Science in stock with Meso@LR
In a context where science increasingly requires working with data, the University of Montpellier, thanks to financial support from the Region and the Metropolis, is providing the scientific community with shared storage space. More efficient, more secure, and more environmentally friendly, it is part of a regional initiative in which Inserm is involved. Anne Laurent, Vice President for Open Science and Research Data, explains.
Inserm and the University of Montpellier have just signed a cooperation agreement on the establishment of a shared data management environment. Why is this important?
It is important because engineers, researchers, Professors, and doctoral students increasingly rely on data to conduct science and produce scientific results. Data is material that is stored, manipulated, exploited, and enriched, all of which requires enormous storage and processing space that must be shared. It is this space that we are setting up for our scientific communities with Meso@LR.
What is Meso@LR?
It is a kind of gigantic computer divided into two parts: intensive computing and storage. On the computing side, there are enormous processors. On the storage side, Meso can be compared to a super hard drive, or rather two super hard drives located in two different rooms for added security. It is this super hard drive that is gradually being made available to the scientific community for their work. This convention is a kind of launch signal for this collective construction, which everyone is invited to join.
And these large hard drives, what is their storage capacity?
The Meso@LR data infrastructure can store 15 petabytes, which is enormous! 15 petabytes is equivalent to 15 million billion bytes. That's the equivalent of about a million USB drives!
Will this platform be open to all Muse partners?
It's broader than that. It's one brick in a regional construction. Meso@LR is a structure managed by the University of Montpellier, but its purpose is to cover all the IT needs of research in eastern Occitanie. It is co-financed by the Region and the Metropolis, while the University has been responsible for hosting, human resources, electricity, etc. since the beginning.
So the agreement with Inserm is the first in a series?
Yes, Inserm is the first organization to sign, but we are indeed working with other partners. And this cooperation is reinforced by the leading role played by Inserm in the creation of the Montpellier Institute of Data Science (ISDM).
And what exactly does it involve?
Inserm now has 2 petabytes of storage space on Meso@LR, which it can use to build its offering and services for the scientific communities associated with Inserm. It has the keys and administers it using the skills of its IT teams.
The UM does not have access to their storage space. Isn't this data sharing?
No, Inserm defines its data sharing policy and this data is and remains the property of the institution that owns it. There are other infrastructures for data sharing and openness in the national context.
And what do they have to gain from it?
By pooling these infrastructures in highly secure environments, we enable IT teams to work with greater peace of mind, reducing fears of problems such as air conditioning issues, enabling the acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment, and sharing their experiences and skills. This allows us to develop even more ambitious projects.
And for users?
Value-added services, easier and more efficient data handling environments. It's a paradigm shift, like no longer having your tools at home but having better ones instead—there's everything to gain. What's more, scientific projects bring together mixed units, and Meso aims to provide a harmonized response to questions that all researchers ask themselves.
What kind of services will be offered?
To give an example, the cloud offering currently being developed will enable us to offer "virtual machines." Instead of having to install equipment, access software, or data processing software on each of our computers, these will be shared in this space. What's more, this improves performance and security.
Who manages Meso from a technical standpoint?
It's a team of top-level engineers, and I emphasize this because it's truly impressive. Our model is closely watched. Here too, it's a collective and shared effort. Each partner has agreed to make engineers available for 20 to 30 percent of their time, sometimes more. When it comes to these issues, no one can do it alone anymore. We really have to work collectively, otherwise we wouldn't be able to move forward.
And is there an ecological benefit to sharing?
We now know that placing these environments in dedicated, high-energy-performance buildings reduces their impact. But this gain will also depend on how we use them on an individual and collective scale. I, for one, filled up my hard drive because I had the space—it's like closets! We must learn to kill, to delete our data when it is no longer useful. In this regard, the work carried out to provide support is essential, and a project involving several departments is being conducted at UM on this issue.
By creating a new storage space when laboratories already have their own solutions, isn't there a risk of doubling storage?
The idea is that, over time, we can disconnect local solutions that consume human time and electricity, except when they are needed, and sometimes they are needed. That's also why we specify this in the agreement.
A cost of €300,000. What does that cover?
That is the total cost: electricity, human resources, and storage facilities for this section of Inserm over five years. Inserm also contributes human resources and expertise, which is invaluable in providing a high-quality service.
Are there any links between Meso@LR and the Institute for Data Science?
Yes, we are convinced that data science and scientific data will be at the heart of science. And this poses major challenges in terms of making this data easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). Managing and exploiting this data requires skills and support... This is one of the missions ofthe ISDM. Some of these issues are also still subjects of research in which the laboratories at the Montpellier site are very active and recognized.
And how can you access these support services?
The UM's interdepartmental open science group was set up for this purpose, in association with ISDM, Méso@LR, and all Muse partners. This support is available through the service catalog in the digital workspace. We are currently working together to enhance its visibility and services.
Is open data a goal?
It is sometimes saidthat"data should be as open as possible and as closed as necessary." Once again, researchers need to be given time to exploit and promote data, and Meso is designed precisely for science that is in the process of becoming "FAIR," if I may say so. It is neither a warehouse nor a data portal. However, data governance is an issue that needs to be addressed in order to collectively build environments that are designed to be shared and open. We want to make Montpellier a place where scientific data is produced, but also where it is exploited and, where possible, shared as a common good.