A brief summary of each of the active Team CastleCops research projects is given below. The general field of each project is given, as is the name and affiliation of the Principal Investigator (Lead Scientist) of the project. More in depth discussions can be found within the respective individual Project Forums via the links provided.

Each research project is also categorized as being either fundamental research, or applied research. Here the term “fundamental research” is utilized to connote that the principal objectives of the project are the pursuit of new knowledge and understanding. By comparison, the term “applied research” is employed to connote project objectives that are more specific, immediate, or practical in character. These definitions are operational rather than rigorous: they are offered to provide potential participants with some general guidance as to the nature of the research projects.

The selection of a research project is largely a matter of personal interests and motivations which can of course vary widely. A discussion of some logical, objective criteria that you might want to consider in the process of selecting a project to pursue can be found in On the Selection of a Research Project.

Most of the projects utilize a distributed computing approach affiliated with the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) platform that is administered at The University of California, Berkeley.


Folding@Home (Fundamental research in Molecular Biology):

Professor Vijay Pande, Department of Chemistry and Department of Structural Biology (by courtesy), Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.

Folding@Home examines the self-assembly properties of biomolecules. Current focus is on the conformational dynamics--or time-dependent “folding”--of proteins; and on the mechanisms and dynamics of protein aggregation, or “clumping”. A variety of sophisticated models are utilized to simulate the physical properties of interest, and to explore potential methodologies by which these properties might be manipulated to advantage.

An important objective of this project is to better elucidate the relationships between potential deviations from the native 3-dimensional protein structure, concomitant modifications of protein function, and their role in human diseases.

Active collaborations include researchers at the Stanford University Medical Center.

Folding@Home is administered at Stanford University.


Predictor@Home (Fundamental research in Molecular Biology):

Professor Charles L. Brooks III, Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.

Beginning with only the sequence of the constituent amino acids, Predictor@Home attempts to determine the structure, that is, the folded, fully functional form of the corresponding protein. This can be attempted utilizing either an a priori approach, or by exploiting existing knowledge of structurally homologous, yet distinct proteins.

The initial objective of the research is to rigorously evaluate new algorithms and methodologies for the prediction of protein structure. This is best accomplished by applying the models to proteins having already well characterized structures, allowing direct comparison of theoretical and experimental results. Given the development of successful models, emphasis will shift to systems having unknown structures.

Existing collaborations include research on virus structure with colleagues at the Center for the Development of MultiScale Modeling Tools for Structural Biology; and investigations of protein-ligand docking with researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso. A fundamental understanding of protein-ligand docking is vital to the design of new, disease-specific drug therapies.

Predictor@Home is a BOINC project.


Rosetta@Home (Fundamental research in Molecular Biology):

Professor David Baker, Department of Biochemistry, The University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA.

Rosetta@Home is conceptually similar to Predictor@Home in that it also attempts to predict protein tertiary structure directly from the sequence of the constituent amino acid residues. The differences are found within the physical models utilized to simulate the critical intra- and intermolecular interactions, as well as in the particular molecular systems under investigation. Thus these two research projects are complementary efforts.

Rosetta@Home is also investigating protein-protein complexation, protein design, and protein-DNA interaction specificity. The ultimate objective of the research project is to contribute to the fundamental knowledge necessary to better understand gene expression, and to enable the design of new enzymes and more efficacious drug therapies.

Active collaborations include researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Imperial College, London; Harvard University; and The National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Rosetta@Home is a BOINC project


At first glance, the three Molecular Biology projects mentioned above may well appear to be redundant efforts that are in competition with each other. That is not the case--rather, they are complementary efforts. They do indeed however share a common motivation and ultimate objective: to advance medical science through better understanding of the causes of diseases, and subsequent development of improved treatments for those diseases. Each of these three projects approaches that ultimate, shared objective from a distinct perspective. Most importantly, no one can possibly foresee which, if indeed any of these different approaches might lead to the breakthrough, the critical insight that will best advance that shared objective. Such is the very nature of scientific inquiry. Thus if you are motivated to helping to advance medical science, the most effective way to accomplish that goal is to contribute actively to all three projects.


ClimatePrediction.Net (Applied research in Climatology and Earth Science):

Professor Myles Allen, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Planetary Physics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK.

Current climate models predict significant, yet widely ranging alterations in the Earth’s climate over the coming century. The broad diversity of such predictions makes it difficult if not impossible to define judicious public policy responses. ClimatePrediction.net (CPDN) attempts to increase the confidence level in such predictions by a systematic and quantitative refinement of the simplifying assumptions--or parameterizations--that are contained within such climate models.

CPDN utilizes a General Circulation Model to simulate as much as possible about the climatic system. Physical phenomena treated within the model include: absorbed and emitted radiation; atmospheric composition and dynamics; ice cap evolution; cloud formation and precipitation; surface vegetation; and the effects of oceans. The parameterizations are systematically varied over the range of physically reasonable boundaries. Results that accurately reproduce historically documented climatic observations are deemed to be those that will best afford the most credible predictions of future climatic conditions.

ClimatePrediction.net is a BOINC project.


SETI@Home (Applied research in Physics and Astronomy):

Professor Dan Werthimer, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.

SETI@Home is the distributed computer component of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Project. The objective of SETI is to detect evidence indicative of the existence of intelligent life beyond Earth.

SETI@Home analyzes data collected at the Arecibo radio observatory located in Puerto Rico. The observed data are examined for narrow-bandwidth radio signals originating from outside the Solar System. No naturally occurring physical phenomenon is known to generate narrow-bandwidth signals in the radio frequency domain. Thus the detection of such signals would be taken as strong evidence for the existence of an extraterrestrial, technologically advanced species.

SETI@Home is a BOINC project.


Einstein@Home (Fundamental research in Physics and Astronomy):

Professor Bruce Allen, Department of Physics, The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

Einstein@Home is an early effort to apply observational gravitational wave astronomy. Specifically, it is an all-sky survey, searching for evidence of currently unidentified, nonspherical, spinning neutron stars. The research program utilizes gravitational wave data collected by the two Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatories (LIGO) located in the United States, and by the GEO 600 interferometer located in Germany.

Gravitational wave observations open a new and unique window on the Cosmos allowing observation of exactly those regions that cannot be seen in the electromagnetic spectrum. While it is impossible to predict what such observations might ultimately reveal, it is reasonable to assert that gravitational wave astronomy will revolutionize our view and understanding of the Universe.

Einstein@Home is a BOINC project


LargeHadronCollider(LHC)@Home (Applied research in High Energy Particle Physics):

Ignacio Reguero, Project Manager, Information Technology Division, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland.

When the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) becomes operational in late 2007, it will be the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. LHC is located at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. CERN is the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, and the acknowledged birthplace of the World Wide Web.

LHC@Home contributes directly to the successful future performance of LHC by simulating how the particles will travel through the accelerator’s 27 kilometer long ring. Such extensive simulations are critical to the accurate and precise calibration of the steering magnets that control the particle beam paths and thus the long term stability of the highly energetic particles themselves.

Investigations conducted at LHC will address some of the most profound questions regarding the very nature of matter and the fundamental forces. These will include: the basics physics of matter at infinitesimally small scales; the matter-antimatter asymmetry; and even the nature of exotic Dark Matter and Dark Energy that some believe may comprise as much as 95% of the Universe.

LHC@Home is a BOINC project.