Gauss Call No. 6 for Large Scale Projects

[LRZ aktuell]

Details of the Call
 
 Large-scale projects and highly scalable parallel applications are
 characterised by large computing time requirements, not only for short
 time frames, but frequently for longer time periods. The GCS centres
 will guarantee that large-scale projects can fully utilise the assigned
 resources, if necessary at the expense of normal or smaller projects.
 
 Projects are classified as "Large-Scale", if they require more than 5%
 of the potentially available CPU cycles on a member centre's high-end
 system, i.e.
 
   * more than 70 Mill. core-hours at JSC (corresponding to 24 rack
     months IBM BG/P)
   * more than 30 Mill. core-hours at HLRS (HERMIT Step 1)
   * more than 4 Mill. core-hours at LRZ (IBM iDataPlex, Migration
     System for SuperMUC)
 
 For these large-scale projects a competitive review and resource
 allocation process is established by the GCS. Requests for resources
 below these limits will be accepted by the individ-u-al member centres.
 Requests above these limits will be handed over to GCS, handled
 according to the joint procedures, and will be reviewed in the national
 context. Projects of smaller scale will be still handled by the local
 GCS member site.
 
 A "Call for Large-Scale Projects" is published by the Gauss Centre
 twice a year. Dates for closure of calls are usually at the end of
 February and at the end of August of each year.
 
 Eligible are applications from publicly funded academic and research
 institutions, e.g., universities, Max-Planck Society and Helmholtz
 Association.
 
 The deadline for the current call is 31 August 2011, 17:00.
 
 The next call will be issued in January 2012.
 
 Answering the Call
 
 Leading, ground-breaking projects should deal with complex, demanding,
 innovative simula-tions that would not be possible without the GCS
 infrastructure, and which can benefit from the exceptional resources
 provided by GCS.
 
 Application for a large-scale project should be performed by filling in
 the electronic application form that can be accessed from the GCS web
 page "Computing Time" (http://www.gauss-centre.eu/computing-time).
 
 Note that the regular application forms of the GCS member centres can
 be reached from there, and users are encouraged to choose a centre that
 provides the architecture and software most appropriate for their
 programs.
 
 The proposals for large-scale projects will be first reviewed with
 respect to their technical feasibility. Afterwards, they will be
 peer-reviewed for a comparative scientific evaluation. On the basis of
 this evaluation by a GCS committee the projects will be approved for a
 period of one year and given their allocations.
 
 Criteria for decision
 
 Applications for compute resources are evaluated only according to
 their scientific excellence.
 
   * The proposed scientific tasks must be scientifically challenging,
     and their treatment must be of substantial interest.
   * Clear scientific goals and verifiable milestones on the way to
     reach these goals.
   * The implementation must be technically feasible on the available
     computing system, and must be in proportion to the performance
     characteristics of these systems.
   * The Principal Investigator must have a proven scientific record,
     and she/he must be able to successfully accomplish the proposed
     tasks. In particular, applicants must possess the necessary
     specialized know-how for the effective use of high-end computing
     systems. This has to be proven in the application for compute
     resources, e.g. by presenting work done on smaller computing
     systems, scaling studies etc.
   * The specific features of the high-end computers should be optimally
     exploited by the program implemen-tations. This will be checked
     regularly during the course of the project.
 
 Further Information
 
   * For Questions use: LRZ Helpdesk -Selfservice:
     https://servicedesk.lrz.de/selfservice/Default.aspx?lang=en&service
     =Hochleistungsrechnen%20und%20Grid-Supercomputing%20%28HLRB%29
   * Current call as PDF
     http://www.gauss-centre.eu/datapool/page/71/GaussCall6.pdf
 


 This information is also available on our web server
 http://www.lrz-muenchen.de/services/compute/hlrb/aktuell/ali4070/

 Matthias Brehm