EQUIP@MESO
Selected in 2011 as part of the first “Equipements d’excellence” (“Excellence Equipment”) project call for the “Investissements d’avenir” (“Future Investments”) programme, the equip@meso [1] project has three major objectives: To increase the HPC capacities of the centres, to deliver a service of excellence and proximity, for training, education and computing, complementing the national resources by means of specific scientific leadership and to extend the HPC-SME Initiative to the local level.
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Total power doubled
The investment phase of the equip@meso [1] project was completed in 2013. Thanks to equip@meso [1], 17 partner regional centres were equipped for HPC. The total computing power available in the regions was doubled thanks to this project and the leverage effect it produced (regional and European co-financing). Almost 800 Tflop/s in total were installed under the project, in a huge variety of configurations, by the different partners.
Scientific training and promotion
Coordinated by the Maison de la Simulation with the support of CNRS Groupe Calcul, scientific training and promotion are very important for equip@meso [1] and were the strong point in 2014. National training sessions and a seasonal school are organized each year for helping scientists to use the new systems. These sessions are completed by local ones in each mesocentre.
Equipàmeso also organizes an annual dedicated day:
- Ab initio methods, on 16 May 2014 in Lyon;
- Fluid Mechanics, on 16 May 2013 at Crihan in Rouen;
- Chemistry and life sicence, on 18 October 2012 in Rouen.
Finally, to hughlight the scientific achievements obtained on the new systems of the mesocentres, Equipatmeso has organized a "Mesochallenges day" on 20 September 2013 in Paris and held again this event on 8 October 2014 in Paris.
These various events all played their parts in maintaining, right from the start, the dynamic of the project as a whole.
Partners
Coordinated by GENCI, equip@meso [1] is composed of 17 partners :
- Université de Strasbourg [3] ;
- Université Claude-Bernard Lyon 1 [4] ;
- Université Grenoble [5] Alpes ;
- Université Aix-Marseille [6] ;
- PRES Université de Toulouse [7] ;
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie [8] ;
- Maison de la simulation (CEA) [9] ;
- PRES Paris Sciences et Lettres [10] ;
- Université Reims-Champagne Ardenne [11] ;
- CRIHAN [12].
- Université de Montpellier [13] (Meso@LR [13])
- Université de Bordeaux [14] (MCIA) ;
- Université de Franche-Comté [15] (Méso-comté) ;
- Université de Bourgogne [16] ;
- Université d'Orléans [17].
- Université de Nice Côte d'Azur [18]
- Centrale Nantes [19]
Whilst these new partners were not eligible for "Investissements d'avenir" funding, they are involved in all the activities within the project.
A reinforced ecosystem
Thanks to the dynamic of the equip@meso [1] project, the basis of the HPC ecosystem, composed of regional university centres, has been notably reinforced.
80% regional resources are now in equip@meso [1].
Researchers and industrials can access national and European computing resources thanks to the strengthening and a better structuration of regional centres which are responsibles for the discovery, training and use of HPC.
