Project Application for using the HPC Systems

The use of the high performance computers requires a project proposal. By a scientific review process it can be granted for up to one year. The project duration may differ from one year; if necessary, the project is subject to several periods of approval. Significantly simplified procedures without scientific review apply to project proposals with limited computing resources.
Our HPC systems support data and computationally intensive HPC simulations as well as data analytics and machine learning. We prefer to support projects that correspond to our NHR focus topics.

Prerequisites

Only researchers with a doctorate from German universities or universities of applied sciences are eligible to apply.

Applicants agree to assist in the review of third-party HPC applications.

Applicants are obliged to include the ZIH in the acknowledgement when publishing the results of the HPC project (examples).

Project leaders are required to notify the ZIH of any changes affecting project staff (resignation, change of institute, e-mail contact, etc.).

>> IMPORTANT: Supercomputers are considered dual-use goods and are subject to export control regulations.  The head of application is responsible for compliance with these regulations. (Supercomputers and export control) (BAFA - Exportkontrolle in Forschung und Wissenschaft)

Application Portal

Please note that there are 3 different application portals (see “Forms” below):

• for applicants from Saxon universities with resource requirements of up to 400,000 CPUh and/or 4,000 GPUh
  (other approved exceptions: applicants DZA)
• for applications from SCADS.AI-associated partners
• all others please submit your application via the Germany-wide NHR application portal

Project Types (only valid for NHR application portal)

Starter: CPU/GPU resources are provided to a small extent by the ZIH. No scientific review and greatly simplified application form. In special cases personnel support (proposal and first steps at the cluster) to enable for a normal application. Maximum of one starter project per project leader.  (If necessary, please check with your working group whether a starter project already exists with the intended project leader. Another one will be rejected). Maximum duration: 1 year.

Test: For up to 1 million CPUh or 10.000 GPUh. No scientific review. Nevertheless, we expect a comprehensible justification/calculation of the required resources in the abstract.

Normal: For up to 20 million CPUh or 150.000 GPUh. Scientific review, which is greatly simplified for projects with proven funding from federal ministries, DFG, or EU.

Large: Greater resource requirements than normal projects. Scientific review. Decision by the central NHR utilization committee. Project start always at the beginning of the quarter.

HPC Project Application Form

The application is submitted via the NHR Association's JARDS system (also for extension).           

•  for applications smaller than 400.000CPU and 4.000 GPUh (status 5.2.25) from TU Dresden applicants and members of universities or universities of applied sciences in Saxony without any own compute ressources
  +
  applications for access for Lehrveranstaltungen/courses
  +
  applicants from DZA   (please refer to DZA in the abstract)
  
  please use our   local application system (JARDS - TIER3)
• SCADS.AI-associated applicants please use the SCADS-Portal for applications
• all others:   NHR-Projektantrag   (germanwide application system)
• Documentation for the project application with JARDS.

DZA = Deutsches Zentrum für Astrophysik
NHR = Nationales Hochleistungsrechnen
SCADS.AI = Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence
JARDS = application portal (TUD local = TIER3, national = NHR)

The following applies to all project types as a prerequisite for approval: the PDF document generated after the application is submitted must be signed and uploaded to the portal.

Required documents for normal projects

In case of project funding from federal ministries (e.g. BMBF), DFG or EU, the relevant evidence of approval must be provided (e.g. link to GEPRIS or CORDIS). This will speed up the review process considerably. In this case, an A4 page briefly explaining the project content, objectives and necessary resources with reference to the funded research project is sufficient as a project description for the initial application.
Other grants will not be considered and require a detailed project description for the initial application. Please note that the necessary scientific review can take up to 12 weeks in this case.

Necessary documents for large projects

Applications for large projects always require a detailed project description for the initial application and scientific review. Approval is granted by the central NHR Utilization Committee, which meets four times a year. Therefore, please note the application deadlines on the first day of each quarter. The project start is accordingly on the first day of the following quarter.

Template for the project description

In addition to describing the objectives and methods, the project description should in particular justify the necessary resource requirements.
Word (German, English)
LaTeX (German, English)

Project Extension

As with the initial application, an application in the JARDS system is required for an extension. Please refer to the current project that you would like to extend (enter the project abbreviation: p_.... under 'Remarks'). A status report is expected in all cases when normal and large projects are extended.
ATTENTION: Resources are generally allocated for 1 year. Unused CPUh/GPUh cannot be transferred to the extension of project.
Word (German, English)
LaTeX (German, English)

HPC Login

Users with a valid ZIH login can be integrated into the HPC projects by their HPC project manager via the HPC management system . If no ZIH login is available, a login must be applied for via the Self Service Portal and renewed annually at the same portal.

Further information

Project applications approved by 03/2024 can still be viewed here in the local application system.

Terms of use: The current terms of use for the HPC systems of the ZIH can be found here.

Contract research: HPC access for research projects funded by public funding agencies (EU, Federal Government, DFG, State, ...) is free of charge. Projects that conduct contract research for third parties incur proportional costs per kWh of electricity consumed per quarter. For questions about the actual fee please contact Claudia Schmidt.

HPC management system: The HPC management system is available to project managers and project administrators (access via ZIH login). Here, current projects can be viewed, their resource consumption monitored, and staff can be added. More information here.

No Windows support: For Windows, please use the Research Cloud / Enterprise Cloud application option as an alternative.