番茄社区

Skip to main content

A consultation is the best starting point for anyone looking for research computing options. Whether you're just looking for data storage or you need custom research solutions, we can help. Consultation is free for UVic researchers across all disciplines.  

How it works:

  • You contact us and explain the computing needs for your research project.
  • We meet with you and ask any follow-up questions necessary to determine the best available options.
  • We explore these and return to you with our recommendations.

Consultation topics

Our team provides consultation on anything related to research computing. Some of our more common consultation topics are outlined below, but feel free to get in touch if you have different questions.

Our experts can provide advice on all aspects of your grant related to research computing. This includes:

  • Assisting with research grant proposals together with research services.
  • Providing information about in-kind contributions for technology.
  • Reviewing your research design to ensure compatibility with software, methods, and computing and storage infrastructure.
  • Providing cost estimates for advanced research computing equipment and services.
  • Suggesting compute and storage resources to handle data from sensors, microscopes, and other lab equipment.

Please plan a consultation with us early in your proposal process for full review and feedback.

We can provide a variety of specialized supports for active research projects, including:
  • Housing your research computing equipment or data in our data centre.
  • Configuring and troubleshooting research software in remote or cluster computing environments.
  • Training researchers in using advanced research computing environments.
  • Software development services and/or supervision of grant-funded software developers.
  • Assisting in the cloud deployment of your research platform or application, including cybersecurity review, infrastructure requirements, and application requirements.

We provide support for the storage or management of active research data used in advanced research computing. This includes structuring your computational workflow to support F.A.I.R. (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles. Learn more about available research data storage options.

We also offer consultations alongside in research data management and data management plans.

If you have questions about the methods, software or equipment you should use for your research project, we can help.

UVic researchers already have free access to many different software licenses and advanced research computing resources. We can provide information and support if you want to use research funds to purchase more resources.

If you’re buying advanced research computing equipment, we can consult on design and pricing, and can discuss using our data center as a secure and maintained home for your equipment.

We offer support for research software development. Our team provides guidance for existing projects and can help with implementation for new projects. Some of our recent projects include:

  • Creating web portals for researchers to share their research online.
  • Managing a website redesign.
  • Providing development support for a research team without a current developer.

The level of support we can provide varies between projects. Large or long-term projects may involve some cost recovery. 

Some researchers may not require confidentiality. However, all researchers need integrity and availability of their research information. If your research contains sensitive information or is protected by a data sharing agreement, we can help you choose the best storage option for your project. We support researchers with specific needs due to the sensitivity or privacy implications of their data or research area.

We're available to consult on a wide variety of data security related topics:

  • Data sharing agreements and data access restrictions.
  • Security standards and privacy policies.
  • Data storage requirements for ethics approval.

We have up-to-date information about security and privacy standards at UVic and across BC and Canada.

Preparing for your consultation

We want you to get the most out of your consultation. Here are a few questions we like to ask:

  • Is this a new project?
  • What is your budget?
  • How much data do you have or expect to generate?
  • Do you have or plan to buy specialized computing equipment?

If you don't have answers yet, don't worry! An initial consultation may be just the first step in the support for your project.

Please contact us as early as possible in your project's lifecycle, as some things can take time to implement and support.

Book a consultation

Our consultation team is available for virtual and in-person meetings on campus. Drop-in information sessions are also available.