Launch of supercomputing infrastructure for European researchers

Europe’s fastest computer, Jugene in Germany, will be the first machine available to European scientists under the PRACE initiative. By 2015 supercomputers in Germany, France, Italy and Spain will be available across the EU. The initiative remains open to other countries to host supercomputer-sharing. The Commission is contributing more than €70 million to PRACE.

Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes welcomed the launch of PRACE, saying, “Scientific computing is a key driver for the development of modern science and technology and for addressing the major challenges of our time like climate change, energy saving and the ageing population.”

PRACE was officially launched in Barcelona when the major contributors, Spain, France, Italy and Germany, signed up to the organisation’s statutes. PRACE, an international non-profit association, will bring together supercomputers across Europe to form a single infrastructure, giving researchers access to a combined computing power equivalent to more than 100,000 of the fastest personal computers, or up to 1000 trillion calculations per second.

This capability will be available to researchers from all over Europe on the basis of the scientific merit of the research to be carried out.

Spain, France, Italy and Germany have each committed to invest €100 million in the PRACE over the next 5 years. The European Commission contribution comes through Framework Programme Seven. Sixteen other countries - Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and UK - are taking part with smaller contributions of resources and expertise.

Scientists will be able to use the PRACE infrastructure from 1 August 2010, after their application has been approved by a common European Peer Review process.