N8 has launched a brand new Centre of Excellence programme in Computationally Intensive Research (N8 CIR)
N8 CIR has been launched to help develop computational skills, software and training for researchers and will facilitate access to high-performance computing (HPC) resources both locally and nationally.
N8 CIR follows on from the success of the N8 HPC programme, which completed earlier this year after its machine, Polaris, was switched off after five years.
The new programme will focus on the creation of a Centre of Excellence in CIR methods, skills and facilities to underpin the strategic research objective of the N8 universities. The strategy aims to provide this by:
- Building communities of practice focussed on selected N8 strategic research priorities;
- Developing skills, including building a community of research software engineers;
- Developing shared software infrastructure to support research priorities and cross-cutting capabilities;
- Facilitating the provision of shared high-performance computing resources involving N8 partners;
- Facilitating access to the national e-Infrastructure ecosystem;
- Positioning N8 to leverage future funding for CIR.
Professor Matt Probert, of the University of York, has been appointed as the new director of N8 CIR. He said: “Following on from the success of N8 HPC, this new Centre of Excellence should benefit many more N8 researchers and not just those who use HPC.
“Our aim is to help researchers gain a competitive edge in their work and it’s a very exciting time as we prepare to launch a number of local and N8-wide activities in the next few months. We want to thank everyone for their support of N8 HPC over the years and we’re looking forward to starting this exciting new chapter with N8 CIR.”
Keep up to date with the new programme via their website.