February 2026

The ACCESS Advance is a monthly newsletter produced by the U.S. National Science Foundation's ACCESS (Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support) program. It contains science stories enabled by ACCESS, program news and opportunities for users.

In this Issue

STEP Deadline Extended
Community Survey Reminder
Spotlight on CloudBank

Opportunities

Events & Trainings

Community Announcements

Science Stories

enabled by ACCESS

The Clot Thickens

A research team from Florida State University utilized Stampede3 at TACC for new insights into blood clotting.

Read the full story here

Optimizing a

Taxing Process

Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Omaha use ACCESS-allocated resources to capture a more nuanced understanding of the impact of taxation strategies.

Read the full story here

Using HPC to

Develop Wearables

that Monitor Health

Researchers at the University of Illinois utilize their ACCESS-allocated resources to develop tools for monitoring anxiety in real time.

Read the full story here

What's New?

STEP Application Deadline Extended

The deadline to submit applications for the 2026 Student Training and Engagement Program (STEP) cohort has been extended through Feb. 8! Students interested in exploring careers in cyberinfrastructure are strongly encouraged to apply! Visit the STEP website to learn more and apply.

Share Feedback With Our Abbreviated

Community Survey

Help us prioritize future work, improve ACCESS services, and tell the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) how we’re doing with our annual Community Survey. It should have landed in your email inbox on February 3 and takes around three minutes to complete. We hope you can spare just a few moments to help us better serve you and future ACCESS researchers, educators and students. Thank you!

ACCESS Merch is Here!

ACCESS is excited to introduce an ACCESS merchandise

e-store. Visit the site and you'll find a variety of logo'd clothing items – you're sure to find something to suit your taste. Payment is the responsibility of the purchaser, but prices are reasonable. Get yours before your next meeting or conference!

Spotlight

CloudBank Expands Commercial Cloud Access

Whether you’re just getting started with commercial cloud services or developing or piloting complex workflows, ACCESS-allocated CloudBank provides expert support and training resources to help you succeed. U.S.-based researchers and educators can request commercial cloud resources through CloudBank by applying to the NAIRR Pilot, which serves as a pathway for allocation and approval.

CloudBank is a service-based platform that facilitates the use of commercial cloud resources through a flexible, multi-cloud infrastructure. It currently supports the following commercial cloud providers: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. This work is supported by NSF award #2505560.

Learn how to get started by visiting: How to request access to CloudBank

ACCESS Website

Events & Trainings

Community Announcements

ACCESS is supported by the

National Science Foundation.