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How are points used?

The calculation of Points is the method World Community Grid uses to measure your contribution to individual research projects running on World Community Grid. Points are one method for competitive comparison on the stats pages.

Why are points on the agent and the web different?

World Community Grid in the past ran two types of agents. A United Devices (UD Windows) agent and a BOINC (Windows/Linux/Mac) agent. Today, World Community Grid only runs the BOINC agent. Points contributed by both of the agents will be part of a member's total on the website. However, only points contributed by BOINC agents will be shown on the BOINC agents. The points previously earned by a UD agent only appear on the website. Additionally, due to differences in how the agents computed points, BOINC points are multiplied by 7 when they are imported into the website. Thus if you earned 5 BOINC points, you will see 35 website points.

If I change my username, will I lose my points?

No, changing your member name will not affect your points or any other contribution that you've made to World Community Grid.

What are points?

Your device's contribution is shown in three measures: points, total run time and results returned. The term points is simply used as a way of measuring the amount of computation your device has contributed. For instance, if your device works for three days on one work unit, or in those same three days completes five work units, you will accumulate the same number of points assuming that your device worked at about the same level of effort in each scenario.

How are points calculated?

Points are calculated in a two-step process which attempts to give a consistent number of points for similar amounts of research computation. First, the computational power/speed of the computer is determined by periodically running a benchmark calculation. Then, based on the central processing unit (CPU) time spent computing the research result for a work unit, the benchmark result is used to convert the time spent on a work unit into points. This adjusts the point value so that a slow computer or a fast computer would produce about the same number of points for calculating the research result for the same work unit. This value is the number of point credits "claimed" by the client. More information about that formula is available here.

Second, research results returned to the servers are validated in a manner which depends on the research project. Then the claimed points for valid results are examined for anomalous (excessively high or low compared to other machines computing the same or equivalent work unit) values and adjusted accordingly. The servers assign the resulting adjusted point values to the member (and team) for each of the returned work units. This process eliminates the ability for malicious users to tamper with results and artificially claim higher points for their work.

How do I calculate my FLOPS (Floating Point Operations Per Second) based off my World Community Grid points?

BOINC provides a reference about credit and its relation to FLOPS here. However, you should know that seven (7) World Community Grid points are equal to one (1) BOINC credit.

Therefore, your total World Community Grid points divided by 700 gives you the number of GigaFLOPs and your World Community Grid points divided by 700,000 gives you the number of TeraFLOPs.

How are Team Points and Personal Points Distributed?

Points that you earn are only credited to a team if they are earned while you are a member of that team. Additionally, if you quit a team or join another team, then the points that you earned for your previous team will stay with that team. You cannot transfer credit you previously earned to a new team.

Any points you earn whether you are on a team or not will always show up under your personal statistics.

You can view the points that you have earned for different teams at the bottom of your My Contribution page.

When are points and statistics updated?

World Community Grid points and statistics are updated twice a day. This occurs at 00:00 and 12:00 UTC. This includes all statistics on World Community Grid except for Team Statistics.

Team Statistics are updated once a day at 00:00 UTC.

Why are points not updated even though new work units have been downloaded?

Points are awarded for results when they have been successfully processed on your device. They are awarded after they have been returned to our servers and successfully passed validation. You may learn more about validation here. If you want to check the status of your result(s), you may view your results status page. Additionally, point totals are only updated on the website twice a day, so there can be up to a 12 hour delay between when your result is validated and the points appear on our website.

What is a Team Challenge?

A Team Challenge is essentially a competition between teams to see which team can return the most results, or generate the most points or run time in a given time period. A Team Challenge can be open to all teams on World Community Grid, or limited to only teams invited by the challenge creator.

Why don't my statistics show up on the web site?

Your results are not counted until they are validated. You may read about result validation here.

Also, World Community Grid points and statistics are updated twice a day. This occurs at 00:00 and 12:00 UTC. This includes all statistics on World Community Grid except for Team Statistics.

Team Statistics are updated once a day at 00:00 UTC

What kinds of actions might be taken?

There are various methods that can be adopted to reduce nutrient and sediment loads reaching the Bay. These are collectively known as “Best Management Practices (BMPs).” For example, farms can leave buffer areas between planted fields and bordering streams. They can minimize their use of fertilizers, plant cover crops in the winter (to absorb excess nutrients), and provide for the proper removal of animal waste. Municipalities can provide for separate storm water runoff systems and increase the frequency of street cleaning. Even individuals can affect change through household practices (reducing lawn fertilization, planting trees and shrubs) and limiting automobile driving. These types of actions are called non-point sources because they collectively contribute to the nutrient and sediment problem but are not individually measurable. Manufacturing, power generation, and other industrial contributors are point sources and these are regulated through existing policy and laws.

