NFCS NetworkPlus Spring Conference
from
Thursday 26 February 2026 (10:00)
to
Friday 27 February 2026 (15:30)
Monday 23 February 2026
Tuesday 24 February 2026
Wednesday 25 February 2026
Thursday 26 February 2026
10:30
Registration and Refreshments
Registration and Refreshments
10:30 - 11:00
11:00
Welcome and Conference Aims
-
Sadaf Alam
Jonathan Hays
(
Queen Mary
)
Welcome and Conference Aims
Sadaf Alam
Jonathan Hays
(
Queen Mary
)
11:00 - 11:10
11:10
Guest Speaker: DSIT/UKRI DRI update
Guest Speaker: DSIT/UKRI DRI update
11:10 - 11:30
11:30
Net-Zero and Circular Economy Federation: Evidence-based policy roadmap for carbon-aware compute in the built environment
-
Alireza Moghayedi
(
University of the West of England
)
Net-Zero and Circular Economy Federation: Evidence-based policy roadmap for carbon-aware compute in the built environment
Alireza Moghayedi
(
University of the West of England
)
11:30 - 11:40
11:40
Towards a common data infrastructure for laboratory science
-
Laura Shemilt
(
Rosalind Franklin Institute
)
Towards a common data infrastructure for laboratory science
Laura Shemilt
(
Rosalind Franklin Institute
)
11:40 - 11:50
11:50
Surveying accessibility of federated compute for junior researchers
-
Gordon Yip
(
Kings College London
)
Surveying accessibility of federated compute for junior researchers
Gordon Yip
(
Kings College London
)
11:50 - 12:00
12:00
Identifying barriers for biology researchers using federated HPC services
-
Wahab Kawafi
(
University of Bristol
)
Identifying barriers for biology researchers using federated HPC services
Wahab Kawafi
(
University of Bristol
)
12:00 - 12:10
12:10
Federated data access across the DRI
-
Alastair Basden
(
Durham university
)
Federated data access across the DRI
Alastair Basden
(
Durham university
)
12:10 - 12:20
12:20
Evaluation of Secure Federated Kubernetes Storage for Trusted Research Environments
-
Wojciech Turek
(
University of Cambridge
)
Evaluation of Secure Federated Kubernetes Storage for Trusted Research Environments
Wojciech Turek
(
University of Cambridge
)
12:20 - 12:30
12:30
DRI Federation Cybersecurity Roadmap development
-
David Crooks
(
STFC
)
DRI Federation Cybersecurity Roadmap development
David Crooks
(
STFC
)
12:30 - 12:40
12:40
Lunch
Lunch
12:40 - 13:30
13:30
Supercomputers and superpositions: making quantum accelerators accessible within HPC frameworks
-
Omar Rathore
Supercomputers and superpositions: making quantum accelerators accessible within HPC frameworks
Omar Rathore
13:30 - 13:40
13:40
Job orchestration using Constellation on heterogenous HPC resources
-
Mark Wilkinson
Job orchestration using Constellation on heterogenous HPC resources
Mark Wilkinson
13:40 - 13:50
13:50
FAIR-Compute: A roadmap for fair and efficient allocation of federated digital research infrastructure
-
Konstantinos Zachariadis
FAIR-Compute: A roadmap for fair and efficient allocation of federated digital research infrastructure
Konstantinos Zachariadis
13:50 - 14:00
14:00
Tokenised authentication for research computing services
-
Kieran Leach
Tokenised authentication for research computing services
Kieran Leach
14:00 - 14:10
14:10
A federated bespoke AI-assisted helpdesk for DRI facilities
-
Alastair Basden
A federated bespoke AI-assisted helpdesk for DRI facilities
Alastair Basden
14:10 - 14:20
14:20
Federating everything, everywhere, all at once: Exploring the potential for inclusion of Tier3 services in the UKRI federated DRI
-
Mark Wilkinson
Federating everything, everywhere, all at once: Exploring the potential for inclusion of Tier3 services in the UKRI federated DRI
Mark Wilkinson
14:20 - 14:30
14:30
Table discussions to generate questions for the Second Phase Project PIs
Table discussions to generate questions for the Second Phase Project PIs
14:30 - 15:00
15:00
Refreshment break
Refreshment break
15:00 - 15:15
15:15
2nd Call Project Panel Discussion
2nd Call Project Panel Discussion
15:15 - 15:40
15:40
AIRRPORTAL
-
Sadaf Alam
AIRRPORTAL
Sadaf Alam
15:40 - 16:05
16:05
ELixIR Science and Data Platforms
-
Peter MacCallum
ELixIR Science and Data Platforms
Peter MacCallum
16:05 - 16:30
16:30
FRIDGE project: Federated research infrastructure by data governance extension ~ trusted research environments on UK AI research resources
-
Martin O'Reilly
FRIDGE project: Federated research infrastructure by data governance extension ~ trusted research environments on UK AI research resources
Martin O'Reilly
16:30 - 16:55
16:55
Questions for the panel
Questions for the panel
16:55 - 17:15
17:15
Museum and Exhibits Tour
Museum and Exhibits Tour
17:15 - 18:15
19:00
Dinner at Harbour House
Dinner at Harbour House
19:00 - 21:00
Friday 27 February 2026
09:00
Registration and Refreshments
Registration and Refreshments
09:00 - 09:30
09:30
Guest speaker - Phil Waywell on Secure Data Environment
Guest speaker - Phil Waywell on Secure Data Environment
09:30 - 10:00
10:00
The Roadmap Interim Report
-
Kieran Leach
Jeremy Yates
The Roadmap Interim Report
Kieran Leach
Jeremy Yates
10:00 - 10:30
10:30
1st Call Presentation 1
1st Call Presentation 1
10:30 - 10:50
10:50
1st Call Presentation 2
1st Call Presentation 2
10:50 - 11:10
11:10
Refreshments and Posters
Refreshments and Posters
11:10 - 11:40
11:40
1st Call Presentation 3
1st Call Presentation 3
11:40 - 12:00
12:00
1st Call Presentation 4
1st Call Presentation 4
12:00 - 12:20
12:20
Lunch & Project Posters
Lunch & Project Posters
12:20 - 13:20
13:20
1st Call presentation 5
1st Call presentation 5
13:20 - 13:40
13:40
1st Call Presentation 6
1st Call Presentation 6
13:40 - 14:00
14:00
International perspectives: The EGI Foundation
-
Matthew Viljoen
International perspectives: The EGI Foundation
Matthew Viljoen
14:00 - 14:40
14:40
NFCS NetworkPlus: Progress to date and the next six months
NFCS NetworkPlus: Progress to date and the next six months
14:40 - 15:00
15:00
Conference Evaluation, Summary and Close
Conference Evaluation, Summary and Close
15:00 - 15:15