The reporting period (12 months starting in June 2015) covers the whole duration of the first project stage. The project successfully reached all defined milestones thus building a solid foundation for the second project stage.
- Work Package 1: The overall project administrative and technical coordination was carried out. All management and communication tools were developed and maintained. Five meetings of the PMB and two meetings of the PSC were organized. Following EC recommendations regarding ethical issues, nine additional project deliverables (D6.1 – D6.9) regarding ethical requirements were generated. Four project progress reports were completed and submitted. All 25 project deliverables were assessed for quality control and submitted to the EC on time.
- Work Package 2: In order to analyse the research capacity in MM and AC, an expert group (EG) of experienced researchers with expertise in the project thematic key areas was established. The EG worked according to guidelines and performance indicators approved by PMB. Based on the EG report, the research capacity in the area of MM and AC and its innovation potential were analysed and the results were presented in the First MMAC Open Workshop to gather valuable feedback from the scientific community. A survey was organized: Questionnaire prepared and distributed among the wider scientific community, and results were analysed. Actions and measures for strengthening the research capacity in CoE thematic key areas were proposed. Two deliverables with findings from this WP were prepared and submitted on time.
- Work Package 3: This work package considered the development and exploitation planning of the CoE’s research infrastructure (HPC centre) which also serves as the national supercomputing centre according to the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructure (NRRI). During MMAC’s first Stage, a comprehensive plan for deployment of software and services was developed. The organizational and governance structure of the HPC centre was designed. Based on a study of researcher’s needs and the state of the art in HPC, a plan for sustainable expansion of the hardware equipment (during the second Stage of the MMAC project), balancing the computational, storage and networking capabilities, was designed, incorporating the expertise, experience and suggestions from TU Wien. The results were presented at the Open workshop (12 May 2016) in order to receive feedback from SMEs and the academic community. Three deliverables were submitted to the EC on time.
- Work Package 4: The mid-term and long-term strategy and plan for empowering the research capacity in Mathematical Modelling and Advanced Computing in Bulgaria were developed. An analysis of how well the key expertise and research topics of the CoE match the needs of Bulgarian SMEs and other potential industrial partners was performed. In addition, a survey of the recent top achievements in the area of MM and AC in Bulgaria and analysis of the current research potential and infrastructure of the Bulgarian partners, were carried out. Within this work package a Business Plan for setting up a CoE for MMAC in Science and Engineering was developed. Three deliverables were prepared and submitted on time.
- Work Package 5: The project website has been designed and maintained, www.mmac-project.eu. The project promotional package (project logo, project presentation, brochure, poster, banner, folders, etc.) has been designed and distributed. The project communication system has been developed.
The project MMAC has been presented at various events including 9 national, regional and international conferences and workshops. Two workshops were organized by the project: Open Workshop “Science for Intelligent Growth” on 4 of December 2015 (52 participants); Open Workshop “Mathematical Modelling and Advanced Computing in Industry and in Society” on 12 of May 2016 (58 participants). Three deliverables were produced and submitted to EC on time.
