For two days, the Eye Film Museum in Amsterdam was transformed into Europe's main supercomputing stage. The second edition of the EuroHPC User Day attracted scientists, supercomputer administrators and representatives of research institutions from all over Europe, including the Czech National Supercomputing Centre IT4Innovations. They met to discuss the latest trends and challenges in European supercomputing.
The two-day programme covered a wide range of topics, from presentations on the pan-European EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), which mapped the development and practical applications of supercomputing, to demonstrations of advanced user support and opportunities to participate in international projects. IT4Innovations presented Karolina, a Czech supercomputer acquired as part of the EuroHPC, which will celebrate its fourth year in service in 2025.
The event provided a detailed overview of the current state of supercomputing under the umbrella of the EuroHPC JU. Presentations included new computational systems as well as the results of grant calls. Participants could choose from thematic sessions focusing on physics, chemistry, climatology, artificial intelligence, molecular dynamics or engineering, complemented by specialised tools for the HPC ecosystem. The second day focused on applications and skills development. In a panel discussion, experts from the EuroCC and EPICURE projects spoke about core competences and user support in HPC. The programme concluded with consultations with users and specialists from centres of excellence such as POP3 and MAX, which are dedicated to optimising user applications. Czech IT4Innovations is actively involved in these projects and centres of excellence.
A new feature of this year's event was the first-ever EuroHPC User Awards, which recognised outstanding projects in the field of supercomputing. Winners included Dr Ramon Brasser from the Konkoly Observatory at the Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences for his research into planet formation on the VEGA supercomputer, Professor Agnieszka Janiuk from the Polish Academy of Sciences for her simulations of star and black hole collisions on the LUMI system, and Dr Andrea Di Gioacchino from Phagos for his AI project to combat antibiotic resistance on the Leonardo supercomputer.
The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking is expanding its support for innovative technologies by investing in quantum supercomputers to boost European scientific and industrial research. Four quantum computers will be installed in different research centres across Europe and connected to the existing European supercomputer network. IT4Innovations will host the IQM consortium's LUMI-Q quantum computer, while in Germany, another IQM machine called Euro-Q-Exa will be located at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre. Poznan in Poland will host AQT's EuroQCS-Poland quantum computer, and France will install the Lucy system. This interconnection will allow quantum computing power to be shared between European countries, boosting research capabilities in artificial intelligence, complex systems modelling and other cutting-edge applications.
In order to equip Europe with a world-leading supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured nine supercomputers, located across Europe. 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.
No matter where in Europe supercomputers are located, European scientists and users from the public sector and industry can benefit from these EuroHPC supercomputers via the EuroHPC Access Calls to advance science and support the development of a wide range of applications with industrial, scientific and societal relevance for Europe.
Countries highlighted in pink indicate where the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (JU) plans to install additional quantum systems. In some of these locations, tenders for suppliers are still pending announcement or completion.
