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Der Campus Nord ist abgebildet. Im Zentrum des Bildes der Mathetower. © Roland Baege​/​TU Dortmund

UA Ruhr receives a High Performance Computing system (HPC)

This image shows a three-dimensional reconstruction of a microorganism from groundwater in which viruses replicate. © Lea Griesdorn​​/​​Kristian Parey​​/​​Alexander Probst
University of Duisburg-Essen will host a High Performance Computing Centre for Biology, Biochemistry and Applied Mathematics. HPC systems are required, for example, to decipher complex networks of thousands of different viruses and microbes in natural ecosystems.

The Ministry of Culture and Science and the Digital University NRW have designated the University Alliance Ruhr, with the University of Duisburg-Essen as consortium leader, as the fourth NRW-wide site for High Performance Computing (HPC) under the fourth state-level HPC concept — following Cologne, Aachen and Paderborn. The aim is to provide modern High Performance Computing systems across the state.

Ina Brandes, Minister for Science, stated: “Computing power is the decisive resource of the digital age. Alongside our outstanding supercomputer in Jülich, we are continuing to expand the provision of computing capacity for our universities. This will enable research and industry in North Rhine-Westphalia to carry out more computer-based simulations in less time and to analyse vast quantities of data. This makes research more precise and accelerates the transfer of findings into practical application. Broad access to high-performance computers gives our research location a genuine competitive advantage.”

The NRW HPC state concept provides for four High Performance Computing sites (HPC clusters) at Level 3 (Tier 3: subject-specific clusters). In Cologne, the basic service for HPC provision is delivered. In Paderborn, there is a subject-specific cluster for physics and chemistry. The cluster at RWTH Aachen University focuses primarily on engineering sciences. The University of Duisburg-Essen will offer academic High Performance Computing particularly for the fields of biology, biochemistry and applied mathematics. At the three subject-cluster sites, machine learning will also be supported as a core technology. Through a distribution system, all universities in NRW will be able to secure a proportional share of computing time. The new operating site will be located in the future Technologie-Quartier Wedau, in the current data centre of the Centre for Information and Media Services at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Prof. Dr Barbara Albert, spokesperson of the University Alliance Ruhr, Rector of the University of Duisburg-Essen and member of the extended Executive Board of Digital University NRW (DH.NRW), welcomed the Ministry’s decision: “With the state concept for academic High Performance Computing, the Ministry of Culture and Science, together with DH.NRW, is pursuing a sound strategy to pool and strengthen HPC resources and to have them operated by the universities themselves. By working together, we are more capable, more efficient and more sustainable.”

The new Duisburg-Essen HPC site of the University Alliance Ruhr also stands out for its innovative sustainability concept: “As the use of computer-based methods has become indispensable across all areas of scholarship, the centralised and at the same time sustainable provision of computing resources is gaining in importance. A key contribution in this regard is the possibility of using the waste heat generated by the high-performance computers for local and district heating in the region,” said Prof. Dr Pedro Marron, Vice-Rector for Transfer, Innovation and Digitalisation at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

The operation of an efficient HPC ecosystem requires broadly based operational and support staff. Nineteen members of staff from the central IT service providers ZIM, IT.Services and ITMC at the three universities in Duisburg-Essen, Bochum and Dortmund are already working closely together. In future, they will jointly implement the processes surrounding the hpcFachCluster.nrw within the University Alliance Ruhr. Commissioning is scheduled for early 2028.