HPC Summer School 2025

This two-week residential programme in High Performance Computing (HPC) in Edinburgh will comprise hands-on practical training and the opportunity to apply new skills in a real-world context. The School welcomes a wide range of students regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status.

Background

High Performance Computing (HPC) is the use of powerful processors, networks and parallel supercomputers to tackle problems that are very computationally- or data-intensive. The use of supercomputers is central to many areas of academia and industry including atomistic simulations to discover new materials, design of more efficient cars and aeroplanes, climate prediction, simulations of the entire universe from the big bang to the present and training large-scale AI models.

The same HPC programming techniques can be used to program the world’s largest supercomputers containing hundreds of thousands of processors or to exploit the full potential of a multi-core laptop or graphics processor. Efficient use of modern HPC systems requires knowledge of compiled languages such as C or C++, and using parallel features from compilers or libraries to run a calculation across thousands of processors at the same time.

EPCC, part of the University of Edinburgh, is the UK's leading centre of Supercomputing and Data Science expertise. We work to accelerate the effective exploitation of novel computing throughout industry, academia and commerce. This has been our mission for over 30 years and we are renowned internationally for innovation and leading-edge research. We host some of the UK's most powerful HPC systems including the UK National Supercomputing service ARCHER2 and run a number of MSc programmes in HPC.

In the Summer School you will learn the fundamentals of how to use HPC systems, including transferable skills in software development and performance programming.

Logistics

Self-catering accommodation for the full two weeks, travel costs (from within the UK) plus a subsistence allowance of a total of £490 are provided by the programme. The programme is open to undergraduate students at UK universities with an interest in learning about HPC. Note that you must not be about to graduate, i.e. applicants must have at least one full year of their degree yet to complete.

The programme will be hosted by EPCC at the University of Edinburgh and students will have access to national supercomputers including ARCHER2, the UK national Tier-1 HPC service. With over 700,000 CPU-cores, it is one of the UK's largest HPC systems.

To enhance collaboration, networking and social opportunities, the programme will accept a small cohort of around 15 students.

Summer school dates

The Summer School will run from Saturday 14th June 2025 to Saturday 28th June 2025 with classes held Monday - Friday.

Programme structure

The programme will combine three elements:

  • Hands-on practical training where you will learn everything you need for the summer school.
  • Working with example HPC programs and applying the techniques you have learned from the training (eg analysing and improving performance).
  • Meeting experienced HPC practitioners, coaches and peers (PhD and MSc students).

Eligibility

The programme is open to undergraduate students at universities within the UK with at least a full year yet to complete. We expect that the Summer School will appeal to students in the following subject areas (but we will consider other disciplines):

  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
  • Computer Science
  • Mathematics
  • Engineering
  • Geosciences.

Finances, travelling and accommodation

Accommodation within Edinburgh and travel within the UK (to/from your University town/city or transport hub near non-term time address) will be provided.

The accommodation provided will be self-catered and a subsistence allowance of £490 will be paid to summer school participants to support their time in Edinburgh.

Application process

Applicants are asked to demonstrate the following academic requirements and interests:

  • A motivation for learning more about HPC and developing your programming skills.
  • Being a competent programmer in one of C, C++, Python, Java or Fortran (self-taught programmers are welcome).
  • Studying a UK undergraduate degree in a relevant area with at least a full year yet to complete.

Applications comprise:

  • A series of short questions to assess your motivation, experience and the benefits you will gain from this opportunity.
  • Links to any repositories showcasing your own work (optional).

To apply please fill in this online form. Deadline: Monday, 28th of April, 11:59 AM BST.

Contacts

If you have any questions, please contact us at epcc-summerschool@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk and we will be pleased to help.