A consortium of European partners led by the University of Luxembourg has been selected by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking to design and implement the first pan-European High Performance Computing (HPC) pilot Master’s programme. From Autumn 2022, the consortium will offer courses providing students with outstanding career perspectives in the rapidly expanding field of HPC.

With a total budget of EUR 7 million, the consortium of European universities, research/supercomputing centres and industrial partners will develop a higher education programme with the main objectives to:

• Educate students in areas such as the design, deployment, operation, and/or the use of current and future generation HPC and HPC-related technologies in Europe;
• Educate experts skilled in driving HPC adoption and knowledge transfer in industry and academia in different strategic domains, thereby linking HPC activities in industry and academia.

The availability of HPC experts, such as HPC administrators and architects, HPC proficient data scientists, HPC application developers, and expert users, is a key factor that drives digital transformation in Europe, and requires the training of highly skilled and talented graduate students.

While many university curricula include basic computer science and programming languages, existing education programmes often do not meet the requirements of an education adapted to a rapidly developing HPC technology ecosystem. The curriculum of the HPC pilot Master’s programme will be designed in a modular structure to facilitate a full or partial integration of the modules into new or existing Master’s programmes.

A central goal of the initiative is to strengthen mobility between European universities, research centres, and industry. The new HPC-centred Master’s programme will reach out to scientific and industrial target groups and serve key actors in the private and public sector.

Anders Dam Jensen, Executive Director of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, said: “Thanks to this Master’s programme, we will train the next generation of HPC experts in Europe. EuroHPC Joint Undertaking is building a world-class supercomputer infrastructure. Ensuring the availability of a high-skilled workforce to operate, use, and further develop these machines and their applications is perhaps the most sustainable investment in HPC. I am delighted that we can start working with the University of Luxembourg, as well as this consortium of European partners, to further HPC skills in Europe.”

Pascal Bouvry, Professor of Computer Science and Head of HPC Infrastructure at the University of Luxembourg said: “The consortium members are proud and excited to have been chosen to develop this pilot Master’s programme. We will now work with great commitment and energy to implement our proposal that aims to offer first courses in September 2022, and provide added value to society and to students. It is a strategic investment that will support the development of a world-class HPC ecosystem in Europe.”