Creation of the Minho Advanced Computing Center

FCT, UMinho, and UTAustin have formalized a memorandum of understanding that will trigger the process of installing the first supercomputer in Portugal in the first quarter of 2018, along with the creation of the Minho Advanced Computing Center (MAAC).

The formal session of this event took place at the Gualtar Campus of the University of Minho, in Braga, on November 25, and was attended by the Minister of Science, Technology, and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, the President of FCT, Paulo Ferrão, the President of the Northern Regional Coordination Commission, Fernando Freire de Sousa, and the outgoing and elected Rectors of the University of Minho, António Cunha and Rui Vieira de Castro, respectively, as well as researchers, entrepreneurs, and various representatives of scientific institutions and companies.

STAMPEDE 1 is the name of this advanced computing platform, which will be installed at the University of Minho and was provided to FCT by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at UT Austin, as part of the international partnership between the University of Texas at Austin and Portugal. This new infrastructure will enable the development of new areas of computing in Portugal, complementing the existing resources in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley and Central regions in this area of research. It will also have various scientific and business applications, particularly in areas covering climate, maritime safety, fisheries support, monitoring of mobility patterns in cities, stimulating biodiversity, forest risk management, and health applications, including bioinformatics. 

The infrastructure will be owned by FCT and its operation will be fully integrated into national, European, and international networks in fully open access modes, facilitating the adoption of the National Open Science Strategy. The management of this new infrastructure is the responsibility of a committee of experts, including users, coordinated by FCT's advanced computing services.

Among other potential applications, the infrastructure will serve the AIR Centre, recently created by the "Florianópolis Declaration" of June 20, on the initiative of Portugal in close international cooperation. The MACC will serve as the basis for the establishment of the "AIR CENTRE DATA INTELLIGENCE NETWORK (AIR_DataNet), to be developed during 2018 together with the Texas Advanced Computing Centre (TACC) at UT Austin and the Barcelona Supercomputer Centre (BSC), among other international partners involved in the AIR Centre, in order to facilitate the development of data sciences and applications for climate-ocean interaction. 

This new infrastructure is also part of the ongoing national effort under the National Digital Skills Initiative e.2030 (INCoDe.2030) which, under the coordination of FCT, includes the stimulation of new R&D activities in the areas of scientific computing, quantum sciences and technologies, artificial intelligence, and digital media.

Also in this context, Portugal was one of the signatory countries of the European Declaration for the advancement of advanced computing, EuroHPC, on March 23, 2017, in Rome, which aims to establish the intergovernmental framework that will enable the development and operation of the next generation of European advanced computing infrastructure.

Read the speech given by FCT President Paulo Ferrão during the session.