ENTERTAINMENT
FSU, College of Charleston researchers win ORAU, ORNL grant
Oak Ridge Associated Universities and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have partnered again to award two new grants in the ORAU/ORNL High-Performance Computing Grant Program for 2010.
ORAU provides up to $75,000 over three years to two researchers and their teams. In addition to the monetary award, ORNL provides faculty and student teams with valuable access to the laboratory’s computing resources and staff.
This year’s recipients are Dr. Ashok Srinivasan, Department of Computer Sciences, at Florida State University and Dr. Chris Fragile, Department of Physics and Astronomy at the College of Charleston. Srinivasan will seek to improve techniques for large-scale electronic structure calculations applied to real-world material science energy-related problems such as photovoltaic solar materials, and Fragile will continue his astrophysics research to better understand black holes and explore the role of radiation in their development.
The grant program was established in 2009 to encourage new research and expand existing research initiatives among ORAU member institutions using high-performance computing systems.
ORNL has two of the world’s three fastest supercomputers, and plans are in place to install another petascale supercomputer, which will be capable of 1,000 trillion calculations per second by early 2012. This is equivalent to the combined processing power of one million laptops.
“Through this grant program, we can give top researchers access to some of the best tools available in the world,” said Andy Page, ORAU president and CEO. “This program helps us continue building tomorrow’s science and technology leaders, and that’s vital to our nation’s ability to advance and be on the cutting edge of critical scientific research.”
The grant award is $25,000 for the first year with potential funding of up to two more years for a total of $75,000 provided by ORAU. Four grants were awarded in 2009, and all recipients have made sufficient progress on their projects to have their grants renewed for the second year.
"The partnership with ORAU is a great way to provide the academic community with access to the world's most powerful computers," said ORNL Director Thom Mason.
For the 2010 program, ORAU received 39 pre-proposals and selected 11 for full proposals. The full proposals were then reviewed by ORNL computer staff based on several factors including scientific merit, readiness to use the systems and student/faculty involvement.
The ORAU/ORNL High-Performing Computing Grant program will continue into 2011 with a call for proposals expected this fall and winners announced in the spring of 2011.