ISC High Performance 2026
Networking, Collaboration and New Impulses for HPC.nrw
From 22 to 26 June 2026, ISC High Performance once again brought the international high-performance computing community together in Hamburg. For HPC.nrw, the conference provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen existing collaborations, establish new connections, and showcase North Rhine-Westphalia's HPC ecosystem on an international stage.
As in previous years, HPC.nrw was represented at the Gauss Allianz booth, where the competence network presented its structure and services for researchers in North Rhine-Westphalia. Visitors also had the opportunity to learn more about access to HPC resources and the state's powerful HPC infrastructure. The exhibition provided an excellent platform to showcase North Rhine-Westphalia's HPC ecosystem to an international audience.
HPC.nrw Contributes to BoF on HPC User Support
HPC.nrw also took part in the Birds-of-a-Feather (BoF) session "Rethinking HPC User Support for the AI and Exascale Era", which brought together HPC support professionals, HPC centre operators, and researchers to discuss the evolving role of user support in the era of artificial intelligence and exascale computing.
The discussion focused on how user support can evolve from an operational function into a strategic pillar of modern HPC infrastructures. Increasingly heterogeneous system architectures combining CPUs, GPUs, and other accelerators, the growing integration of AI-driven workflows, and limited staffing pose significant challenges for HPC centres. At the same time, effective user support is becoming increasingly important to enable researchers to fully exploit the capabilities of modern computing systems.
The session attracted strong interest, with 73 participants discussing key aspects of HPC user support across eight discussion tables. Topics included scaling support services, the role of AI in user support, automation and tooling, knowledge transfer and training, support quality, and opportunities for stronger collaboration between HPC centres.
The session began with an interactive live survey that provided insights into the participants' backgrounds and current support challenges. This was followed by table discussions in which participants exchanged experiences, identified common challenges, and explored promising approaches. At the end of the session, each group presented its key findings to the audience, followed by a joint vote to prioritise the topics for further development by the organising team.
With numerous discussions, new connections, and valuable insights, ISC High Performance 2026 once again highlighted its role as a leading international platform for the global HPC community.
