Sixty-eight researchers, IT partners, and university leaders from across the state gathered May 15 for the hybrid NCShare Campus Cyberinfrastructure: Connect, Collaborate, Create Workshop on the North Carolina Central University campus.
“Being able to influence and collaborate in higher education is often a hard time,” said Edmundson Effort, IT analyst and adjunct professor at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. “So to have something that facilitates being able to collaborate, get the word out, and spread awareness is an amazing thing and a worthwhile endeavor.”
Researchers illustrated how they are leveraging NCShare infrastructure for a wide range of projects. The sessions also provided insights into the 2026 federal funding landscape, including a Zoom call from Kevin Thompson, program manager at the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Integrating NCShare’s resources into university research requires a high level of communication between campus IT leaders. Denise Wynn of Wynn Essentials said grant researchers can often be siloed and isolated because they lack the means to connect. Initiatives like this workshop help facilitate this crucial togetherness.
“The best part of the day was seeing the students’ products and how they use NCShare to their advantage,” said Wynn. “I think it’s been a fantastic tool and a fantastic collaboration.”
The workshop highlighted NCShare’s mission to serve small universities who otherwise would not have access to the same research opportunities as larger institutions. The day concluded with a networking happy hour which provided additional time for discussion.
As NCShare continues to extend its shared cyberinfrastructure across the state, the partnership aims to hold similar events in the future.
“NCShare is such an important project that’s bringing all of our universities to work together,” said Jon Gant, interim dean and professor at North Carolina Central University. “It is a very important priority nationally to try and figure out what are the best models for sharing these resources, not so much on a single campus, but across campuses.”
Institutions interested in scheduling a site visit with NCShare can contact info@ncshare.org.