New Call to Extend the European Network of Competence Centres for HPC

The objective of this call, DIGITAL-EUROHPC-JU-2024-NCC-02-01, is to extend the existing European network of National Competence Centres for HPC (NCCs). This will be done by expanding the EuroCC 2 network with additional NCCs in EuroHPC JU Participating States that currently do not receive financial support for a NCC.

The additional NCCs will be fully aligned with and integrated into the EuroCC 2 network and the CASTIEL 2 Coordination and Support Action. 

The further development of existing NCCs and the creation of new NCCs for HPC will support the widening of HPC skills, the adoption of HPC and attract new HPC users in the private and public sector. The additional NCCs will specifically address SMEs which need better access to HPC resources to increase their innovation capability such as tools, services and training programmes tailored for their specific requirements.

The NCCs represent the focal point of national competences in HPC and provide leading-edge knowledge to enable the development of innovative solutions in their constituency, taking into account national HPC needs and requirements emanating from different user communities (industry, academia, public administrations) and application domains. The NCCs establish and maintain a network of national HPC users, promote HPC use in the private and public sector, reach out to potential new users and develop the necessary expertise for HPC applications close to the relevant national and, in collaboration with other NCCs, European communities. 

More details

This call DIGITAL-EUROHPC-JU-2024-NCC-02-01 is open for submissions until 14 May 2024, 17:00 (CET). 

The call is funded by Digital Europe Programme (DEP), an EU funding programme focused on bringing digital technology to businesses, citizens and public administrations, with a total budget up to EUR 5 million.  

More details and all relevant documents concerning the call are available on the EU Funding & tender opportunities portal and in the EuroHPC JU website. 

Background

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) is a legal and funding entity created in 2018 to enable the European Union, EuroHPC participating countries and private partners to coordinate their efforts and pool their resources with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing.

In order to equip Europe with a world-leading supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured nine supercomputers, located across Europe. No matter where in Europe they are located, European scientists and users from the public sector and industry can benefit from these EuroHPC supercomputers, which rank among the world’s most powerful.  Three of these EuroHPC supercomputers are now ranked among the world’s top 10 most powerful supercomputers: LUMI in Finland, Leonardo in Italy and MareNostrum 5 in Spain.

In parallel, the EuroHPC JU is funding an ambitious research and innovation programme to develop a full European supercomputing supply chain: from processors and software to applications to be run on these supercomputers and know-how to develop strong European expertise.