How do we build a unified software stack that works on HPC systems and personal laptops? In this episode, Jothi Blontrock speaks with Kenneth Hoste and Lara Peeters from the HPC team at Ghent University about their work with the Centre of Excellence MultiXscale and the EESSI initiative. Listen now: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2bLu96i1ZPPYgPhDtW4IOg?si=f907ae2afe594b07RSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/f01f82a4/podcast/rss
During the HiPEAC Conference in Barcelona, MultiXscale co-organized two full-day workshops aimed at discussing the current status of HPC applications in Europe and the ongoing collaborative efforts to enhance their scalability. The organizing team focused on gathering contributions from various European Centres of Excellence (CoEs) and other relevant projects. Special attention was given to gender balance when inviting speakers, reflecting a commitment to inclusivity and diversity in the HPC community. As a result, the program featured: These sessions showcased contributions from 11 of the 12 active CoEs, as well as representatives from Destination Earth, EPICURE, ENES, CASTIEL-2, and the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.Notably, the speaker distribution was 74% female, 22% male, and 4% non-binary. The workshops were well attended, with 25 to 30 participants per session, and they generated lively, in-depth discussions between speakers and the audience.Even more encouraging was the gender balance among attendees: 56% women and 44% men. Considering that the typical gender distribution at this event tends to be 10–20% women and 80–90% men, this shift represents a remarkable achievement. Measuring Impact: Insights from the Speakers To evaluate the impact of these efforts, we invited speakers to complete a short questionnaire. Below are some of the most meaningful insights from their responses. By proactively reaching out to women and underrepresented groups, we can help ensure a more balanced and representative set of voices in HPC discussions. We will also provide opportunities to female researchers to attend this kind of event, where they can enrich their career by listening to technical talks and networking with peers. Attendee Feedback To close, we’d like to share some quotes from attendees, which reflect the value and impact of the workshops: “Thanks for establishing safe spaces for early career researchers. It was a great opportunity and experience.” “Everything was quite welcoming, the communication with the organizers was great. It has been amazing being in a technical event with so many women, thank you!”“Very interesting workshop, nice to have women presenting about HPC. We could think about organizing a separate (i.e. separate from HiPEAC) and independant women in HPC Workshop.” *Survey conducted by POP3, ESiWACE3, MultiXScale and SPACE.Results gathered/analysed by POP3 and ESiWACE3.
In the CECAM Flagship Workshop “Modeling & Simulation of Fluid-Structure Interactions Across Scales” held at the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana (Slovenia), over four inspiring days, we welcomed 55 participants from 10 countries, to explore cutting-edge topics in multiscale modeling for biomedical applications, the transition to sustainable energy, and civil transport, AI-enhanced simulation techniques, and HPC workflows.💡 The event featured:🔹 International collaboration across academia and industry🔹 Hands-on exchanges with software developers🔹 New research ideas sparked during posters, talks, and informal networking🔹 Live demo and tech showcases from EESSIGrateful to financial support from ERC Advanced Grant MULTraSonicA (Grant No. 885155) from the European Research Council (ERC), CECAM-IT-SISSA-SNS and Jülich Supercomputing Centre, as well as all the amazing participants who made this workshop a success!
Authors: Jean-Noël Grad and the TeachingRSE working group The term Research Software Engineer (RSE) was coined a decade ago to describe individuals in academic and industrial settings who maintain and extend research software systems as their main activity, while also actively contributing to scientific research. Their role is defined by a wide range of skills and competencies that allows them to participate in the co-design of research requirements, in the publication of scientific papers, and to lead the development of scientific software. Specialised roles include bioinformatics, cheminformatics, HPC-RSEs, data-focused RSEs, and many more. This flexibility makes the definition of the RSE role challenging. The TeachingRSE working group set out to better understand and identify the foundational competencies of RSEs through multiple workshops over the span of two years, collecting feedback from practitioners from various scientific disciplines and several European countries, in collaboration with the German Informatics Society. Core competencies and transferable skills were identified and grouped into those that relate directly to software, those that are more research-related, and those that are communication-focused. The resulting paper “Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer” characterises the RSE role in various settings and disciplines, and describes RSEs as specialists with a high-quality software engineering knowledge, an understanding of the research environment (potentially working as a direct contributor to research itself), and the ability to communicate well and work highly effectively with researchers who may not have a computational background and IT savvy personnel who may not have a research background. A shorter version was published in IEEE Computing in Science & Engineering. The term RSE has become more widely accepted in recent years and research institutions are now hiring RSEs to provide the vitally important skills that they need to support modern research. RSEs can bridge the gap between software specialists and HPC practitioners on one side, and academic and industrial users on the other side, a synergy that is currently being leveraged by the UNIVERSE-HPC project to design a HPC-RSE curriculum. RSEs are supported by national RSE associations, the European Virtual Institute for Research Software Excellence (Horizon Europe Programme), and can receive formal training in Bachelor and Master programmes. These initiatives mirror work currently undertaken by EuroHPC JU to train the next generation of HPC experts, such as National Competence Centres, the Virtual Training Academy, and the European Master Programme for HPC. This blog post is adapted from the original at deRSE.
