Advanced Computing/EuroCC MSc Fellows Programme (IST Pilot 2022)

Advanced Computing -- Advancing Science & Engineering – Fostering European Sovereignty

The EuroCC is a project aiming to boost the knowledge of High-Performance Computing (HPC) and its opportunities to a common high level in Europe. The Portuguese National Competence Center, of which IST/ULisboa is a member, serves as a contact point in Portugal for the industry, science, HPC experts, and the general public.

One of our goals is to further develop HPC competencies in Portugal and to bring together the Advanced Computing community. To do so, we started a new program of IST Advanced Computing EuroCC Fellows, with the award of scholarships for graduate students who are conducting a master’s degree in any HPC-related/Advanced Computing topic, across all the scientific and technological areas. For this purpose, in the academic year 2021-2022, we offer up to 20 scholarships grants, each with a duration of 4 months. The research can be carried out in any second cycle of the IST degrees or in other institutions with a co-supervisor at IST (permanent faculty member at IST).

This program includes a two-day kick-off/warm-up session and a closing workshop involving all participants and taking place at Instituto Superior Técnico.

The program starts on the second semester of the academic year 2021/2022.

The main research topics of the MSc thesis work should be associated with High-Performance Computing, Advanced Computing, or connected topics covered by the EuroHPC initiative in its broadest sense (see https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu and the description/highlights of EuroHPC below). Thesis projects directly associated with HPC/Advanced Computing initiatives or projects in Portugal/Europe, or exploiting (or planning to use) HPC resources will be preferred. Candidates from other higher education institutions will be considered, under equivalent conditions, subject to the existence of a co-supervisor permanent faculty member at IST.

Applications are open from the 3rd to the 24th of January 2022 (EOD).

The necessary documents for the application are:

1. Candidate’s CV;
2. Unofficial list of the 1st and 2nd cycle’s grades;
3. Research plan (max. 1 A4 page) explaining the research project and MSc thesis goals, the connection with HPC or Advanced Computing projects, the research center, and the supervisor(s), including, if possible, the CIÊNCIA VITAE ID of the main supervisor;
4. A signed declaration, from the supervisor, supporting the application.

After selection additional documents will be required/mandatory to formalize the fellowship:

1. Bachelor’s certificate (with the relative final average grade);
2. Certificate of enrollment in the second year of the master’s program.

The Selection Committee of the Advanced Computing EuroCC Fellows will be composed by:

• Luis O. Silva (chair) (DF)
• Fernando Mira da Silva (DSI/CG)
• José Carlos Monteiro (DEI)
• Carlos Bettencourt da Silva (DEM)
• Nuno Roma (DEEC)

The applications should be sent directly to the Selection Committee’s chair via email to luis.silva@tecnico.ulisboa.pt with the subject “[AdvComp MSc Fellows Program]: Application Name_of_the_Applicant”

This program is funded by EuroHPC under grant agreement No 951732.

About EuroHPC

The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) is a legal and funding entity, created in 2018 and located in Luxembourg.

The EuroHPC JU allows the European Union and the EuroHPC JU participating countries to coordinate their efforts and pool their resources to make Europe a world leader in supercomputing. This will boost Europe's scientific excellence and industrial strength, support the digital transformation of its economy while ensuring its technological sovereignty.

The EuroHPC JU aims to:

• develop, deploy, extend, and maintain a world-leading supercomputing and data infrastructure in Europe. The objective is to reach exascale capabilities by 2022/2024. Exascale supercomputers are capable of more than a billion billion operations per second (when compared to ten billion operations per second of an ordinary laptop device). Another objective is to build 'hybrid' machines that blend the best of quantum and classical HPC technologies with the first state-of-the-art pilot quantum computers by 2025.

• support the development and uptake of innovative and competitive supercomputing technologies and applications based on a supply chain that will reduce Europe's dependency on foreign computing technology. A specific focus will be given to greener and energy-efficient HPC technologies. Synergies with broader technology sectors and markets, such as autonomous vehicles, extreme-scale, big data, and applications based on edge computing or artificial intelligence will be encouraged.

• widen the use of HPC infrastructures to a large number of public and private users wherever they are located in Europe and support the development of key HPC skills, education and training for European science and industry. One of the objective is to create a network of national HPC Competence Centres to ease access to European HPC opportunities in different industrial sectors and deliver tailored solutions. Another iconic objective will be to set up the first pan-European Master of Science programme for HPC to develop HPC talents in Europe. .