Research Computing Services (RCS) is a centralized service dedicated to assisting with faculty research projects, providing research software to the HBS community, developing and supporting research computing infrastructure, and providing technology training. RCS staff also provide guidance to doctoral students and Research Associates supporting faculty research. As part of the Division of Research and Faculty Development, RCS works closely with the School’s other research support services to ensure seamless delivery of research computing and data-related services.

Statistical and Data Services for Faculty Research

RCS provides statistical and data services, including:

• Research design and methodological consulting
• Statistical programming and analysis
• Database programming and administration
• Data collection, cleaning, parsing, transfer, and matching
• Review of papers and assistance addressing reviewers' comments
• Identification and testing of new methods and approaches

The expertise of RCS staff includes:

• Statistical analysis
• Predictive modeling
• Machine learning
• Natural Language Processing
• Simulations
• Python programming
• Fuzzy matching
• Data wrangling
• Database management
• Web scraping

Research Software

RCS purchases most research software used at HBS. HBS has site or volume licenses for several packages (e.g., Stata, SAS) for desktop use, which are provided at no cost to faculty and doctoral students. Licenses are usually available upon request, and installations are self-service or can be done by Technology Support Services.

Research Infrastructure

The RCS research computing environment provides high‐speed, high‐capacity computing resources to help HBS researchers effectively and efficiently conduct complex mathematical and statistical models and simulations. This research cluster is fully integrated with a dedicated research network-attached-storage facility and a dedicated MySQL server used for housing custom databases. RCS offers one-on‐one consultations on use of the research computing grid and MySQL database design and support. For those with significant computing demands, RCS also facilitates access to other computing resources on campus, including the Odyssey compute cluster, which boasts over 75,000 CPUs.

Technology Training

RCS, in cooperation with its training partners, offers a number of training classes on programming languages, tools, and techniques. RCS staff will also provide a one-on-one customized review of your data including techniques and tricks that can be used to enhance and expedite your research.