Pan-European High Performance Computing infrastructure and services (PRACE)

Proposals should address all the following activities:

• Provide a seamless and efficient Europe-wide Tier-0[[Tier-0 are those services provided at pan-European level with machines devoted to the pan-European infrastructure for a significant fraction of cycles (to be agreed with the Commission) and having a minimum performance level to be periodically defined by the consortium.]] service to users, based on promoting research excellence and innovation; this includes peer-review procedures for the allocation of computing time; transparent billing; and specific services adapted to the needs of academia and industry users, including Centres of Excellence on HPC;
• Support software implementations (i.e. through high level support teams), helping Tier-0 users and communities in adapting and adopting novel software solutions to cope with the rapidly evolving HPC architectural and programming environment landscape;
• Collaborate with Centres of Excellence on HPC and ot

  To create a world-class pan-European High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure and to provide state-of-the-art services accessible by users independently of their location, by pooling, integrating and rationalising the HPC resources at EU level.

  
  
  • Improved services and procedures for large user access, fostering openness to new users and applications, to world-class HPC infrastructure resources and services.
  • Increased amount of computing cycles available to researchers at European level through user-friendly and efficient procedures for helping Europe staying at the forefront of scientific breakthroughs and innovation.
  • Increased number of research communities, industrial organisations (in particular SMEs), and institutional users benefiting from access to services including training in HPC.
  • Increased investment in HPC infrastructure in Europe (national, regional and EU), long term financial sustainability through flexible business models and inclusive governance, better coordination between demand and supply in the European HPC ecosystem, with improved collaboration of the users and procurers with technology developers and suppliers to foster innovation.