Self-forming Grand Challenge Teams are the most direct way to participate in the iPlant Collaborative. Anyone can start a Grand Challenge Team or propose a Grand Challenge Workshop any time. GC Teams are central to the iPlant Collaborative because the community (through its Board of Directors) must choose which Grand Challenges should be prioritized for cyberinfrastructure development, and iPC resources cannot be allocated to major CI development until the community chooses the GC Teams that project personnel should work with. Once GC Teams are chosen (2-4 GCT's before the end of the first year), the iPC's Integrated Solutions Team, led by Lincoln Stein and Sudha Ram, will work with each GCT to design a 'Discovery Environment' to address each grand challenge. Successful development of these prototype cyberinfrastructures will require close interaction between IS Team and GC Team members. See the Grand Challenge Process tab for details. GC Teams do not need to wait for the kickoff conference to get started. The conference is an opportunity to get together with colleagues and meet colleagues in other disciplines, and attendance is one way to foster or participate in GC Team formation, but you should not feel obliged to attend.
