The Cyprus Institute, CSTRC and LinkSCEEM

The Cyprus Institute, CaSToR c and LinkSCEEM -Developing Computational Science and Technologyin the Eastern Mediterranean Region• High Performance Computing (HPC) in the Eastern Mediterranean• The Cyprus Institute- Research centers- Computation based Science and Technology Research Center(CaSToR C )- LinkSCEEM project• Connectivity in the Eastern MediterraneanL. Kalisperis, CyI email:l.kalisperis@cyi.ac.cy

HPC in the Eastern MediterraneanComputational resources are much less than in other regions of the world

Countries in TOP500 listRanked according to the number of facilities in TOP500 list

TeraflopsCapacity of Countries in theTOP500 list12001000USA ~ 66%UK, Germany &France ~ 15%8006004002000

The Cyprus Institute• A research and educational Institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge• Envisioned to become a regional research Institution with a global perspective• Based in Cyprus but international in its membership and outlook• An Institute based on issue oriented research centers being developed in partnershipwith established world class institutions• Overseen by the Cyprus Research and Educational Foundation (CREF) a non-profit,non-governmental organization governed by an international Board of Trustees that isresponsible for the development of the Institute

Development of CyI• Formally established in 2005 with the signing of an agreement with MIT for thedevelopment of the first center of the Institute, the Energy, Environment and WaterResearch Center (EEWRC)• Operations started in September 2007 when the top leadership of the Institute tookoffice: President and Vice-President of research• The formal inauguration of EEWRC took place December 2007 and since thenseveral research scientists have joined the Center• The development of the next two research Centers is advancing:- The Science and Technology for Archaeology Research Center (STARC)- The Computation-based Science and Technology Research Center (CaSToR C )• The planning of two more centers will start when STRAC and CSTRC are launched:- Biology and Human Health- Economic Development and Conflict resolution

Research Centers: EEWRCI. Energy, Environment and Water (EEWRC)Addresses science, technology and policy issues concerning energy resources, productionand management, water usage and management, and numerous environmental issuessuch as climate changes and their socioeconomic consequences and production anddevelopment of alternative forms of energy.Research areas:• In the field of energy research: Quantify the potential for reducing the use ofconventional energy sources exploring novel technologies for producing, storing andtransmitting energy, with a focus on the applications of material sciences.• In the field of environmental research: Evaluate regional climate change and its socioeconomicimpact. This includes assessing its impact on natural resources (particularlywater) and economic development, as well as identifying and evaluating strategies toameliorate the negative impact, including the associated political and socialrepercussions.

Research Centers : STARCII.Science and Technology for Archaeology (STARC):Devoted to the development, introduction and use of advanced scienceand technologies in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage.Its research activities have a strong multi-disciplinary approach enhancing knowledge inCultural Heritage (CH) in the region, through new ways of reasoning with informationtechnologies, natural and material sciences.Research topics include:- Natural and Material Sciences applied to Archaeology and Cultural Heritage- Digital Heritage (DH); Information and Communication Technologies (ICT);digital documentation and semantics, scientific visualization and virtual realitymethods- Diagnostics for CH conservation, such as chemical and physical analyses for thepreservation of heritage items- Maritime and underwater archaeology technology.

Development of CaSToR CIII.Computation based Science and Technology2002:• Assessment report: Identified 7 Research Centers with the potential of achieving worldclass standards• Computation based Science and Technology Research Center (CaSToR C ): Interdisciplinarywith world class facilities, interlinked to the research areas of the other CentersCurrent view:• Development of CaSToR C is seen as a necessary complement for the research activities ofother CyI Centers and in particular with the two first Centers EEWRC and STARC• Key strategy is the development of the infrastructure tailored to the scientific needs of thecommunity• Should be developed as a national/regional facility• Should include its own research agenda in computational science• Educational and training programs seen as essential

Staged Development• Being developed in partnership with the National Center for SupercomputingApplications (NCSA) of the U. of Illinois• A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between CyI and the University ofIllinois in July 2007, followed by a Collaboration agreement in December 2007,that aims at the planning and development of the Center with joint research andeducational activities• Preparation of Enterprise Plan with NCSA has been completed identifying thedirections that can be pursued aiming at:- Achievement of world class research activity- Regional relevance• Discussion of Enterprise Plan by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nov. 7 th , 2008and recommendation to BoT• Approval of Enterprise Plan by BoT in January 2009 - will open the way for thelaunching of the center after governmental acceptance

Current stage CaSToR CCurrent administrative structure:• Governed by an Interim Governing Board until the Director is in place• Two scientific coordinators are hired to help with the development of the Center• Operations started with the purchase of a 24-node IBM cluster in August 2008• Research program on GPUs in the area of Lattice QCD approved• European project LinkSCEEM provides initial funding for the planning of the Center• CaSToR C signed an MoU with the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe(PRACE) on October 29 th , 2008http://cstrc.cyi.ac.cy/

LinkSCEEM project• A support action funded by the European Commission (DG-INFSO) through theFP7-Capacities program for policy development of e-Infrastructures• A consortium of eight members under the coordination of the Cyprus Institute• Started on April 1 st , 2008 with a duration of 18 months• Kick-off and first users meeting held in Nicosia on April 8 th , 2008http://www.linksceem.eu/

