International Projects

The overall goal of Plasma-PEPSC is to enable scientific breakthroughs in plasma science Grand Challenges through exascale computing and extreme-scale data analytics. Specifically, we aim to enable unprecedented simulations on current pre-exascale and future exascale platforms in Europe to control plasma-material interfaces, optimize magnetically confined fusion plasmas, design next-generation plasma accelerators and predict space plasma dynamics in the Earth’s magnetosphere.
We achieve these goals by maximizing the parallel performance and efficiency of four European flagship plasma codes with a large user base: BIT, GENE, PIConGPU, and Vlasiator. Here, we will build on algorithmic advances (regarding load balancing, resilience, and data compression) as well as on programming model and library developments (MPI, accelerator and data movement APIs and runtimes, in-situ data analysis). We ensure an integrated HPC software engineering approach for deploying, verifying, and validating extreme-scale kinetic plasma simulations that can serve as a community standard. We will establish a continuous and integrated co-design methodology to provide/receive direct input to/from the design and development of the EPI Processor and accelerator, will exploit synergies through collaborations with other CoEs, EuroHPC, and Competence Centers for cross-fertilization, adoption and full exploitation of the Plasma-PEPSC codes. Plasma-PEPSC brings together an exceptional, interdisciplinary group of highly-recognized leading scientists from academia, research centres, and HPC centres, with decades of experience in algorithmic and method developments, extreme-scale plasma simulations, and application optimizations with high involvement in strategic EuroHPC projects and initiatives.
MPCDF takes a leading role in Plasma-PEPSC by providing the technical director of the project.

Scientific data are a significant raw material of the 21^st century. To exploit its value, a proper infrastructure that makes it Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-purposable – FAIR – is  a must. For the fields of computational and experimental materials science, chemistry, and astronomy, FAIR-DI e.V. sets out to make this happen. Such data infrastructure enables extensive data sharing and collaborations in data-driven sciences, including artificial intelligence, and it expands basic science and engineering. FAIR-DI engages with scientists across generations to promote innovations and further careers, and it reaches out to industry and society.
MPCDF is founding member of the association and supports all Max Planck Institutes involved includig the Fritz Haber Institute and the MPI for Polymer reseach.

The Novel Materials Discovery (NOMAD) Center of Excellence (CoE) will advance computational materials science to enable systematic studies and predictions of novel materials to solve urgent energy, environmental, and societal challenges. Examples are catalytic water splitting (hydrogen production) and the transformation of waste heat into useful electricity (search for efficient thermoelectric materials). Such studies are infeasible with present concepts and computer codes but require significant methodological advancements targeting the upcoming exascale computers. This is exactly where the NOMAD CoE is active.

MPCDF is a PI of NOMAD and is leading work package WP1 (Exascale DFT), and co-leading WP8 (Co-Design)

BioExcel is the leading European Centre of Excellence for Computational Biomolecular Research. Established in 2015, the centre has grown into a major research and innovation hub for scientific computing. BioExcel develops some of the most popular applications for modelling and simulations of biomolecular systems. A broad range of additional pre-/post-processing tools are integrated with the core applications within user-friendly workflows and container solutions. The software stack comes with great performance and scalability capabilities for extreme-scale utilization of the worlds largest high-performance computing (HPC) and high-throughput computing (HTC) compute resource. BioExcel has developed an extensive training program to address competence gaps in extreme-scale scientific computing for beginners, advanced users and HPC/HTC system maintainers. The centre maintains an extensive and growing network of industrial researchers in the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries, and offers tailored products and consultancy services, while code development is done in close collaborations with hardware and software vendors to ensure compatibility and support for cutting-edge features. BioExcel works closely with various governmental, non-profit, educational and policy projects and initiatives.

The mission of PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) is to enable high-impact scientific discovery and engineering research and development across all disciplines to enhance European competitiveness for the benefit of society. PRACE seeks to realise this mission by offering world class computing and data management resources and services through a peer review process.
PRACE also seeks to strengthen the European users of HPC in industry through various initiatives. PRACE has a strong interest in improving energy efficiency of computing systems and reducing their environmental impact.
 

The main objective of the ADMIRE project is to create an active I/O stack that dynamically adjusts computation and storage requirements through intelligent global coordination, malleability of computation and I/O, and the scheduling of storage resources along all levels of the storage hierarchy. To achieve this, we will develop a software-defined framework based on the principles of scalable monitoring and control, separated control and data paths, and the orchestration of key system components and applications through embedded control points.

DICE aims to enable a European storage and data management infrastructure for EOSC, providing generic services and building blocks to store, find, access and process data in a consistent and persistent way.

MPCDF is a partner in this project that will offer 14 state-of-the-art data management services together with more than 50 PB of storage capacity.

EOSC-hub brings together multiple service providers to create the Hub: a single contact point for European researchers and innovators to discover, access, use and reuse a broad spectrum of resources for advanced data-driven research. For researchers, this will mean a broader access to services supporting their scientific discovery and collaboration across disciplinary and geographical boundaries. The project mobilises providers from the EGI Federation, EUDAT CDI, INDIGO-DataCloud and other major European research infrastructures to deliver a common catalogue of research data, services and software for research. 
EOSC-hub collaborates closely with eInfraCentral, EOSCpilot, GÉANT 4.2, OpenAIRE-Advance and the RDA Europe 4.0 projects to deliver a consistent service offer for research communities across Europe.
EOSC-hub is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 777536. The generous EU funding received by the project is complemented with a contribution from the EGI Foundation and its participants, and in-kind contributions made available by service providers of the EGI Federation.

With over 10000 members from 145 countries, the Research Data Alliance (RDA) provides a neutral space where its members can come together to develop and adopt infrastructure that promotes data-sharing and data-driven research

In the context of the collaboration of the MPG with Latin America, the National High Technology Center (CeNAT) of the University of Costa Rica and MPCDF hold a CONARE grant for "Advancing plasma physics computer simulations with the latest high performance computing techniques". The consortium focuses on the assessment and application of modern performance-portability frameworks towards exascale computing.