VSC partner universities TU Wien, University of Vienna, and University of Innsbruck to participate in the first European Master’s programme in HPC – EUMaster4HPC

“The Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC) is Austria’s focal point for large-scale HPC resources and training and is well-connected with Europe’s lead HPC centres”, comments Claudia Blaas-Schenner from the VSC Research Center of TU Wien, “This project will benefit from the available expertise in training future HPC experts and will provide new mobility and training opportunities. These joint efforts will further enhance VSC’s role and visibility as a lead European HPC centre.”

Josef Weinbub, founder and chair of the curriculum commission of the Computational Science and Engineering Master’s programme at TU Wien, adds: “TU Wien is perfectly positioned to contribute expertise with its many HPC-focused research areas and educational programmes, which will also open up various synergies in the future. Participating in this prestigious, large-scale project is a unique opportunity for TU Wien to further strengthen its position in the European and international HPC research and education landscape.”

With a total budget of 7 million €, the consortium of European universities, research/supercomputing centres, and industrial partners will develop a higher education programme with the main objectives to:

• Educate students in areas such as the design, deployment, operation, and/or the use of current and future generation HPC and HPC-related technologies in Europe;
• Educate experts skilled in driving HPC adoption and knowledge transfer in industry and academia in different strategic domains, thereby linking HPC activities in industry and academia.

The availability of HPC experts, such as HPC administrators and architects, HPC proficient data scientists, HPC application developers, and expert users, is a key factor that drives digital transformation in Europe and requires the training of highly skilled and talented graduate students.

While many university curricula include basic computer science and programming languages, education programmes today must be adapted to a rapidly developing HPC technology ecosystem. The curriculum of the HPC pilot Master’s programme will be designed in a modular structure to facilitate full or partial integration of the modules into new or existing Master’s programmes.

A central goal of the initiative is to strengthen mobility between European universities, research centres, and industry. The new HPC-centred Master’s programme will reach out to scientific and industrial target groups and serve key actors in the private and public sectors.

As the EUMaster4HPC consortium is led by the University of Luxembourg, we quote Pascal Bouvry, Professor of Computer Science and Head of HPC Infrastructure at the University of Luxembourg: “The consortium members are proud and excited to have been chosen to develop this pilot Master’s programme. We will now work with great commitment and energy to implement our proposal that aims to offer first courses in September 2022 and provide added value to society and students. It is a strategic investment that will support the development of a world-class HPC ecosystem in Europe.”

And finally, Anders Dam Jensen, Executive Director of the EuroHPC JU, said: “Thanks to this Master’s programme, we will train the next generation of HPC experts in Europe. EuroHPC JU is building a world-class supercomputer infrastructure. Ensuring the availability of a high-skilled workforce to operate, use, and further develop these machines and their applications is perhaps the most sustainable investment in HPC. I am delighted that we can start working with the University of Luxembourg, as well as this consortium of European partners, to further HPC skills in Europe.”

Background

The EUMaster4HPC consortium led by the University of Luxembourg consists of universities, research/supercomputing centres, industrial and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) partners, and additional supporting partners.

Eight universities will initially be awarding degrees (University of Luxembourg, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Politecnico di Milano, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Sorbonne Université, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Kungliga Tekniska Hoegskolan). The list of participating universities and institutions is bound to be extended in the future.

The initially eight awarding universities will be directly supported by 14 contributing universities and partners, with TU Wien being the main Austrian partner. In addition, two other Austrian universities, University of Vienna and University of Innsbruck, contribute as linked third parties.

The consortium was selected following the call for proposals EuroHPC-2020-03 “Training and Education on HPC”. The call was launched in March 2021, as the last R&I call of the EuroHPC JU within the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework.

The consortium will develop and implement one or more pilots of a European Master of Science programme for HPC. This action is part of the EuroHPC JU’s broader strategy to support the development of key HPC skills, education, and training for European science and industry.

About the EuroHPC JU

The EuroHPC JU was established by Council Regulation (EU) 2018/1488 in 2018. 29 European countries are currently taking part in the initiative and pooling their resources with the EU and private partners to enable the EU to become a world leader in supercomputing.

The mission of the EuroHPC JU is to develop, deploy, extend and maintain an integrated world-class supercomputing and data infrastructure in the EU and to develop and support a highly competitive and innovative HPC ecosystem.

More information can be found on the EuroHPC JU’s website.

TU Wien contacts for the European Master’s programme in HPC – EUMaster4HPC:

Josef Weinbub (Institute for Microelectronics, TU Wien)

Claudia Blaas-Schenner (VSC Research Center, TU Wien)

News posting of TU Wien (english)

News posting of TU Wien (german)

Press release of EuroHPC JU (english)