The Global Impact of Science Gateways, Virtual Research Environments and Virtual Laboratories

Authors: Michelle Barker, Nancy Wilkins-Diehr, Sandra Gesing, Daniel S. Katz, Silvia Delgado Olabarriaga, Shayan Shahand, Scott Henwood, Tristan Glatard, Keith Jeffery, Brian Corrie, Andrew Treloar, Helen Glaves, Lesley Wyborn, Neil Chue Hong, Alessandro Costa.

Abstract

Science gateways, virtual laboratories and virtual research environments are all terms used to refer to community-developed digital environments that are designed to meet a set of needs for a research community. Specifically, they refer to integrated access to research community resources including software, data, collaboration tools, workflows, instrumentation and high-performance computing, usually via Web and mobile applications. Science gateways, virtual laboratories and virtual research environments are enabling significant contributions to many research domains, facilitating more efficient, open, reproducible research in bold new ways. This paper explores the global effect of these programs in increasing research impact, demonstrates their value in the broader digital landscape and discusses future opportunities.

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