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European Master’s Programme in High Performance Computing

TU Wien participates in the first European Master's programme in High-Performance Computing. The first courses will be offered starting in fall 2022.

Computer room. To the right and left of the corridor are the computers.

© derknopfdruecker.com

Austria's largest computer, the VSC-4, is located at the TU Wien.

The skilled use of high-performance computers is becoming increasingly important, because computers with extremely high computing power are already indispensable in many areas of research. Fields of application cover many areas of science and engineering, such as civil and mechanical engineering, energy and environment research, information and communication technologies, materials science, and quantum technologies.

In order to train highly qualified specialists, universities, research and supercomputing centres, as well as industrial partners are joining forces at the initiative of EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and launching a training programme. The Master's programme is scheduled to start in fall 2022. The consortium of 60 partners is led by the University of Luxembourg.

Expanding Europe's leading role

The individual partners – including TU Wien, represented by Josef Weinbub and Claudia Blaas-Schenner – already have in-depth background knowledge in the field of high-performance computing (HPC). For example, the TU Wien is home to Austria's largest computer (VSC-4), which is used for complex simulations. "The Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC) is Austria's focal point for large-scale HPC resources and HPC training, and is well-connected with Europe's leading HPC centres," says Claudia Blaas-Schenner of TU Wien's VSC Research Center.

By sharing empirical values, especially in the area of training, the partners contribute to Europe's digital transformation. In this way, the Union can succeed in taking a leading role. After all, the key to success is highly qualified and talented university graduates.

Training of professionals

Since HPC is a field of work and research that must adapt to rapidly evolving technologies, the Master's programme will also be modular. This allows instructors to react quickly to changes and individual modules can be integrated into new or existing master's programmes.

"TU Wien is perfectly positioned to contribute expertise with its numerous HPC-focused research areas and educational programmes," says Josef Weinbub, founder and chair of the curriculum committee of the Computational Science and Engineering Master's programme at TU Wien. "Participation in this prestigious large-scale project is a unique opportunity for TU Wien to further strengthen its position in the European and international HPC research and education landscape."

With the Master's programme, the partners aim to train students in the design, deployment, operation, and use of HPC or HPC-related technologies. Likewise, companies and academia are to be more closely connected. Outside the core area of HPC, the programme opens up career opportunities in data analytics as well as artificial intelligence. 

The Master's degree will initially be awarded by 8 European universities.

Further Information

Contact

Assistant Prof. Josef Weinbub
Institute for Microelectronics
TU Wien
+43 1 58801 36053
josef.weinbub@tuwien.ac.at 

Dr. Claudia Blaas-Schenner
VSC Research Center
TU Wien
+43 1 58801 420755
claudia.blaas-schenner@tuwien.ac.at

Text: Sarah Link