Call for Proposal 2019-1 - Access to HPC Resources at PC²

Scientists qualified in their respective field of research can submit proposals for access to HPC resources operated by Paderborn Center for Parallel Computing (PC²). We offer multi-million core-hour projects on the most recent generation of Intel Xeon processors with a low-latency interconnect. We intend to grant up to 30 million core-hours to an outstanding "flag-ship project".

PC² provides a portfolio of preinstalled applications and offers support for software installation/configuration of project-specific applications. We advise our users on using the resources in an efficient way. In particular, we provide consulting services for users from computational chemistry and solid-state physics. Furthermore, PC² encourages approximate computing and the acceleration of applications with Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA). Proposals from young scientists and in situations where equal opportunities are concerned are particularly encouraged.

Available Resources

Noctua
(inital installation, extension in 2020/2021)

256 compute nodes, each 40 processor cores (2x Intel Xeon 6148) and 192 GiB main memory
16 FPGA nodes, same as a compute node with additional 2 x Intel Stratix 10 FPGAs (BittWare/Nallatech 520N card)
100 Gbps Omni-Path network
720 TByte parallel file system
https://pc2.uni-paderborn.de/hpc-services/available-systems/noctua/

OCuLUS

 

552 compute nodes, each 16 processor cores (2x Intel Xeon E5-2670) and 64 GiB main memory
20 nodes with 256 GiB and 4 nodes with 1 TiB main memory
32 GPU nodes, same as compute node with additional Nvidia K20 GPU
8 GPU nodes, same as compute node with additional two Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti
40 Gbps InfiniBand network
500 TByte parallel file system
https://pc2.uni-paderborn.de/hpc-services/available-systems/oculus/

Proposals can be submitted for

  • Large projects (more than 2 million core hours),
  • Small projects (less than 2 million core hours), and
  • Test projects (code testing and optimization)

Large projects are evaluated on a biannual schedule. Applications for small and test projects can be submitted at any time and are continuously evaluated. 

Who can apply?

Proposals can be submitted from members of German universities or research institutions located in Germany.

Small projects can only be requested by scientists from universities or research institutes located in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). An exception is made for small proposals with a special emphasis on FPGA acceleration of HPC codes, which can be submitted from members of German universities or research institutions located in Germany.

All proposals should show the potential of achieving results which are intended to be published in scientific journals or presented at conferences.

The proposals will be ranked based on scientific and technical excellence in a peer review process. 

Proposals may be granted in their entirety, with a changed volume, or rejected by the Resource Allocation Board of PC².  

How to apply?

Proposals have to use the application forms and templates provided and have to be sent to pc2-support@uni-paderborn.de. Proposals have to be submitted in English.

Large projects have to explicitly demonstrate their degree of parallelism, efficiency and scalability on the available HPC systems or a comparable installation. We provide a template and guidelines.

Proposals for test and small projects can be submitted at any time and are continuously evaluated. 

The maximum project duration is 12 months.

Important Dates

Opening date

17 January 2019

Closing date

28 February 2019

Scientific reviews of proposals March 2019
Announcement of allocation decision End of March 2019
Allocation period for awarded large proposals 1 April 2019 until 31 March 2020

The follow-up "Call for Proposals 2019-2" will have an allocation period starting on 1st of October 2019 with a project duration of 12 months. Approved projects can be extended.

The proposals will be ranked based on scientific and technical excellence in a peer review process. Proposals may be granted in their entirety, with a changed volume, or rejected by the Resource Allocation Board of PC².  

Formal Regulations 

Contact

Paderborn University - PC²
PC² - Resource Allocation Board
Warburger Str. 100
33098 Paderborn

pc2-support@uni-paderborn.de

Head of the Resource Allocation Board: Prof. Dr. Thomas Kühne