Best social and organizational practices of successful science gateways and cyberinfrastructure projects

Abstract

The majority of research on science gateways has focused on technological tools. However, the teams behind the tools also play a critical role in determining whether science gateways are successful. This article reports 12 social and organizational practices of successful science gateways and cyberinfrastructure (CI) projects that emerged out of an analysis of 98 interviews with domain scientists, computational technologists, and supercomputing/research center administrators across the US and some in EU. Social practices include seeking multidisciplinary expertise, setting shared goals, using common language, having bridging liaisons, establishing productive routines, and meeting face-to-face. Organizational practices include demonstrating altruistic leadership, having clear roles, engaging user feedback, raising sustainable funding, growing organizational capacity, and maintaining personnel continuity. By asking a series of simple questions for reflection, science gateway teams can generate strategies to increase their likelihood of successful outcomes.