NEWS

The EuroHPC Summit, which will be attended by more than 1000 people this year, is a unique opportunity to showcase the latest achievements and capabilities of the European supercomputing ecosystem. It also opens the floor for discussion on current and future challenges, not only in the field of High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence, but also in Quantum Computing.

Newsletter 2/2025

Radim Špetlík and Jan Hlavsa from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), in collaboration with Petra Pojmanová and Jana Čechová from the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague (UCT), use the LUMI supercomputer to enhance the analysis of human scent using machine learning. They are now trying to identify distinct scent profiles, which could also be beneficial in other areas, such as forensic investigations.

A team of experts from IT4Innovations, NVIDIA, the University of Cologne, and the University of California has developed a new approach to rendering scientific visualisations that uses the ANARI API for parallel processing of large sci-vis data. This approach allows computations to be distributed across multiple devices, speeding up and simplifying the entire rendering process.

EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has announced access calls for 2025. Researchers from academia, research institutes, public authorities, and industry can apply for computational resources of supercompters co-funded by EuroHPC JU.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the AI Action Summit, the largest global gathering on artificial intelligence. The Summit, attended by world leaders, business representatives and research institutions, highlighted the need for European cooperation and competitiveness at a time when the US and China dominate the field of AI. A key theme was investment in research and technological development to enable the effective use of AI in areas such as healthcare, education, and industry.

Ostrava, 16 January 2025 — IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center is part of the consortium led by Finnish CSC-IT which won the tender for the delivery and operation of the Federation Platform for the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), a contract aimed at the seamless federation of the EuroHPC supercomputing and quantum systems and the interconnected data infrastructure.

IT4Innovations Newsletter 1/2025

Anum Shafiq, a Senior Researcher at IT4Innovations, has been honoured as one of the top scientists globally. The recognition comes from the California-based ScholarGPS, which included her in its prestigious list of highly ranked scientists for her exceptional contributions to science and research. She ranks 23rd in the field of artificial neural networks.

In late 2024, IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center joined the Virtual Institute – High Productivity Supercomputing (VI-HPS) initiative, whose members are developers of leading tools to improve the efficiency and performance of supercomputing applications for scientific computing.

Researchers from IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center have developed an innovative methodology for visualising large-scale data from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations through volume rendering and advanced visualisation tools. This new method enables fast, interactive, and photorealistic data visualisation, which greatly simplifies data analysis. In developing the method, the researchers harnessed the power of the Karolina supercomputer.

Ostrava, 9 January 2025 – Over the next two years, the supercomputers Barbora and Karolina at the IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center will be replaced. Like all electronic devices, they become outdated, and after roughly five to six years of operation, they need to be upgraded. This will also happen with the Barbora supercomputer, which is in operation since 2019. A new system will be installed in Ostrava in 2025, supplied by the company Eviden.

A new methodology for the segmentation and evaluation of diffusion coatings for steel surface treatment has been developed by scientists from the IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center at VSB-TUO and the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT in a paper published in the journal High Temperature Corrosion of Materials. The proposed method can facilitate the preparation of coatings for various specific environments.

On 10 December, a specialised workshop titled Data management for artificial intelligence and machine learning from the perspective of the computing environment and user requirements was held at IT4Innovations in Ostrava. This event attracted experts from academia focused on big data management, advanced computational technologies, and their applications in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The workshop was intended for members of EOSC CZ working groups involved in implementing the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) in the Czech Republic.

Launched in 2024, the Twin Synergies project, part of the Horizon Europe programme, is an exciting initiative to strengthen capacities to improve the research environment in selected European countries, mainly focusing on green and digital transformation.

Newsletter 8/2024

Luxembourg, 11 December 2024 – The European AI Factories Call results, which will support Europe's broader deployment of AI tools in society and industry, have been announced in Luxembourg. One of the winning projects is the LUMI AI Factory, based on the successful LUMI consortium. Until recently, it operated the most powerful European supercomputer, which the Czech Republic is also involved in through the IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center. IT4Innovations will participate in all activities of the LUMI AI Factory.

The Supercomputing Conference 2024 (SC24) in Atlanta has reaffirmed its status as the world’s premier gathering of high-performance computing (HPC) professionals. The event attracted over 18,000 attendees and 494 exhibitors, showcasing cutting-edge advancements in the field. Among the participants was IT4Innovations, the Czech national supercomputing centre, proudly presenting its latest projects and services on the global stage.

Patrick E. Farrell is a Professor in the Numerical Analysis group of the University of Oxford and a Tutorial Fellow at Oriel College, Oxford. He works on the numerical solution of partial differential equations, focusing on finite element methods, bifurcation analysis of nonlinear PDE, adjoint techniques, their application and automation, preconditioners, and fast solvers. The London Mathematical Society and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics have awarded Farrell.

Prague, 14 November, 2024 – An unparalleled interdisciplinary centre of excellence, CLARA, the first of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, will be established in the Czech Republic over the next six years to focus on developing a new generation of applications using artificial intelligence, computational modelling, and quantum computing. The aim is to push the boundaries of research in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease, by processing large-scale multidimensional biological and clinical data using powerful supercomputers and quantum methods. The centre has a total budget of €43 mil. (CZK 1.1 bln.), with the European Union providing €15 mil. (CZK 380 mil.) under the Horizon Europe Teaming for Excellence programme.