Our Mission

The mission of the MU Informatics Research Core (IRCF) is to advance translational science by providing informatics support services, developing innovative tools, and leveraging high performance computing resources for the MU system campuses and their researchers. The IRCF team supports investigators and students by helping them take advantage of modern research methods, across all sectors of the life sciences by analyzing information rich, large scale, datasets. Additionally, we provide training in informatics and data science in order to help develop a future skilled workforce capable of meeting the needs of industry. The IRCF works to accomplish our mission in three primary ways: 1.) provide analytical support for research; 2.) provide outreach and training; and 3.) developing a unified research information systems infrastructure for the MU system.

Data Management for Informatics

An important part of what we do is facilitate the use of high-performance computing hardware to analyze biological data. Biologists have become adept at generating “Big Data” scale projects, but only a few have the expertise to manage and analyze their data directly. The IRCF plays a key role in the management of data throughout the life of a project.

Computational Resources

At the ​University of Missouri, there are several options for accessing High-Performance Computing (HPC) resources. The most significant resource is the ​Lewis Cluster, which is managed by the ​Research Computing Support Services group. The IRCF works very closely with RCSS to provide the computing power and flexibility needed to meet the demands of researchers conducting informatics related research across the MU system. Additionally, the IRCF manages a smaller development server where staff can work on developing customized tools and pipelines to support the unique challenges than can arise in cutting edge research.