OSSCAR

OSSCAR (Open Software Services for Classrooms and Research) is developing an open-science online hub in the form of an open and collaborative platform to host software, simulation and data-analysis tools, geared towards education and research. Tools, provided as apps, enable educational functionalities (directly or wrapping around existing open simulation codes), implementing Software-as-a-Service tools with interactive Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) easy to develop and deploy (for researchers and classroom instructors), and to use and interact with (for students).

We aim at creating original educational content, exploiting a strong partnership that builds on two pillars: the infrastructural resources developed for the MARVEL’s Materials Cloud, and the collaborative and dissemination network coordinated by CECAM.

This project also benefits from complementary efforts in the MARVEL and CECAM environment: the 5-year H2020 E-CAM Centre of Excellence, led by CECAM, has been developing modular libraries, while the NCCR MARVEL has developed the infrastructure needed for agile deployment of simulation and visualization services and data analytics. These efforts have been geared towards research – here, OSSCAR wants to target also education: Starting from input from EPFL teachers, from physics, chemistry, materials science, and mechanical and chemical engineering, we will provide some of the core tools needed for “computational thinking”. These pilots will create experience and infrastructure for broader development and deployment. In the long term we envision OSSCAR to become a hub for other disciplines, useful for most computational classes and research areas at EPFL and well beyond – not only for the content, but for the easy-to-deploy models.

Input and contributions from the CECAM community are welcome and encouraged.