Early Science Program

Thanks to all Who Submitted Proposals for the Aurora Early Science Program!

The ALCF will be selecting 10 science teams to pursue innovative computational research while preparing key scientific applications for the architecture and scale of the new supercomputer Aurora.

Aurora ESP Call for Proposals (now closed)

As part of the process of bringing a new supercomputer into production, the ALCF hosts the Early Science Program (ESP) to ensure its next-generation systems are ready to hit the ground running. The intent of the ESP is to use the critical pre-production time period to prepare key applications for the architecture and scale of a new supercomputer, and to solidify libraries and infrastructure to pave the way for other production applications to run on the system. In addition to fostering application readiness, the ESP allows researchers to pursue innovative computational science projects not possible on today’s leadership-class supercomputers.

The ALCF’s current ESP has two phases with two separate calls for proposals. The first phase is for Theta, an early production system based on Intel’s second-generation Xeon Phi processor. Slated for delivery in late 2016, Theta will serve as a bridge between the ALCF’s current system, Mira, and the next leadership-class supercomputer, Aurora, which is scheduled for delivery in 2018. The Theta ESP call for proposals was open from April 22 - May 22, 2015, and projects were selected in July 2015. For details, see the Theta ESP project announcement.

The second phase of the ESP is for Aurora, a fully integrated system featuring multiple Intel HPC technologies, including third-generation Xeon Phi processors, second-generation Omni-Path, a powerful memory architecture and advanced file system storage and software. The call for proposals for the Aurora ESP is was open from July 6 to September 2, 2016.

The Theta and Aurora Early Science Programs are based on the ALCF's highly successful Mira ESP.