PRACE (the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) allows researchers from across Europe to apply for time on the PRACE resources via a scientific peer review process. This is the first opportunity for European scientists to apply for the first high performance computing (HPC) system available to researchers through PRACE: the IBM BlueGene/P – JUGENE – hosted by the Gauss-Centre member site in Jülich, Germany. JUGENE offers computation power of one Petaflop/s and is Europe’s fastest computer and one of the fastest computers in the world (number 4 on the latest Top 500 list of world’s most powerful computers). The term Petaflop/s means computation efficiency of 10¹⁵ floating point operations per second.

The first call provided by PRACE is intended for large-scale projects that have reached a high level of scientific and technical maturity, and could benefit from a relatively small window of access (4 months) to achieve significant scientific results: results offered should lead to the anticipated publication of results in one or more high-quality journals. The projects must demonstrate scientific excellence and should cover topics of major relevance for European research and also demonstrate the need for Tier-0 resources.

The first call for PRACE access with the standard allocation time of 1 year will open in June 2010. A continuous call for applications for preparatory access will be also announced in June 2010.

PRACE is creating a persistent pan-European high performance computing service and infrastructure. This infrastructure will be managed as a single European entity. European scientists and technologists will be provided world-class leadership supercomputers with capabilities equal to or better than those available in the USA and Japan.

http://www.prace-project.eu/hpc-access