Linking Scientific Computing in Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean

The Cyprus Institute is developing a Computation-based Science and Technology Research Centre (CSTRC) that will include a high-performance computing (HPC) facility on a scale expected to be in the tens of teraflops, with an associated research and educational centre devoted to computational science. The CSTRC will be designed primarily to serve the needs of Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean region.
This Support Action aims to ensure that in its planning and early development phases the CSTRC develops strong anchors in both the European ICT infrastructure and the Eastern Mediterranean scientific community, thereby helping to build scientific and technological bridges between Europe and the Middle East and to narrow the digital gap between the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western World.
This will be achieved through the action of a consortium of European and US leaders in the fields of HPC and computational science and of prominent Eastern Mediterranean research institutions. The consortium will conduct studies, prospective work and outreach activities relevant to the integration of CSTRC in the EU HPC landscape and to the attainment of its regional dimension.
Planned actions include the assessment of needs for computational resources within the scientific community of Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, the coordination of HPC resources and their integration in Europe and the region, the planning of the access of users, the preparation of research and educational programmes in computational science, as well as a feasibility study for the amelioration of the network connectivity in the region. Dissemination and outreach actions, including an International Conference and several users workshops, will also be conducted. All of these will bring significant contributions to the EC's objectives in the fields of e-science, e-infrastructures and their integration on a European and regional Eastern Mediterranean scales.