Call Advanced Computing Projects (4th ed): A1 Development Access (round B)

The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) manages the National Advanced Computing Network (RNCA). FCT manages the RNCA and seeks to aggregate national advanced computing resources, promoting cooperation between the various centres involved and developing national and international partnerships with other entities. Under the terms of the Advanced Computing Projects Regulation, published under no. 10/2022 in the Diário da República, the allocation of RNCA computing resources is made following a tender procedure whose terms are publicised on the FCT website.

• High Performance Computing (HPC)
• Scientific Cloud Computing (SCC) or Virtual Research Environment (VRE)

These advanced computational models (HPC,SCC,VRE) aim to support applications in various areas, such as bioinformatics, climate, materials and life science, computational chemistry, physics, and civil engineering, among others, thus supporting research and enhancing the competitiveness of the national industry.

Are beneficiaries, individually or in co-promotion:

• R&D (Research and Development) institutions;
• Collaborative laboratories;
• Technological interface centers;
• Science and technology infrastructures;
• Science and technology networks and consortia;
• Private non-profit institutions whose main objective is R&D activities;
• Digital Innovation Poles;
• Other public and private non-profit institutions that develop or participate in research, development, or innovation activities;
• Companies developing advanced computing projects in research, development or innovation activities;
• Individuals operating in Portugal and who wish to develop advanced computing projects in any scientific area.

Regarding applications from companies as beneficiaries, the advanced computing projects should:

• occur within the scope of pre-competitive research and innovation, without market value;
• not exceed 50% of the total computational allocation to be allocated in this call.

• A0 – Experimental Access recommended for teams with no previous experience or history of using RNCA resources or for using visualisation resources.
• A1 – Development Access recommended for software performance testing, code optimisation, scalability testing, benchmarking, re-factoring or for short duration projects.
• A2 – Regular Access recommended for scientific or innovation projects whose team has consolidated previous experience and needs resources in Navigator, Oblivion, Vision, Cirrus and Stratus platforms.
• A3 - Larger Access recommended for scientific or innovation projects whose team has consolidated previous experience and require larger amounts of resources on the Deucalion or MareNostrum 5 platforms.

See more details on the limits and maximum duration for each type in section 3 of the Call Notice - check supporting documentation in the sidebar.

All A1 applications will be subject to technical validation by the technical teams operating the computer platforms following these simplified criteria:

• T1: Technical suitability to RNCA resources 
• T2: Computational resources reasonableness 
• T3: Work Plan

This validation is based on the qualitative classification of "accepted" and "not accepted", with no final score being calculated. Accepted applications will be dealt with in rounds and on a first-come, first-served basis until the defined quota is exhausted. Only accesses A2 and A3 will be subject to scientific evaluation.

Applications for A1 type of access must be submitted in English in the available form at myFCT platform

At the end of the deadline the applications will be subject to technical validation and subsequent allocation on the platforms. If the resource quota (10%) is not exhausted in that round, new rounds of submissions will be opened. Planned calendar:

Round of applications | Submission dates

A | 26 October 2023 (1:00 pm) - 30 November 2023 (1:00 pm) 

B | 30 November 2023 (1:00 pm) - 1 February 2024 (1:00 pm) 

C | 1 February 2024 (1:00 pm) - 28 March 2024 (1:00 pm) 

D | 28 March 2024 (1:00 pm) - 30 May 2024 (1:00 pm) 

For other access types: please check the submissions calendar.

Important note - Check the submission limits set out in point 9 of the call notice:

• Access type A0 and A1: Each IR can submit a maximum of ONE application every 3 months, in non-consecutive batches of applications and always subject to the availability of resources.
• Access type A2 and A3: Each IR and co-IR can submit only ONE application in each of these typologies. In other words, in each type each person can only appear once, either as an IR or co-IR. Applications submitted in breach of this condition will not be accepted.
• If an A2 application and an A3 application from the same pair IR and co-IR are submitted, even if they are in reverse positions, only one of the applications can be approved. In this situation, the application with the highest classification will be chosen. If both applications have the same classification, only the A2 application can be approved. If the resources for type A2 are exhausted, the A3 application will then be approved.

Information about applications can be requested through the email address: rnca@fccn.pt 

No information published on this page replaces or supersedes the Regulation and the Call Notice.