SUDS Workshop
Recent interdisciplinary collaborations between physical scientists and data scientists have yielded significant advancements in both fields. In order to define, prioritize, and unify our vision for these high-value collaborations across institutions, we invite SUDS leaders across institutions to participate in this first-of-kind workshop.
- Workshop: August 19-20th, 2023
- Location: Chen, Broad, and Keck Buildings, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
- Attendees: 30 participants by invite only
If you were invited, please refer to your invitation to register. If you were not invited but are still interested in contributing to this workshop, please reach out to us at sudsconf@jpl.nasa.gov, but space is very limited.
Conversation Facilitation
- Lukas Mandrake (NASA/Caltech JPL; Earth Data Science and Technology)
- Erika Podest (NASA/Caltech JPL; Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems)
- Ryan McGranaghan (NASA/Caltech JPL; Machine Learning and Instrument Autonomy)
- Chris Bard (NASA Goddard; Center for HelioAnalytics)
- Rajesh Gupta (UC San Diego; Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute)
- Amy McGovern (University of Oklahoma; AI2ES NSF AI Institute)
- Barbara Thompson (NASA Goddard; Center for HelioAnalytics)
Please see this page for our complete steering committee.
Workshop Agenda
Monday, August 19th, 2024
Introductions
8:30AM - 10:00AM PST (90 min), Room [TBD], Caltech
Facilitated by Lukas Mandrake (JPL), Erika Podest (JPL)
Objective
The workshop organizers will provide an overview of the history of SUDS, workshop visions and goals, and create an environment of meaningful and open discussion.
Define SUDS
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM (90 min), Room [TBD], Caltech
Facilitated by TBA
Objective
This session aims to achieve a collective understanding of our purpose, define and contextualize SUDS as a technology, research area, science, and multi-disciplinary effort, and develop a universally comprehensible articulation of SUDS that makes sense to everyone.
Questions
- Why are each of us here? What do we personally value and what patterns do we see of shared values across the team?
- Where are we starting from? Whic path forward is the most important to us as a team?
- How can we change our culture to value social sciences and interdisciplinary work?
- How do we define collaboration, coordination, and co-creation?
Deliverable
- A clear, concise statement of purpose for the work going forward
Identify the SUDS Community
1:30 PM - 3:30 PM (120 min), Room [TBD], Caltech
Facilitated by Ryan McGranaghan (JPL) and Amy McGovern (NSF AI2ES; OU)
Objective
Identify the SUDS Community and its range of activities and achieved successes. Determine common elements and relationships, forming a network of participating institutions, their areas of expertise, thrust areas, and points of contact.
Questions
- What is our process for building community and carrying out shared decision making?
- Who is the SUDS community nationwide?
- How do you find the others willing to work across interdisciplinary collaborations?
- What does a healthy SUDS community look like? What can we learn from other highly collaborative communities?
- What conditions made it possible for attendees of this workshop to be engaged in this kind of collaborative effort?
- (e.g. support from their institution, a particular funded position, etc.)
- What program managers or institutional leaders can provide top-level support for the SUDS community?
- Who else should we be reaching out to?
Deliverables
- List of key institutions and groups doing SUDS research
- List of common elements that connect the various communities
- Preliminary organization of entities and relationships into a network
- Mechanisms in place for SUDS members to learn from each other and communicate going forward
- A shared understanding of how to sustain and expand a healthy SUDS community
Working Meetings and Spontaneous Sessions
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (120 min)
Objective Additional sessions and discussions can be scheduled by participants.
Tuesday, August 20th, 2024
Identify the Challenges
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM (90 min), Room [TBD], Caltech
Facilitated by Barbara Thompson (NASA GSFC) and TBA
Objective
Identify the challenges to SUDS in represented institutions and communities. Articulate failure modes that have been observed and discover the underlying causes.
Questions
- How are SUDS projects evaluated?
- What are appropriate metrics for SUDS proposals (e.g. interdisciplinary journals)?
- What are the communication barriers between physical science and data science?
- What are limitations in our current employment categories when it comes to meeting emerging complex research needs?
- What are the traditional definitions of the various roles relevant to SUDS research?
- What are the inadequacies of those existing roles for modern research?
- What new roles are required/emerging (e.g., Research Software Engineers, Science Community Managers)?
- How do we normalize considerations of the relational/social/cultural elements of collaboration in our scientific exchanges?
- What are additional efforts required to do SUDS research, as opposed to more traditional research?
- What resources are available to us (time, funding, community engagement)?
- How do we get funding agencies onboard?
Deliverables
- Measures and indicators to appropriately evaluate SUDS efforts
- Definitions of new roles useful for SUDS efforts
- Justifications for these efforts to influence policy-makes/funders/institutional leadership
- Shared community resources for continued interactions
Needed Breakthroughs
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM (90 min), Room [TBD], Caltech
Facilitated by Chris Bard (NASA GSFC) and Erika Podest (JPL)
Objective
Understand what capacities need to be built to support SUDS efforts given that they require different support than traditional science.
Questions
- How are SUDS individuals cultivated within institutions?
- How will we know when SUDS has succeeded? What does success look like?
- What do our experiences suggest are the common failure modes for SUDS projects?
- What is an ideal result? What is an acceptable result? What is a not-sufficient result?
- What are the incentives?
- What are the benefits of incorporating SUDS into research projects? Why should a PI or Co-I make the extra effort?
Deliverables
- Explicit motivations for SUDS research
- Enumeration of common failure modes and mitigation strategies
- Recommendations for institutional change that all individuals can use independently
Define an Implementation Plan
1:30 PM - 3:30 PM (120 min), Room [TBD], Caltech
Facilitated by Lukas Mandrake (JPL) and Amy McGovern (NSF AI2ES; OU)
Objective
Define the SUDS vision and how to implement it, intra- and inter-institutionally. Establish recommendations for SUDS capacity building and organizing SUDS efforts within institutions.
Questions
- What do we need to learn and apply from an institutional change perspective?
- How do we transition from single institutional efforts to multi-institutional consortiums?
- What has been successful to build SUDS capacity in institutions?
- How are SUDS activities organized in each institution?
- What are the examples of multi-institutional organizations?
Delivery
- A strategic plan draft for multi-institutional SUDS, including:
- Vision Statement
- Mission Statement
- Strategic Goals
- Objectives
- Key Results
- Opportunities for multi-institutional connections
Working Period
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (120 min), Room [TBD], Caltech
Objective
Finalize artifacts from the workshop for communication and socialization during the Conference.
Questions
- How can we move forward?
- What can we bring back to our institutions?
- What core ideas should be shared to request feedback at the conference?