First PRACE Petaflop System Ready for European Researchers

PRACE (the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) allows researchers from across Europe to apply for time on the PRACE resources via a peer review process. This call marks the first opportunity for researchers to apply for PRACE resources. It is an early access call inviting applications for the first HPC system available to researchers through PRACE: the IBM BlueGene/P – JUGENE – hosted by the Gauss-Centre member site in Jülich, Germany.

JUGENE offers computation power of one Petaflop/s and is one of the fastest computers in the world (number 4 on the latest Top 500 list of world’s most powerful computers).

The deadline for submission of proposals is June 10th at 16.00 CEST. All proposals must be submitted via the PRACE website.

The Early access call is intended for large-scale projects that have reached a high level of scientific and technical maturity, and could benefit from a relatively small window of access (4 months) to achieve significant scientific results: results offered should lead to the anticipated publication of results in one or more high-quality journals. The projects must demonstrate scientific excellence and should cover topics of major relevance for European research and also demonstrate the need for Tier-0 resources.

Besides requesting computer time through project access, applicants may also request support from software experts for code scaling improvement and optimisation through preparatory access. Preparatory access must be followed by a project access proposal that it is linked to it.

All proposals will undergo PRACE technical and scientific assessment. The assessment procedure will adhere to the PRACE principles of peer review. For this call only proposals from academia are eligible and project leader must be homed in a European Union country or a PRACE initiative country. The JUGENE at GCS@Jülich also has further restrictions due to US export rules. All applicants should expect to be notified of the outcome by the end of July.

The first call for PRACE access with the standard allocation time of 1 year will open in June 2010. A continuous call for applications for preparatory access will be also announced in June 2010.

More information and application form: www.prace-project.eu/hpc-access, see also a related document on www.prace-project.eu/hpc-access/early_access_call.doc

More information: Prace-peer-review(at)fz-juelich.de