BSC inaugurates new building for upcoming MareNostrum 5 supercomputer

The new 12,000 m2 facility houses 530 workers from the center and is preparing to receive the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer.

The center invites citizens to participate in the celebration of the new headquarters, with two days of open doors and popular activities.

The Regional Minister of Research and Universities, the General Secretary for Research of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Rector of the UPC and the President of the Repsol Foundation participate in the official inauguration ceremony of the new building.

Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) has started its activity at its new corporate headquarters, the BSC-REPSOL Building, located in Plaza Eusebi Güell 1-3 in Barcelona. The Regional Minister for Research and Universities, Gemma Geis; the Secretary General for Research of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, Raquel Yotti; the rector of the UPC, Daniel Crespo; the president of the Repsol Foundation, Antonio Brufau, and the director of the BSC, Mateo Valero, have participated today in a brief ceremony with which the start-up of what is already one of the largest scientific and technological facilities was celebrated from the city of Barcelona.

The new headquarters of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center is a 12,000 m2 building, which has four office floors, 530 workstations, 35 meeting rooms, two training rooms, an auditorium and various meeting points to promote the exchange of knowledge among researchers. Two thirds of the BSC staff will be located in this headquarters, and the rest, up to 765 workers, are installed in nearby buildings that, such as the BSC-REPSOL Building, share a location in the Torre Girona gardens.
The BSC-REPSOL Building has had a cost of 19.6 million euros and has been financed thanks to the contributions of the patrons of the center (Ministry of Science and Innovation, Department of Research and Universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya), the collaboration of the Repsol Foundation and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The new BSC building is connected, through a walkway, to what has so far been the center's most emblematic building, the Torre Girona chapel, which currently houses the MareNostrum 4 supercomputer. A new one is being built in its basements. room for supercomputers, which will allow to expand the installation of supercomputing infrastructures of greater volume and capacity, such as the future MareNostrum 5. When this happens, the Torre Girona chapel will remain an iconic and open space, housing supercomputing infrastructures and first-rate data. level.

The director of the BSC, Mateo Valero, has stressed that "this new building symbolizes, in some way, the growth that the BSC has experienced in its little more than 15 years of existence" and has affirmed that "one of its fundamental contributions is that it will allow a greater interaction between the more than 600 researchers of the center, who until recently were spread over different buildings and will now have meeting points to exchange ideas, experiences and create new synergies, with all that this has positive for the creation of knowledge ".
The Regional Minister for Research and Universities of the Government of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Gemma Geis, has valued the "strategic role played by the BSC as a dynamic agent of cutting-edge research on an international scale and as an engine of technology transfer and innovation for the Catalan economy”.

The Secretary General for Research, Raquel Yotti, highlighted that the “Barcelona Supercomputing Center - National Supercomputing Center is a leading center in Europe and Spain for supercomputing initiatives. In Europe, its leadership in the Spanish contribution to initiatives that seek to advance towards European digital sovereignty is noteworthy. In Spain, the BSC coordinates and leads the Spanish Supercomputing Network since 2007, in which 13 nodes distributed in 11 Autonomous Communities collaborate to provide computing and data services to the research community. The firm commitment of the Government of Spain, which provides 60% of the financing of the center, together with the contributions of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the UPC, have made it possible to undertake large investments in MareNostrum supercomputers, to which the new building financed with the collaboration of the Repsol Foundation and the ERDF”.

For the rector of the UPC, Daniel Crespo, “the BSC is a source of pride for the country and for the UPC. It is a great satisfaction to see how a project that was conceived at the UPC more than 20 years ago has reached the highest level of excellence and global scientific competitiveness. The scientific research carried out at the BSC benefits the UPC, Catalonia, Spain and humanity as a whole”.
In his speech, Antonio Brufau pointed out that the BSC-REPSOL Building is a unique space, linked to technology and innovation, underlining the key role that science plays in the development and construction of a modern and inclusive society.

Celebration weekend open to the public

The BSC wants to share its joy at the inauguration of the new headquarters with the general public and especially with the residents of the Les Corts district, where its facilities are located. To do this, it has organized an open house weekend and popular activities.

These activities are part of the Barcelona Deep Collage Festival, a meeting in which researchers, citizens and artists will share their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and the interactions between science, technology and daily life that this episode has brought to the fore. This dialogue will be carried out through a program of talks, exhibitions and workshops, which can be consulted on the web http://www.bsc.es/collage and which have been integrated into the program of the district's festival.

The conference seeks to be a meeting point between the BSC and the public, after more than a year and a half of pandemic, and to vindicate the role of science and technology as tools for progress. They are organized in collaboration with the Societat Barcelonina del Collage and have the support of the Barcelona City Council, through a Premis Barcelona 2020 grant.

This article was first published on October 7 by BSC.