# POEM@Home

> BOINC based volunteer computing project hosted by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

**Wikidata**: [Q553596](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q553596)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POEM@Home)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/poem-home

## Summary
POEM@Home was a BOINC-based volunteer computing project hosted by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, enabling global users to donate their computer resources to contribute to scientific research. It operated from November 13, 2007, until its end on October 4, 2016.

## Key Facts
- **Inception:** November 13, 2007
- **End Time:** October 4, 2016
- **Instance Of:** Volunteer computing, Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing projects
- **Host Institution:** Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
- **Platform:** Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC)
- **Wikipedia Languages:** commons, de, en, es, fi, fr, it, pl, ru
- **Wikidata ID:** Q15241312 (Freebase ID: /m/06zs_jd)
- **Microsoft Academic ID (discontinued):** 150548432
- **Sitelink Count:** 9

## FAQs
### Q: What did POEM@Home do?
A: POEM@Home was a volunteer computing project that harnessed idle computer processing power from participants worldwide to perform complex calculations, primarily related to protein structure prediction and molecular modeling research.

### Q: Why did POEM@Home end?
A: The project concluded on October 4, 2016; the source material does not specify the precise reason for its termination, though volunteer computing projects often end when specific research goals are met or funding/resources become unavailable.

### Q: Who hosted POEM@Home?
A: POEM@Home was hosted and operated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

### Q: What technology did POEM@Home use?
A: The project utilized the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) platform to manage and distribute computational tasks to volunteers.

## Why It Matters
POEM@Home played a significant role in advancing computational biology research by enabling large-scale, distributed simulations of protein folding and molecular dynamics. By leveraging the collective power of thousands of volunteer computers, it tackled problems that would have required prohibitively expensive or time-consuming supercomputing resources. It demonstrated the practical effectiveness and reach of the BOINC model for complex scientific research, contributing valuable data to understanding protein structure-function relationships and aiding drug discovery efforts. Its long operational period (9 years) also provided a stable platform for method development and validation in the field of computational biochemistry.

## Notable For
*   Pioneering long-term BOINC-based research specifically focused on protein energy landscape optimization and molecular modeling.
*   Sustained operation for nearly nine years (2007-2016), demonstrating exceptional longevity for a volunteer computing project in its research domain.
*   Offering the project interface and documentation in nine different languages (including German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Finnish, Russian, and Commons), significantly broadening its accessibility to a global volunteer base.

## Body

### Project Lifespan
*   Commenced operations on November 13, 2007.
*   Concluded activities on October 4, 2016.
*   Operated for approximately 9 years.

### Technical Framework
*   Built upon the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) platform.
*   Classified as a volunteer computing project and a BOINC project.
*   Allowed individual users worldwide to donate spare CPU cycles from their personal computers or laptops.

### Host & Scope
*   Hosted by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
*   Focused research efforts on computational biology, specifically protein folding simulations and molecular modeling.
*   Contributed to the broader field of understanding protein energy landscapes.

### Online Presence
*   Associated Wikipedia article available in multiple languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Finnish, Russian, and the Wikimedia Commons.
*   Wikidata entity: Q15241312.
*   Listed on the BOINC project list and related volunteer computing directories.

## References

1. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013