Science cluster
Summary
The Einstein Telescope Analysis Portal (ETAP) is a cutting-edge platform developed to address the growing demand for open access to gravitational wave (GW) data, following the historic discovery of GWs in 2015 from the collision of black holes. This groundbreaking event marked the beginning of a new era in astronomy, driving the establishment of Open Science frameworks, such as the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center (GWOSC). As Europe prepares for the next-generation Einstein Telescope (ET), the ETAP project will provide researchers and citizen scientists with an innovative platform and advanced tools to access and analyse the complex data expected from future GW detections, fostering collaborative multi-messenger research and promoting sustainability in scientific computing.
Challenge
Open Science project, Open Science Service, Citizen science, Main RI concerned, Cross-domain/Cross-RI
The ET will increase the detection rate of GWs by a factor of a thousand compared to current detectors, producing data of unprecedented complexity. This surge in data complexity, combined with the need for cross-disciplinary collaboration in multi-messenger astronomy, presents a significant computational and data integration challenge. Furthermore, ensuring that these complex datasets fully adhere to FAIR principles will require the development of new platforms capable of managing resources from multiple Research Infrastructures (RIs) while addressing sustainability concerns in high-performance computing.
Solution
The project will build on the ESCAPE Virtual Research Environment (VRE) to produce the Einstein Telescope Analysis Platform, ETAP, a common computing platform for both ET and citizen scientists alike. The portal will integrate data from multiple RIs and utilise advanced tools, supporting both simple jupyter notebooks and complex, reproducible analysis workflows in REANA. A key focus is on extending the ESCAPE VRE to work with multiple Data Lakes, enabling seamless access to data and metadata from multiple RIs to support multi-messenger and GW science. In this context, a high-level tool written in python will be developed to provide a more coherent interaction with multiple Data Lakes, together with a common interface to ensure FAIR-compliant metadata integration. Finally, the ETAP project will also design a monitoring service to record computing metrics of the ETAP, allowing analysis of GW science pipelines computing costs.
Scientific Impact
ETAP will empower researchers and citizen scientists to conduct cutting-edge research in GW and multi-messenger science, leveraging the vast potential of the Einstein Telescope. The platform’s ability to handle and integrate data from multiple Research Infrastructures (RIs) will enhance the scientific impact of GW data analysis and ensure that metadata adheres to FAIR principles. Moreover, by integrating a new service to monitor the environmental and financial costs of computational workflows, ETAP not only meets the future computational demands but also addresses sustainability challenges, contributing to the long-term success of Open Science in GW research.
Principal investigator
Paul obtained his PhD in experimental particle physics with Liverpool University on the H1 experiment at HERA, designing an object-oriented analysis framework used by the collaboration. He moved to the ATLAS experiment at CERN, coordinating data preparation and computing activities and redesigning the ATLAS analysis model. Paul was computing architect for the NA62 experiment at CERN, and then moved to Brookhaven Lab to lead US Belle II computing and the design of the DUNE computing model. Today he is the computing architect for the Einstein Telescope at Geneva University.
