Introduction
Among the strategic infrastructures entered in January 2020 into the Polish Research Infrastructure Map are initiatives submitted by ACC Cyfronet AGH as the initiator and coordinator of the PLGrid consortium: the National Supercomputing Infrastructure for EuroHPC and the PLGrid National Cloud Infrastructure for EOSC.
National Supercomputing Infrastructure for EuroHPC - EuroHPC PL
coordinating institution: Academic Computer Centre CYFRONET AGH
The initiative aims to support scientific research by building and providing the Polish scientific community with supercomputing resources that enable large-scale computations, directly aligned with the framework of the international EuroHPC – European High-Performance Computing initiative, as outlined in a communication by the European Commission. The goal of EuroHPC is to establish a European system of exascale-class high-performance computers, globally unique, based on technologies developed in Europe. The computing power delivered by supercomputers is a fundamental component necessary for conducting scientific research across many fields, significantly accelerating and reducing the cost of research processes.
EuroHPC PL is the Polish component of the EuroHPC initiative. The project's objective is to build a specialized, general-purpose infrastructure for large-scale computations, addressing key research challenges from the perspective of Polish society, the scientific community, and the economy. EuroHPC PL will offer a hybrid computing infrastructure, with its core consisting of supercomputers supported by quantum and neuromorphic accelerators. The project envisions the development of an extensive catalog of easily accessible services related to scientific software scaling, support for multi-faceted modeling, and conducting research based on high-performance and quantum computing.
More about EuroHPC PL: https://eurohpc.pl
National PLGrid Cloud Infrastructure for EOSC - PLGrid ICON
coordinating institution: Academic Computer Centre CYFRONET AGH
In the EOSC initiative "National PLGrid Cloud Infrastructure for EOSC", ACC Cyfronet AGH serves as the coordinator and provides high-performance computing infrastructure along with storage systems for research conducted under this initiative.
The aim of the initiative is scientific research conducted using the established cloud infrastructure to develop solutions addressing current and future needs of Polish society, the scientific community, and the economy. The scope of this research includes, among others, data, infrastructures and processing platforms, efficient algorithms and their applications to address specific challenges. Approved by the European Commission, the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is a project of a federated, globally accessible, and multidisciplinary environment where researchers, innovators, companies, and society can publish, find, use, and reuse collected data, tools, software, publications, and other research outputs.
One of the technological solutions shaping the future EOSC is the proprietary OneData platform provided by the Cloud Technology Laboratory at Cyfronet. Its main role is to ensure transparent and secure access to data in a distributed cloud environment – through multiprotocol support (including POSIX, CDMI, and HTTP). Additionally, the platform facilitates easy sharing of databases and metadata management.
In 2019, as part of the EOSC-Hub project – one of the EOSC milestones – the Data Processing Laboratory at Cyfronet developed the EOSC Portal along with the Marketplace catalog. The portal allows providers, including European e-infrastructures and research infrastructures, to promote their services and thus expand their user base. On the other hand, researchers gain not only access to diverse resources but also direct support from the providers.
The Marketplace is a convenient service catalog covering computing, data storage and management, processing and analysis, security, and training. Using a search engine with practical filters, users can quickly find services that meet their scientific needs.
More about EOSC: https://eosc.gov.pl/
More about PLGrid ICON: https://plgrid.pl/about-us/plgrid-icon
Other initiatives
Other initiatives from the list supported by Cyfronet either directly (through consortium membership) or indirectly (through computing resources):
- CCB – Bronowice Cyclotron Centre, coordinator: H. Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN), Kraków,
- CTA – Cherenkov Telescope Array (Gamma-ray TeV Astronomy Observatory), coordinator: Jagiellonian University,
- EPOS – European Plate Observing System, coordinator: Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences (IGF PAN),
- ESS – European Spallation Source, coordinator: H. Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics, PAN, Kraków,
- KMD – National Data Repository. A universal infrastructure for data storage and sharing as well as efficient processing of large volumes of data in HPC, BigData, and AI models, coordinator: Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, PAN,
- PIONIER-LAB – National Platform for Integration of Research Infrastructures with Innovation Ecosystems, coordinator: Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, PAN,
- POLFAR – Low-frequency radio interferometer. System development: LOFAR 2.0, coordinator: Jagiellonian University,
- PRACE – Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe, coordinator: Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, PAN,
- SOLARIS – National Synchrotron Radiation Centre, coordinator: Jagiellonian University,
- Virgo – Gravitational wave observatory, coordinator: Institute of Mathematics, PAN.
ACC Cyfronet AGH serves as the coordinator of initiatives listed on the Polish Research Infrastructure Map (PMIB): EOSC and EuroHPC, and is also a member of consortia implementing programs listed on the PMIB: CTA, EPOS, KMD, PIONIER-LAB, PRACE, and Virgo. Additionally, it provides high-performance computing infrastructure along with storage systems and IT infrastructure of the KrakOw Metropolitan Academic Network (MAN) for research activities within other PMIB projects.
See the full list of Research Infrastructures on the Ministry website.