GridPP

GridPP as an organisation manages the UK's involvement in CERN's Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid project (LCG). GridPP is a collaboration of Particle Physicists and Computing Scientists from 19 UK universities, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and CERN. They have built a distributed computing Grid across the UK for particle physicists. Currently there is a working particle physics Grid across 17 UK institutions.

GridPP oversees a Tier 1 facility at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) and the Tier 2 organisations of ScotGrid, NorthGrid, SouthGrid and London.

GridPP is also part of larger, interdisciplinary project, called EGI - European Grid Initiative. Funded by the EU, EGI started in May 2010 with the aim of bringing together computing Grids from different countries and disciplines. It now covers areas from geology to computational chemistry, with 30,000 CPUS (central processing units) at over 200 sites in 39 countries. The GridPP grid is part of the EGI network, providing computing power to tasks beyond the high energy physics world.

Organisational Structure

STFC manages the GridPP project through the GridPP Oversight Committee.

GridPP Oversight Committee: membership and terms of reference

Chair

• Professor Jonathan Flynn (Southampton)

Membership

• Dr Mike Whalley - University of Durham
• Professor Martin Dove - University of Cambridge
• Dr Fabrizio Gagliardi - Microsoft

STFC

• Mr Tony Medland - Head of Particle Physics and Nuclear Physics
• Mr Malcolm Booy - Secretary
• Mrs Trish Mullins - eScience Programme Manager

Objective

To advise STFC on the GridPP project status in terms of technical progress, timescales, milestones, deliverables and use of funds.

Terms of Reference

• to monitor and comment on progress of the GridPP project taking particular account of milestones, budgets, management plans and work packages;
• to receive and examine reports on progress and technical developments;
• to receive and examine financial statements;
• to review the project risk register, monitor risks and advise STFC as appropriate;
• to identify issues pertinent to the success of the GridPP project and recommend appropriate high-level action;
• to oversee convergence with the e-Science Core Programme;
• to meet at lease twice each year during the lifetime of the project;
• to report, through the STFC e-Science Programme Manager, to the STFC Scientific Computing Advisory Panel on the progress of the project.

The GridPP Project Leader and other GridPP representatives will attend the Committee's meetings.