In Advanced View, on the BOINC Manager, under Statistics, what do the figures on the y-axis represent?

The figures represent BOINC credits. A BOINC credit is equal to 7 Points on our website. Additional information on the BOINC Manager - Advanced view may be found here.

What is a World Community Grid team?

Once you register with World Community Grid, you have the option to join an existing team, or create a new team.  (Please note: to create a new team you are required to have a username.)

When you are on a team, you may compete with other teams for total run time, points, and results returned. Joining a team does not affect your individual member statistics.

Why is my computer not getting as many work units for the Africa Rainfall Project as I want?

Due to the large file sizes of the input and output for this project, the number of tasks sent out per day will be much less than typical projects. For launch, we started out slow, and while the total number of tasks sent out per day may increase some as we get further in to the project, at this point we anticipate those increases to be minimal.

Why is my device uploading result data (intermediate upload files) while a research task is still in progress?

We are using a mechanism called intermediate uploads whereby at certain processing milestones, your device would send us back partial results for the research task your device is currently working on. This allows us to validate the work you have completed up to that point and helps the researchers examine and interpret the results being returned by the volunteers.

HPF1 vs. HPF2: Res-res pair score

The pair score in HPF2 is like the pair score in HPF1, but HPF2-pair score takes the position of Rotamers (a way of efficiently representing all side chain atoms) instead of centroid positions (representing the amino acid as a blurred out single point). So think of the HPF2 pair score as a all-atom version of the HPF1 pair score (appropriately re parameterized, of course).

How might the data generated by OpenPandemics - COVID-19 be valuable to scientists?

The data generated during the project could represent ideal starting points for the design of new classes of drugs to target COVID-19 and other coronaviruses. Additionally, OpenPandemics - COVID-19 could build a model for the fast deployment of computational resources to help identify potential treatments during fast-spreading pandemics.

And because all data, tools, and processes that are developed through OpenPandemics - COVID-19 will be shared freely, the project can benefit the scientific community at large.

How is my individual member rank calculated?

A member may see their individual stats on their My Contribution page for run time, points, and results returned. Your individual rank is based on the total number of members that have returned a result. You may see how many members there currently are on the Global Statistics page.

How is my team rank calculated?

A member may see their team stats on their My Team page for run time, points, and results returned. Your team rank is based on the total number of teams that have returned a result. You may see how many teams there currently are on the Team Statistics page.

What is a trickle up message?

A trickle up message is when your device sends a message back to World Community Grid at certain processing milestones to inform us that you’re still making progress on the current research task. Along with intermediate results sent to us by your device, we use this information to:

• Validate your work up to that point and grant credit accordingly;
• Determine whether sufficient progress is being made by your device or whether the task should be handed over to another volunteer.

Why does the software sometimes display with a piece of the screen missing?

The software requires an 800x600 screen to display properly. If the software's window is opened when the screen is resized (for instance if you begin playing a game that resizes the screen), windows may not properly "re-paint" the windows when the screen is re-sized back to its original setting. To fix this, minimize the software's window by clicking on the downward pointing triangle. Right click on the software's icon in the system tray (the section of the Start bar where the time is displayed) and choose exit. Open the software by clicking on [Start] [Programs] [World Community Grid] [World Community Grid Software].

What do the Mapping Cancer Markers project graphics show?

While your computer carries out work for the Mapping Cancer Markers project, you may see the project’s graphics either on the World Community Grid screensaver, or within the World Community Grid software.

The graphics show a representation of the 23 pairs of human chromosomes in the right hand panel. Each chromosome is a DNA molecule containing genes and other information. The 23rd chromosome pair determines sex and comprises two “X” chromosomes for females or an “X” with a “Y” chromosomes for males. Genes are located at specific points along the length of these chromosomes. As your device analyzes certain combinations of genes, the approximate locations of those sets of genes within these chromosomes are highlighted in red.

Why did my device stop processing a research task? And what is a trickle down message?

