Netherlands obtains computing time on Europe's most powerful supercomputer LUMI

For the next four years, the Netherlands will have access to capacity at LUMI, Europe's most powerful supercomputer. SURF facilitates access to LUMI and supervises computational time applications in collaboration with NWO, the main Dutch science funder.

On 19 March 2024, the Netherlands joined as a new member of the LUMI consortium that hosts the supercomputer, and gets its own share in LUMI. Researchers who want to apply for computing time on LUMI can contact SURF from April.

Demand for computing power grows exponentially

The demand for computing time from the research community is growing much faster than SURF can facilitate. Therefore, SURF is pleased with the expansion of computation time capabilities on the LUMI supercomputer. Scientific research needs more and more large-scale computing and data facilities, for example for instruments such as telescopes, satellites and networks of sensors. Because of LUMI's unprecedented computing and AI resources, SURF can now grant more computational time requests from researchers in academia. At the same time, this expansion is not enough and SURF is continuing to push for more computing and research facilities.

LUMI, Europe's most powerful supercomputer

LUMI is an HPE Cray EX system with a sustained computing power of 380 petaflops per second. This makes it one of the world's leading artificial intelligence platforms. Among all supercomputers worldwide, LUMI ranks fifth. Of all the world's 'green' supercomputers, LUMI ranks seventh.

"The Netherlands brings valuable insights and competence to the consortium."
Kimmo Koski, Managing Director of CSC - IT Center for Science

SURF's role

SURF facilitates access to computing time on LUMI from the Netherlands in collaboration with NWO. SURF and NWO do the same for researchers requesting computing time on our own National Supercomputer Snellius. In addition, SURF provides several other options for researchers in organizing, storing, preserving and sharing data.

Netherlands digital frontrunner

Commenting on the Netherlands' joining the LUMI consortium, Kimmo Koski, Managing Director of CSC, the IT Centre for Science, said, "The LUMI consortium is delighted to welcome the Netherlands as a new member of the consortium. The Netherlands is an innovative knowledge economy and digital frontrunner as well as a long-term, trusted partner to the LUMI consortium countries in the fields of High-Performance Computing and data management. This brings valuable insights and competencies into the consortium, allowing us to step up our effort to create state-of-the-art HPC and AI for addressing complex research questions and boosting industrial excellence."

Besides the Netherlands, 10 other countries are members of the LUMI consortium: Finland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.