Supercomputing Wales

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government, 'Supercomputing Wales' will enable the country to compete globally for research and innovation that requires state-of-the-art computing facilities to simulate and solve complex scientific problems. The five-year programme will be led by Cardiff University, with the other university partners including Aberystwyth University, Bangor University and Swansea University. A total of £9m will be committed by the European Regional Development Fund via Welsh Government, supported by a multi-million pound investment by the four university partners. Science and innovation. Supercomputing Wales will provide access to powerful computing facilities to existing high-profile science and innovation projects across Wales, with the aim of capturing more research funding, increasing scientific partnerships, creating highly-skilled research jobs and supporting collaborations with industrial and other partners. The programme includes investment in two upgraded supercomputer hubs at Cardiff and Swansea and will employ Research Software Engineers, embedded with research teams in specific domains to develop algorithms and customised software that harnesses the power of the supercomputing facilities to perform multiple computational tasks simultaneously at very high speeds. For example, at Cardiff University, the Gravitational Physics Group who last year announced the first ever detection of gravitational waves as part of the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) consortium will benefit from the upgraded facilities.