We considered rsync but were wondering if there were more specialized tools available. We figured that those who work in the scientific community would have a way to transfer their large data sets between institutions.
We use rsync.
When I worked for the local university we had to transfer data between machines to run experimental parallel programs on so-called "big data."
We used rsync.
YMMV, but if you want to improve throughput, consider carefully where your data has to go through. But rsync is rock-solid, well-understood, mature, and just does exactly what it is intended to do.
Scientific institutions that need to transfer large data sets have fast connections. :) How does 340 Gbps sound? Check out ESnet. http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2014/10/20/does-high-speed-network...
I heard about ESnet while consulting at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.