We are using a one-page white paper process (due by next Thursday) to gather inputs for the workshop and to identify people to participate. I hope to see some good ideas from Argonne computing. It’s not often that we are asked to think about what could or should be different in 30 years time—which for some, but not all, of you encompasses your working career.

I am eager to see a broad range of perspectives from Argonne. To help us understand what ideas people are bringing forward, we would be most appreciative if you could provide a few sentences, say by Monday, on what you are planning at the following form:

What you write here is not binding in any way, and is purely for internal use. The goal is to allow us to see whether important topics (e.g., “DOE’s role in terraforming Mars”) are missing, so that we can try to enlist someone to contribute on them.

The Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE/SC)’s national laboratories will evolve greatly over the next 10-30 years, including in the science performed, scientific methodologies employed, the nature of user facilities, and users supported. To inform its future planning, the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) is tentatively hosting an exploratory Community of Interest Workshop on Future Scientific Methodologies in Washington, DC, April 14-16, 2020, to examine how this evolution will shape, and be shaped, by the underlying data, storage, computing, and network infrastructure, and the methods and software that scientists and engineers use to leverage that infrastructure. This workshop will provide a unique opportunity to envision and influence these changes, with a “curated unconference” format used to drive small group discussions toward a shared vision. A workshop website and more information will be available soon. In the meantime, attendees are encouraged to submit, by March 6, one-page white papers at https://lotf2020.hotcrp.com that would be used to foster discussions.