{"id":7785,"date":"2024-04-02T08:42:19","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T08:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/escience.sdu.dk\/?post_type=news&p=7785"},"modified":"2024-04-02T08:42:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T08:42:19","slug":"have-you-used-a-supercomputer-today","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"http:\/\/escience.sdu.dk\/index.php\/news\/have-you-used-a-supercomputer-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Have you used a supercomputer today?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article was originally published here<\/a> and written by Susan Gr\u00f8nbech Kongpetsak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supercomputers are ready to boost your research both here at SDU and at a number of other Danish universities. But what difference can supercomputers make? This was the focus when the Danish e-infrastructure Consortium (DeiC) visited SDU.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supercomputers can be something of a superpower to include in your research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why the Danish e-infrastructure Consortium (DeiC) is on a mission to help even more researchers start using the many digital resources that are available at Danish universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 29 February, DeiC visited SDU to raise awareness of the national supercomputers and the great potential they hold \u2013 no matter what research field you work in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event was opened by Marianne Holmer, dean of the Faculty of Science, SDU, and board member of DeiC, who briefly talked about the development in the area of digital resources for research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspiration for all researchers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

She also welcomed the fact that so many SDU researchers are already seizing the potential of using the digital facilities offered by SDU\u2019s eScience Centre and DeiC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– It\u2019s great that more than 9,000 users are already utilising our interactive HPC solutions here at SDU, and we hope that this event will inspire even more researchers from all corners of the University to use digital resources.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Marianne Holmer also pointed out that the development within the field of quantum computing is in full swing at DeiC: it is currently possible to apply for PhD and postdoc positions within quantum algorithms and software<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Afterwards, Gitte Kudsk, director of DeiC, took the audience in the DIAS auditorium on a quick tour of the many different digital opportunities that researchers can access via DeiC. Among other things, researchers can apply twice a year for access to computing power on the national supercomputers for their research projects. Additionally, SDU owns a share of these supercomputers, accessible via the SDU eScience Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her presentation, Gitte Kudsk also highlighted the many international digital resources that DeiC \u2013 through strong collaborations in Europe \u2013 can help Danish researchers gain access to. Finally, she stated that both DeiC and the universities\u2019 local Front Offices \u2013 SDU eScience Centre at this university \u2013 are always ready to help researchers embark on using digital resources that can make a difference in their research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Make the invisible visible<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The kind of difference supercomputers can make became particularly evident when SDU researchers from fields as diverse as medieval literature, chemistry and pharmacy explained how they use supercomputers in their research. 

Himanshu Khandelia, associate professor at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, gave an inspiring presentation on how biomolecular simulation on supercomputers has contributed to his research in the development of new treatments for cancer and how to remove nanoplastics, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– My research and research results would not be possible at all without High Performance Computing (HPC), he stated in his presentation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Aglae Pizzone, professor at the Department of Culture and Language, then described how supercomputers in her field can make the invisible visible. In an interdisciplinary collaboration on scanning and advanced imaging of medieval manuscripts, she and her colleagues are discovering what authors of the time were thinking and feeling while writing their texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DeiC visit to SDU ended with an introduction to the services available at the SDU eScience Centre, presented by professor Claudio Pica, head of the SDU eScience Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are considering including supercomputers in your research, the SDU eScience Centre is ready to help. Please contact us via support@escience.sdu.dk to learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National supercomputers in brief<\/h3>\n\n\n\n