LinkSCEEM projectThe objectives of the Support Action are the following:• The integration of the CaSToR C of the Cyprus Institute into the European high-performancecomputing and computational science environment• The organization of remote and trans-national access by virtual communities of users from theEastern Mediterranean region• The execution of a feasibility study for the creation of a regional research networkinterconnecting the Eastern Mediterranean countries with each other and with Cyprus• Outreach activities, in order to ensure the dissemination of the outcome of studies and actionsincluded in the LinkSCEEM project among decision makers and the research and educationalcommunities

LinkSCEEM actions• The assessment of needs for computational resources within the scientific community of Cyprusand the Eastern MediterraneanSurvey set up: Form provided at www.linksceem.eu/survey and an online survey at NCSAhttp://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB227MA8276UH• The assessment of HPC resources in the region• Integration with European facilities - the participation of CaSToR C in PRACE an important firststep• The planning of the access of users - initial phase with a machine to be acquired by end of 2009• The preparation of research and educational program in computational science in collaborationwith NCSA and other partners• A feasibility study for the amelioration of the network connectivity in the region - EUMEDconnect• Dissemination and outreach actions, including an International Conference and several usersworkshops

Users meetings• Users meeting in Nicosia attracted scientists from Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Greece, Syria andLebanon• Users meeting in Amman co-organized by CaSToR C , JUNET and SESAME on November6 th , Tel Aviv co-organized by CSTRC, the Inter-University Computation Center (IUCC) andthe Tel Aviv University (TAU).The objectives are:- to provide a forum to high-performance computing (HPC) users and providers- to promote collaboration among computational scientists in the EasternMediterranean- to present and discuss the development of CaSToR C- to learn about the available HPC infrastructures in the region, and the waysthey currently serve their user- to initiate a user community around the planned HPC facility of CaSToR CThe session in Cairo organized by CaSToR C and SESAME was devoted to computationalaspects of synchrotron research, within the 7th SESAME users meeting on November 20 th .Themain objective is to assess the computational needs related to processing SESAMEsynchrotron data and how CaSToR C could contribute to serving them. Keynote presentation:Cyber Infrastructure for SR research by Rudolf Dimper (Head of Computing Services,European Synchrotron Radiation Facility)• Other meetings are planned during the first half of this year in Turkey, Greece and Egypt

Regional facility• Provide an open user facility at the multi-teraflop scale - regarded as crucial to thesustainability of the center• Serve as a portal to resources in Europe and the US at the petaflop scale for the Cypriotand regional scientific communityMoU will be signed with the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE), aconsortium of 17 European countries.The aim of PRACE is to build a Europeanecosystem of supercomputing facilities at the top of which will be petascale facilities. TheGovernment of Cyprus through the Planning Bureau endorsed CSTRC as the officialrepresentative of Cyprus in this project.• Offer regional and international educational programs in computational scienceand technology in collaboration with NCSA, EU HPC facilities and regional Institutions

Organization of CaSToR CProposed organizational structure of CaSToR C has three divisions:• Cyprus Supercomputing Center: Operates the Institute's major computing, datastorage and visualization systems. The CySC also provides a consulting office,performance engineering program, and a training program, which are essential tomaximizing the impact of these resources• Cyberinfrastructure Division: Develops and supports the collaboration, e-scienceand e-education cyberinfrastructure and cyberenvironments needed by CyI'sresearch programs. Most of these activities in this division will be in support of theresearch programs in the other research centers and collaborating institutions• Research Division: Focuses on research areas that are critical to the success ofCyI, complement expertise in the region, and produce research of internationalcaliber. The initially targeted areas include: environmental science andengineering, digital cultural heritage, scientific computing, and basic sciences

Connectivity in EuropeDark fibre2.5Gbps10 Gbps10GbpsCyprus has theslowest connection2x155Mbps2.5Gbps

Connectivity in the Mediterranean2.5 Gbps155 Mbps155 Mbps34 Mbps 8 MbpsEUMEDCONNECT

Available Capacity in Connectivity2x562Mbps2x565 Mbps2x5 Gbps565 Mbps2x565 Mbps2x2.5 GbpsOptical Fibres

Research activities in computational science• CaSToR C :- large-scale climate modeling for the Eastern Mediterranean region (EEWRC) -analysis of data generated by the SESAME synchrotron facility in Jordan- detailed storage and visualization of archaeological cultural informationranging from manuscripts to entire monuments (STARC)Egypt as well as other countries in the region have strong research groups in these areasand establishing collaborations is very important to the development of CaSToR Ce.g. Biodiversity, High Energy Physics, Protein Structure (Cairo University),For these regional activities to flourish around CSTRC we need good connectivity among usand to EU

Summary• Cyprus Institute is involving very rapidly recruiting scientists worldwide- work together oncommon projects attracting talent to come to the region• CaSToR C expected to be operational in 2009 after government approval- setup users community and research teams on projects of common interests withEgypt and other countries in the region- recruit talented computational scientists drawing from regional human resources- act as a portal to EU facilities enabling scientists to access EU HPC facilitiespresence in EU secured as member of PRACE- use funding for a medium scale machine by end 2009 open to users from the region- use LinkSCEEM project to make contacts with scientists in the area and promotecollaboration. Users meetings in Jordan and Egypt by end of 2008; Turkey, Greeceand Egypt by early 2009- start research activities and educational programs in HPC in cooperation with NCSAinvolving Institutions in the region as well as European partners: NIC, Julich, Germany,SARA, Netherlands and CSCS, Switzerland• Address the connectivity issue in the region - need to work together and with GEANT andEUMEDCONNECT to improve connectivity