GumTree - An Integrated Scientific Experiment Environment Tony Lam a , Nick Hauser a , Andy Götz b , Paul Hathaway a , Fredi Franceschini a , Hugh Rayner a , Lidia Zhang a a Bragg Institute, ANSTO, Private Mailbag 1, Menai 2234, NSW, Australia b ESRF, 6, rue Jules Horowitz, Grenoble, 38043 FRANCE Elsevier use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here Abstract GumTree is an open source and multi-platform graphical user interface for performing neutron scattering and X-ray experiments. It handles the complete experiment life cycle from instrument calibration, data acquisition, and real time data analysis to results publication. The aim of the GumTree Project is to create a highly Integrated Scientific Experiment Environment (ISEE), allowing interconnectivity and data sharing between different distributed components such as motors, detectors, user proposal database and data analysis server. GumTree is being adapted to several instrument control server systems such as TANGO, EPICS and SICS, providing an easy-to-use front-end for users and simple-to-extend model for software developers. The design of GumTree is aimed to be reusable and configurable for any scientific instrument. GumTree will be adapted to six neutron beam instruments for the OPAL reactor at ANSTO. Other European institutes including ESRF, ILL and PSI have shown interest in using GumTree as their workbench for instrument control and data analysis. Keywords: Java; Eclipse; Graphical User Interface; Control System; Data Analysis; EPICS; GRID; eResearch 1.Introduction As part of the IT infrastructure for the Neutron Beam Instrument Project (NBIP) , the computing team at ANSTO is currently developing a novel application framework that will lead to the development of a next generation scientific workbench for performing experiments on any beamline. The GumTree project , named after a native flora in Australia, is aimed to provide a highly Integrated Scientific Experiment Environment (ISEE) for users to perform their experiment in their familiar experiment domain. GumTree serves three purposes: • Client for instrument automation control and status / data acquisition • Application for visualising live or offline data • Workbench for data reduction and analysis 2.Integrated Scientific Experiment Environment 2.1.Grand Unified Model for eScience System A large scale scientific instrument such as neutron scattering instrument, synchrotron beamline or telescope consists of distributed components controlling different aspects of experiments across a network. Components within an instrument ecosystem can be as simple as a two channel relay switch to something as complex as a data storage system or GRID enabled data analysis system. As the instrument ecosystem expands, interfacing components electronically can be difficult to manage. To address such problem, Götz and Hauser have suggested the Grand Unified Model (or simply GUM) to unify the components within the instrument’s eScience system. The model states: The control and analysis parts of a scientific experiment must be treated as part of one system with input and output being readily exchanged between all