PRACE Research Infrastructure announces a continuous call for preparatory access

The preparatory access is aimed at researchers to optimise their codes before responding to project calls. Only runs for testing and development are allowed, no standard production runs will be allowed. The available HPC (High Performance Computing) systems available to researchers through PRACE are the IBM BlueGene/P – JUGENE – hosted by the Gauss Centre member site in Jülich, Germany and the BULL Bullx cluster – CURIE – hosted by CEA (funded by GENCI) in Bruyères-Le-Châtel, France.

There are three types of preparatory access:
A. Code scalability testing to obtain scalability data which can be used as supporting information when responding to future PRACE project calls. This route provides an opportunity to ensure the scalability of the codes within the set of parameters to be used for PRACE project calls, and document this scalability. Assessment of applications is undertaken using a light-weight application procedure with application evaluated at least every 2 months. The maximum allocation for type A is 100,000 core hours on JUGENE and 50,000 core hours on CURIE. The maximum allocation time is 2 months which includes submission of the final report.

B. Code development and optimisation by the applicant using their own personnel resources (i.e. without PRACE support). Applicants will need to describe the planning for development in detail together with the expert resources that are available to execute the project. Applications will be assessed at least every 2 months. The maximum allocation is 250,000 core hours on JUGENE and 200,000 core hours on CURIE. The maximum allocation time is 6 months which includes submission of the final report.

C. Code development with support from experts from PRACE. Assessment of the applications received will be carried out at least every two months. The maximum allocation is 250,000 core hours on JUGENE and 200,000 core hours on CURIE. The maximum allocation time is 6 months which includes submission of the final report.

CURIE will be installed in two phases, the first one starts at the end of 2010 with the fat nodes partition and the second phase at the end of 2011 with the thin nodes partition. From 1st January to 30th April, 2011, CURIE will be exclusively dedicated to PRACE preparatory access with 19 million core hours available on the fat node partition. After this period, a total of 5 million core hours per year will be available for preparatory access on the CURIE fat node partition.

A total of 10 Million core hours of are available for preparatory access for JUGENE.

All proposals must be submitted via the PRACE website at www.prace-ri.eu/hpc-access.

All proposals will undergo PRACE technical and scientific assessment. The assessment procedure will adhere to the PRACE principles of peer review. For this call only proposals from academia are eligible and the project leader must be homed in a European Union country or a PRACE RI country. Both systems also have further restrictions due to export and vendors rules.

More information and application form: http://www.prace-ri.eu/hpc-access, see also a related document on http://www.prace-ri.eu/hpc-access/prace_preparatory_access_call.pdf
More information: peer-review(at)prace-ri.eu

About PRACE: The Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE) is an international nonprofit association with its seat in Brussels. The PRACE Research Infrastructure (RI) provides a persistent world-class High Performance Computing (HPC) service for scientists and researchers from academia and industry. The PRACE leadership systems form the apex of the performance pyramid and are well integrated into the European HPC ecosystem. The preparation and implementation of the PRACE RI receive EC funding under grants RI-211528 and FP7-261557.