LINKSCEEM-2

This project proposes the development of a high performance computing eco-system in the Eastern Mediterranean region by interlinking and coordinating regional compute, data and visualisation resources to form an integrated e-platform. It will provide training activities and user support, and engage the regional communities through networking activities such as workshops, exchange of visitors and organization of joint events. Its focus will be on virtual research communities in three fields that are clearly relevant to the region and of global importance, namely Climate Modelling, Digital Cultural Heritage and Synchrotron applications. Regional HPC centres will be contributing resources to support user communities in the region with the Computation-based Science and Technology Research Centre of the Cyprus Institute, the National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (Egypt) and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt) being initially the major contributors.

SESAME, (Jordan/UNESCO), a major experimental facility with a broad user community, will be promoting networking in the region. An upgraded connection between Cyprus and Jordan will provide the needed bandwidth for the transfer of SESAME data. The Julich Supercomputing Center and the National Center of Supercomputing Applications of the University of Illinois will provide know-how at the highest level for running and integrating such facilities, whereas international leaders in the three thematic areas will ensure transfer of state-of-the-art techniques to the regional user communities, thereby linking the Eastern Mediterranean with the European and international computational science activities.