Our web site is powered by the HUBzero® Platform for Scientific Collaboration originally developed at Purdue University. HUBzero was specifically designed to help a scientific community share resources and work together with one another. Users can upload their own content--including tutorials, courses, publications, and animations--and share them with the rest of the community. But each hub is more than just a repository of information. It is a place where researchers and educators can collaborate in private spaces with tools to capture, share, and exchange experiences, and pose and solve shared problems.

How Does a Hub Differ From a Web Site?

At its core, a hub is a web site built with many familiar open source packages--the Linux operating system, an Apache web server, a MySQL database, PHP web scripting, and the Joomla content management system. The HUBzero software builds upon that infrastructure to create an environment in which researchers, educators, and students can access and share information. Specifically, we define a "hub" as a web-based collaboration environment with the following features:

• Groups and projects for private collaboration
• Mechanism for uploading and sharing resources
• User support area, with question-and-answer forum
• Statistics about users and usage patterns

You can use this software to start a hub for your own scientific community. Join others in the HUBzero Foundation and help to develop the platform. Visit HUBzero.org to learn more.