LUMEN Voices: PCSS
In this series, we share short interviews to introduce you to the diverse partners contributing to our LUMEN vision. Each month, we’ll shine a spotlight on two of our partners—offering a glimpse into who they are, what they do, and what drives their work within LUMEN. In this edition, Aleksandra Nowak answered our questions.
Can you briefly introduce your organisation and its role within the LUMEN project?
The Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PCSS) affiliated to the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences is an internationally known node of the European Research Area in the field of IT infrastructure of science and an important R&D center in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT). In LUMEN, PCSS is responsible for delivering a secure and stable cloud infrastructure to support the deployment of the project’s outcomes. Additionally, PCSS facilitates the integration of LUMEN’s applications with various EOSC services. The Poznań Center also plays a key role in developing instantiations of LUMEN’s Discovery Platform. Moreover, PCSS contributes to UX/UI-focused efforts.
What is the most exciting aspect of your contribution to LUMEN, and how does it align with your organisation’s mission or values?
LUMEN is a multidisciplinary project that unites diverse and often unrelated fields of knowledge. It not only intersects with various scientific domains but actively fosters collaboration with researchers to ensure that its applications effectively address their needs. PCSS is committed to pushing scientific boundaries and bridging gaps between disciplines whenever possible and supporting the scientific community, offering technical expertise and infrastructure.
LUMEN is all about interdisciplinary collaboration. How do you envision the project transforming the way research is
LUMEN has the potential to streamline knowledge accumulation, impacting processes such as bibliography creation and the analysis of existing research. Moreover, interdisciplinarity is at the core of the project—by providing universal access to knowledge and research data, it can foster more frequent cross-disciplinary collaborations. This, in turn, may enable research that was previously unfeasible or marginalized. Platforms like those developed within LUMEN can also drive the digitization of knowledge. The project’s use cases serve as concrete examples of why investing time and resources in the dissemination of scientific data is worthwhile.
Looking ahead to 2027 and beyond, what impact do you hope the LUMEN project will have on the broader research community and beyond?
LUMEN enhances scientists’ ability to conduct research more effectively, efficiently, and reliably. Open access to online knowledge promotes greater equality among researchers, helping to mitigate challenges faced by those in smaller or decentralized research centers. Furthermore, interdisciplinarity not only fosters the formation of new research groups but can also drive the creation of advanced infrastructure, such as new facilities, laboratories, or even institutes. While this remains a long-term vision, it has the potential to become a reality within the broader trajectory of global scientific development.