'eResearch' is a broad term used to describe a set of activities that harness the power of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) for research.

Characterised by collaboration and facilitated by fast, high capacity networks, the range of eResearch activities is diverse and multi-disciplinary.

eResearch methodologies and capabilities can be applied in all research disciplines, not just those with a traditional affiliation with high-performance computing.

eResearch has also enabled the emergence of entirely new fields of research using new techniques for data mining and analysis, advanced computational algorithms, and resource sharing networks.

eResearch encompasses four core areas:

• Research collaboration

  eResearch facilitates inter-disciplinary, inter-institutional and international research collaboration using distributed computing technologies. Shared access to web collaboration tools and video conferencing facilities can overcome the tyranny of distance and support distributed research across the country and across the globe.

  With improved access to knowledge and information, researchers can perform their research more creatively, efficiently and collaboratively across long distances and disseminate their research outcomes more widely.

• Data management and sharing

  eResearch facilitates the storage and cataloguing of data sets both large and small and provides researchers and research insitutions with continuity of access to data, as well as the ability to make data available in controlled ways for reuse by other researchers.

• High-performance computing

  High-performance computing systems deliver enhanced computing power and memory for analysis of large data sets, modelling of complex systems, searching large databases, and solving large and challenging problems.

  From modelling climate change to understanding social networks and multifactorial diseases, advances in high-performance computing enable researchers to accomplish tasks that were previously unachievable.

  By sharing infrastructure that is otherwise unaffordable for individual research groups or institutions, more researchers have access to advanced data processing and modelling techniques.

• Visualisation and haptics

  Visualisation technologies, including stereoscopic imaging techniques, enable researchers to intuitively understand complex data sets and abstract concepts. Visualisation of data sets and objects that are not ordinarily visible can help researchers to more easily detect and understand complex patterns of interaction in their data, conduct research in entirely new ways, and bring theoretical concepts to life.

  Haptics technologies introduce the sense of virtual 'touch' to a diverse range of research disciplines. From surgical trainees to molecular scientists to digital artists, researchers from across the board are finding new applications for haptics technology.

As an enabler of innovations and new discoveries, eResearch has the potential to boost research effectiveness across all disciplines through increased interactivity between researchers and enhanced access to research outputs.