Network and infrastructure
13 centres - one network: The competence network HPC.NRW combines the expertise of the three Tier-2 HPC centres with the nine Tier-3 HPC centres in the HPC performance pyramid and offers a competent and broad contact point for HPC users in NRW. With the start of the third funding phase of HPC.NRW in 2025, the Jülich Supercomputing Center (JSC) became part of the competence network.
HPC.NRW is a competence network with a wide range of different HPC infrastructures as well as thematic clusters for low-threshold training, counselling and coaching services. The aim is to utilise high-performance computing and storage facilities effectively and efficiently and to support recently graduated and post-doctoral researchers in particular.
An intensive exchange takes place between the locations of the competence network on the following topics:
- Service & support offers for HPC users in NRW
- Software & operation
- HPC utilisation
You can reach the office at office@hpc.nrw.
In its recommendations on the "Strategischen Weiterentwicklung des Hoch- und Höchstleistungsrechnens in Deutschland", the German Council of Science and Humanities presents HPC as a decisive location factor in international scientific and industrial competition. In many scientific fields, computer-aided simulation and data analysis have established themselves as an indispensable bridge between theory and experiment in research. Developments in high performance and supercomputing, which can be summarised under the keywords simulation science and data intensive science, are of crucial importance for a large number of scientific fields.
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has a differentiated ecosystem of high-performance computing facilities at tiers 0 and 1 of the HPC supply pyramid (Jülich Research Centre), tier 2 facilities (Aachen, Cologne, Paderborn) and tier 3 high-performance computers at almost all university locations. In this context, the HPC working group of the Digital University NRW (DH.NRW) has developed an HPC state concept with the aim of further developing the HPC ecosystem in North Rhine-Westphalia within the national HPC context.
With hpc.nrw, two measures of the HPC state concept are combined and implemented:
- Establishing an HPC advisory network
- Creation of personnel and organisational prerequisites so that scientific services can be ordered in addition to pure hardware infrastructure.
- Structured provision of HPC resources at tiers 2 and 3
- Support users in selecting the appropriate level, the cluster and, if necessary, in applying for computing time.
- Establishment of standardised and science-led application and approval procedures at level 2.
- Networking the operators of computing facilities with the aim of promoting the quality of operation (software equipment, monitoring, utilisation, efficiency control).