Using the information your device intermittently sends to us during the processing of a research task, we determine the likelihood of your device finishing the task before the completion deadline. If we determine that you are very likely to miss that deadline or you have already missed the deadline, we would send your device a trickle down message to instruct it to stop working on that research task and we then pass it along on to another volunteer.

There are two types of trickle down messages:

• Soft stop: Instruction for your device to continue until the next milestone before stopping the computation of the current research task. This happens when your device is not making sufficient progress on the current calculation. We would then hand over your partial result to another volunteer to continue working on.
• Hard stop: Instruction for your device to stop working on the current research task immediately. This happens when you have already passed the processing deadline without sending in the final full result or that there may be a communication error in sending us your progress. In this case, we would hand over the research task from the point of your last intermediate milestone to another volunteer to resume working on.

In either case, you will be awarded credit for the work you completed up to the point of the last checkpoint.

This mechanism allows work to be completed quicker and for the researchers to receive valuable results sooner.

How do I create a Team Challenge?

As the captain of a team, you may create as many Team Challenges as you want; the only requirement is that they have different names so members can tell them apart from other Team Challenges.

To create a Team Challenge, go to My Contribution and click on My Team in the lefthand navigation. Just under the Team Information, you'll see the Team Control Panel with an Issue Team Challenge button. Click the button to be taken to the Issue Team Challenge page.

Once on the Issue Team Challenge page, you start by picking a name for your Team Challenge. After that, decide if you want your Team Challenge to be open to all teams, or if you want to choose which teams to invite. If you want an Open Challenge, check the box next to "Open Challenge?"

Next up, pick the dates for your Team Challenge. The Start Date must be at least one day in the future, but not more than 30 days away. The End Date must be at least one day after the Start Date, but not more than 180 days after the Start Date.

Once you've chosen the dates, select what type of Team Challenge you'd like. The choices are Points, Run Time, and Results Returned, or an Increase in one of Points, Run Time, or Results Returned. For more in the "increase" challenges, read this FAQ.

Next choose whether or not you want to allow Late Joiners; that is, allow teams to join the challenge after the Start Date. This applies to teams that are invited as well as for Open challenges. Teams that join a challenge after the Start Date will only receive credit for statistics after they join the challenge.

Last but not least, you may invite other teams to participate in your Team Challenge. You may invite teams even if your are issuing an Open Challenge. If you are issuing a Closed Challenge you must invite at least one team.

To invite teams, just search for the name of the team you want to invite, and click the link to "Invite This Team." For more general searches, only the first 25 teams are returned. If this happens, try being a little more specific in your search.

How do I contact my team members?

Team captains may e-mail (email) the members of their team and team members may send e-mails to their team captain. To use this feature, just go to your team page and click the "e-mail team" or "e-mail captain" button.

Team e-mails will be sent to any member of the team who has opted-in to receive the e-mails. If there are no members opted-in, there is a warning message for the captain, and there is no button to send the e-mail. The same applies in reverse if the captain has not opted-in.

To opt-in to team e-mails, you may go to My Profile and select the option to receive team e-mails. You will also see that you can enter in an alternate email address that is used only for team emails.

Some teams have a URL pointing to their site where they have created a special forum for team members to chat. As an alternative, you might go to the World Community Grid forums by selecting Forums from the global navigation bar. The forums contain Team forums expressly for team activity. You might consider reaching out to other members from your team in one of these forums.

We recommend that you do not divulge any private information in the forums as they are public forums.

Has this kind of research been attempted before? If so, how is this different?

It is only now that, for the first time, scientists can bring progress in next generation sequencing and their knowledge and understanding of microbes, together with massive computational power and newer algorithms to accurately predict structures and functions of hundreds of thousands (or more) of proteins!

For decades, scientists have studied both proteins and their structures, as well as microbes and how they impact human health. However, those studies were greatly limited in terms of their scale (e.g. by studying one microbe at a time) and scope. Similarly, structures of individual proteins have been experimentally determined since 1958 and computational investigations of protein structures began in early 1970s.

A turning point came in the early 2000s with the introduction of next generation sequencing, due to progress in computing power and the development of new algorithms. Thanks to next generation sequencing, obtaining DNA sequences encoding genes became much cheaper and quicker.

Around the same time new tools, such as Rosetta (which is being used for this project), were being developed to computationally predict protein structure and were, in fact, used for the Human Proteome Folding project on World Community Grid.

Since then, these tools have been refined and enhanced. Combined with the massive computational resources of World Community Grid, a project of this scale has only now become possible.