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Published on Sunday, 02 July 2023 07:44

By: Claire Stirm

Seven teams gathered in sunny La Jolla, CA from May 22-26, 2023 for the first SGX3 Focus Week! As 12 attendees and 5 instructors gathered in the room on the first day, it was a refreshing experience as teams put markers to paper outlining the impact their projects are having on researchers studying linguistics, mother athletes, workforce development, proteins, environmental biology, neuroscience, and in need of cloud resources. 

Focus Week instructors Juliana Casavan and Nancy Maron led workshop participants through a the five-day workshop with a guest appearance from Ali Baigelenov, a PhD Candidate with research in Human-Computer Interaction and Information Visualisation and a part of the SGX3 Usability Consulting team. 

Throughout the week, the participants engaged in hands-on activities, exploring different exercises to help define project value, science gateway audiences, market landscape, and guide for conducting audience interviews - all leading teams towards developing their project sustainability hypothesis. The cohort was a very energetic and engaging group. Attendees positively supported each other as they worked through the activities that extended beyond the workshop. 

By the final day of the SGX3 Focus Week, the teams had not only gained valuable insights but set actionable plans to further work on their sustainability planning. The collaborative atmosphere had sparked new ideas and partnerships, setting the stage for future collaborations and advancements. Attendees concluded the last day with presentations pitching their sustainability hypothesis and discussing metrics. The workshop closed with attendees sharing the impact and outcomes of the workshop, which included great insights:

• "It starts with sustainability, not afterwards."
• "Being able to work on how to communicate my project."
• "Learning about approaching users and how to do so to formulate in a better way."

As the workshop concluded, the participants left La Jolla armed with the knowledge and connections they had gained, rearing to continue making significant contributions to their respective communities.

Miss out on Focus Week? Fear not! 
Join us for the virtual project sustainability short-course, Jumpstart, from September 12-14, 2023! This is a great opportunity if you are a recently funded research project planning to use a science gateway or research software, an early career professional interested in learning about project sustainability principles, or a team planning to submit a proposal. Register by September 8, 2023!