[Nexus] Partial Support Applications for imgCIF Workshop in Hawaii

[Herbert J. Bernstein]

   Partial Support Applications for imgCIF Workshop in Hawaii
                        22 July 2006
   in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American
        Crystallographic Association, 22-27 July 2006
                      Honolulu, Hawaii

Thanks to funding from the US. Department of Energy under grant 
ER64212-1027708-0011962 and (subject to pending final action on
funding) from the National Science Foundation, a limited number
of Partial Support Awards are available for participants in the
imgCIF workshop on 22 July 2006 in association with the Summer
2006 meeting of the American Crystallographic Association in
Hawaii (see the WK.02 workshop description below).

These awards will be in the form of reimbursements after attendance
at the workshop for actual expenses and after the submission of
receipts and hotel bills.

Applications from students, young researchers, and those with
an interest in the development of crystallographic software
or beam line infrastructure are particularly encouraged.
You don't have to be an expert, but it would not hurt
if you were interested in the possibility of becoming
an expert some day and of contributing to the management
and use of synchrotron image data.

Applicants will be accepted on the basis of their interest
in the subject matter of the workshop as explained in their
application letter or email.  Please send email or a letter to:

     Prof. Herbert J. Bernstein
     re: imgCIF Workshop Support Application
     Dowling College
     150 Idle Hour Blvd, KSC 121
     Oakdale, NY 11769-1999, USA

     yaya at dowling.edu

Applications received before 22 May 2006 from people who
have pre-registered both for the ACA meeting and for
the workshop will be given priority, but, subject to
funds remaining available, applications will be considered
through 1 July 2006.

Please include the following information:

     Name, address, email address
     Position:
       Undergraduate student  (School, major, expected date
                               of graduation)
       Graduate student       (School, field of study, area of
                               study, degree)
       Postdoc                (Institution, field of research,
                                supervisor)
       Research Position      (Institution, field of research)
       Teaching Position      (institution, Department, primary
                                subjects taught)
     Registration Status:  Registered for the meeting?
                           Registered for WK.02?
     Level of support requested:
       One night of student housing, student workshop registration
           Dollar amount of request
       One night of postdoc housing, workshop registration
           Dollar amount of request
       One night of other housing, workshop registration
           Dollar amount of request
       More extensive support
           Details and dollar amount of request
     300 to 600 words explaining your interest in the
           subject matter of this workshop

We expect to provide a limited number of awards in the range of
$200 to $500, and, with sufficient justification and subject to
funding availability, some larger awards.

If you apply for a supplement and it is awarded to you, we will
send you the necessary forms to use to submit verified copies of
the receipts for the WK.02 workshop registration and one night of
housing or other expenses relevant to attendance at the
workshop to justify reimbursement after the meeting ends.
Naturally, to get the supplement, you have to participate in
the workshop and submit an Advance Registration form
(available on the meeting web site: www.hwi.buffalo.edu/aca/)
The supplement cannot be used for the main meeting registration
and it would not be appropriate to use the supplement for
expenses being reimbursed from other sources.

These awards will be made on an equal opportunity basis.



WK.02 The Management of Synchrotron Image Data: The
imgCIF File System and Beyond

Herbert J. Bernstein, yaya at dowling.edu
Robert M. Sweet, sweet at bnl.gov


The pace of data collection and the volume of data collected at
synchrotron beam lines is increasing. The ACA Data, Standards, and
Computing Committee is spearheading an effort to improve the
efficiency of the handling  and storage of these data by encouraging
the adoption of common data formats and standard software interfaces.
The goal of this is firstly to have the data be self defining,
therefore equally accessible to  all data-reduction and
-visualization codes. The second goal, for the  purposes of secure
archiving, is to provide a robust internal documentation of the
source of the data.

The first imgCIF/CBF workshop took place at the Brookhaven National
Laboratory in 1997 and proposed a format combining support for an
efficient binary representation of images with a fully CIF-compliant
ASCII equivalent. An imgCIF/CBF dictionary, and software to support
the format, were created, are available on the web, and are described
in Volume G of the IUCr International Tables for Crystallography. Now
the community should adopt a consensus standard for management of
data at synchrotron beam lines, and to make it easier for users to
process data taken from various beam lines. Also, as our science
evolves, new concepts will be considered; possibilities include NeXuS
and XML.

The primary activity at the first workshop will be to adopt a new
standard for synchrotron image data for immediate use. As a practical
matter, that standard should be based on the existing imgCIF IUCr
standard. At the same time, the attendees, including standards
developers, crystallographic software developers, and interested
users, will be invited to seek a consensus on the next steps to
extend imgCIF/CBF. A follow-up workshop will take place during the
2006-2007 academic year to resolve any issues that arise in the
adoption of the adjusted imgCIF standard, to discuss the extensions,
and to enhance the standard as appropriate. There will be a wrap-up
workshop in summer 2007.

The workshop registration fee is $80 for students, $100 for all
others, and does not include breakfast or lunch.



-- 
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  Herbert J. Bernstein, Professor of Computer Science
    Dowling College, Kramer Science Center, KSC 121
         Idle Hour Blvd, Oakdale, NY, 11769

               Office:  +1-631-244-3035
            Lab (KSC 020): +1-631-244-3451
                  yaya at dowling.edu
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