The European Environment for Scientific Software Installations (EESSI) has been featured in the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) Blog post: “EESSI Does It! An Award-Winning Software Story”. Read the full article here
CECAM Workshop – Modeling & Simulation of Fluid-Structure Interactions Across Scales April 8, 2025 – April 11, 2025 Registration deadline: April 7, 2025 Location: CECAM-IT-SISSA-SNS, National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia Hosting node: CECAM-IT-SISSA-SNS Organisers: In today’s world, the modeling and simulation of complex systems span a wide range of disciplines, from biology and chemistry to engineering and beyond. Understanding these systems requires a multiscale approach that integrates knowledge from various levels of organization, from molecular interactions to macroscopic behavior. This approach is crucial for tackling challenges in diverse fields such as bioliquids, energy storage devices, and helicopter dynamics. In the realm of bioliquids, such as biomolecules and cellular components, multiscale modeling plays a pivotal role in unraveling the complexities of biological processes. From protein folding to membrane dynamics, researchers employ techniques ranging from atomistic simulations to coarse-grained models to capture the intricate interplay of molecules within cellular environments. These models not only enhance our fundamental understanding of biological systems but also have practical applications in drug design and personalized medicine. Similarly, the design and optimization of batteries demand a multiscale perspective to address issues ranging from electrode materials to system-level performance. Atomistic simulations provide insights into the behavior of ions and electrons within electrode materials, guiding the development of novel chemistries with enhanced energy storage capabilities. Meanwhile, continuum models facilitate the prediction of battery performance under various operating conditions, aiding in the design of safer and more efficient energy storage devices. In the field of helicopter dynamics, multiscale modeling enables engineers to simulate the interaction between aerodynamics, structural mechanics, and control systems. By integrating these disparate disciplines, engineers can optimize helicopter design for improved performance, maneuverability, and safety. Despite significant advancements, multiscale modeling of complex systems still faces challenges. Bridging the gap between different scales, accurately representing system dynamics, and incorporating uncertainty remain areas of active research. Furthermore, the increasing complexity of modern systems demands innovative computational techniques and interdisciplinary collaboration. In conclusion, the state of the art in multiscale modeling and simulation of complex systems encompasses a diverse range of applications, from bioliquids and batteries to helicopters. By integrating knowledge across multiple scales, researchers strive to unravel the mysteries of nature, optimize technological innovations, and address pressing societal challenges. To register and more details, please visit this link
MultiXscale experts Céline Merlet and Lara Peeters have been featured in the SC25 HPC Ignities Women’s History Month, a special issue that highlights contributions of women working in the field of HPC. Since 2023, this program showcased over 150 experts, among pioneers, leaders and students whose work continues to inspire the next generation. More information is available on the blog post “Women Igniting Innovation in HPC” here.
MultiXscale experts will give the following talks during the 10th EasyBuild User Meeting, to be carried out this week in Jülich, Germany: Thursday 27 March 2025(focused on EESSI) EasyBuild is a software build and installation framework that allows you to manage (scientific) software on High Performance Computing (HPC) systems in an efficient way. The EasyBuild User Meeting is an open and highly interactive event that provides a great opportunity to meet fellow EasyBuild enthusiasts, discuss related topics, and learn about new aspects of the tool.
The “Portable test run of ESPResSo on EuroHPC systems via EESSI” article has been published on Procedia Computer Science on 7th March 2025. The document is available through this link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050925006283 Abstract: One of the milestones of the EuroHPC Centre of Excellence MultiXscale is to be able to run the EESSI test suite on at least two different architectures available on EuroHPC Supercomputers. Our initial efforts focused on making the test suite portable across two different supercomputers: Karolina and Vega (the CPU partitions of both are a Zen2 micro-architecture).More recently we have spent time getting the same test suite working on a more “exotic” architecture, the ARM A64FX architecture of Deucalion (which was in pre-production at the time of the experiment). This has raised some additional complications for EESSI as CernVM-FS (which is used to distribute EESSI) was not yet natively available there.We show the current scalability of the ESPResSo application using the portable test suite. ESPResSo is already known to have scalability issues for both multi-node and multi-GPU configurations which are currently being analysed in collaboration with the POP Centre of Excellence. The purpose of this effort was to ensure that we can quickly and automatically record the performance of the application across a range of EuroHPC systems (i.e. ESPResSo acts as a pilot application for the full test suite)
Several partners of the MultiXscale Center of Excellence will be involved in the EuroHPC Summit 2025, to be carried out at the ICE Congress Centre, in Kraków (Poland) from Tuesday 18 to Thursday 20 March 2025. We will participate in the following sessions: We are looking forward to enjoying a week full of insightful discussions! See you in Kraków next week!
