Sarah Beecroft1
1Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre
Biography:
After completing a PhD in neurogenetics, Dr Sarah Beecroft transitioned to the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre as a Supercomputing Applications Specialist. There, she is the primary interface between Pawsey’s HPC infrastructure and Australia’s life sciences research community. She provides technical expertise to existing users and develops new digital infrastructure for biological researchers. She also teaches broadly, from short webinars to post-graduate level courses. She won the inaugural AeRO Early Career eResearch Excellence Prize in 2026 for her contributions to the digital research sector.
Abstract:
Bioinformatics in Australia has come a long way in a short time; from scattered scripts run on single machines to workloads humming across national supercomputing infrastructure. This keynote reflects on that journey, celebrating the past of bioinformatics and looking to the future, which will be partly architected by the eResearch workforce.
The maturation of bioinformatics within the HPC ecosystem offers an encouraging blueprint for other domains beginning the same transition. Hard-won experience in Australia’s eResearch sector shows what works: support frameworks built on lived experience, accessible infrastructure, and communities that welcome newcomers.
The heterogeneity of both research domains and hardware architectures is only going to keep growing. Using real-world examples, the talk demonstrates how embracing this complexity, rather than resisting it, accelerates discovery while building more inclusive computational communities. As new fields require HPC and new architecture expand what’s possible, the collective experience of one domain can be used to build bridges for many. This keynote invites attendees to celebrate how far we’ve come, and to imagine what the next wave of developments might achieve.
