Big State and National problems include climate and weather prediction, earthquake preparedness, transportation planning, energy development, planning and management, economic and social modeling, and homeland security. Additionally, there is a host of developing products and capabilities in the bio, medical, nano and materials sciences. Responding to national priorities for research, development and application requires unprecedented computational capability and interdisciplinary collaboration among engineering, chemistry, medicine, mathematics, computer science, bioengineering, architecture, arts, humanities and others. Industry, government laboratories, institutes and other academic institutions will need to collaborate substantively and closely.

The scientific environment for big problems is large, complex, heterogeneous and distributed and beyond what any one institution can marshal. Resources and capacity must be aggregated and networked so that teams in different locations and different disciplines can effectively collaborate. Ownership, stewardship and modes of investigation will need to change. Infrastructure and facilities must be provisioned and supported differently. Education and training must be thought of in different ways. This paper will present how UCLA and University of California in general are viewing, shaping and addressing the requirements of this environment.