-face conferences. There will be a requirement to produce documentation throughout the project, to include: regular progress updates, workpackage reviews, software tool documentation. You should have a PhD in Computer Science, or relevant equivalent experience. You are expected to be a highly competent programmer in Java, and have experience of Semantic Web technologies (including OWL and RDF), Web/Grid services, e-science, and related areas. Knowledge of workflow approaches in e-science would be desirable. The work will involve development of robust software, within a managed project environment; it is therefore important that you have knowledge and experience of software engineering principles and standards. The post is being offered for 21 months and is available immediately. Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Peter Edwards (PolicyGrid Node Director), p.edwards(a)abdn.ac.uk To apply online for this position visit www.abdn.ac.uk/jobs or alternatively you may request an application pack by emailing your name and contact details to jobs(a)abdn.ac.uk or by telephoning our 24 hour answer service on (01224) 272727 quoting YCS060RY Salary will be at the appropriate point on the Grade 6 scale (£27,857 - £33,262 per annum) with placement according to qualifications and experience. The closing date for the receipt of applications is 22 November 2007 Promoting Diversity and Equal Opportunities throughout the University ---------------- Dr Peter Edwards College of Physical Sciences tel +44 (0)1224 272270 University of Aberdeen mail p.edwards(a)abdn.ac.uk Aberdeen AB24 3UE

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