Post-exascale HPC (CSA)

Expected Outcome:

The CSA action should be prepared, managed and coordinated by key stakeholders in the field. Project results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes:

• Delivery of a high-quality roadmap addressing the post-exascale HPC/AI research challenges for applications, algorithms, software, hardware and systems, including a strong emphasis on AI
• Contribution to the development of a competitive European converged HPC/Quantum/AI ecosystem, including AI Factories and future AI Gigafactories
• Interaction and collaboration with similar international efforts, ensuring alignment with AI-driven computing paradigms worldwide

Scope:

Proposals are invited for a Coordination and Support Action that will guide and prepare European HPC for the post-exascale era of converging supercomputing, quantum computing and artificial intelligence worlds.

The action should bring together the key scientific and industrial players in Europe, ensuring strong AI engagement, and should liaise with the relevant international post-exascale efforts (e.g. the International Exascale Project (InPex)), the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking advisory bodies such as the Research and Innovation Advisory Group (RIAG) and the Infrastructure Advisory Group (INFRAG), the EuroHPC JU private partners (i.e. the European Technology Platform for High Performance Computing ETP4HPC, the Big Data Value Association (BDVA), and the European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC)), relevant EuroHPC main initiatives (e.g. the DARE Framework Programme Agreement on RISC-V processors, HPC Centres of Excellence, AI Factories, etc), the hosting entities of European AI Factories and future AI Gigafactories, and other relevant European projects and initiatives.

The action should analyse the research challenges of all relevant technologies in the post-exascale/AI era and produce and maintain a high-quality research roadmap with recommendations for research actions at the European level. Issues like hardware-supported mixed-precision, AI-driven HPC as a service, real-time HPC, next generation AI model training and inference, digital continuum, convergence of HPC/AI/Quantum/Cloud/Edge, should be part of the analysis.

The Commission considers that proposals with an overall duration of typically 24/36 months would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other durations. Only one proposal will be selected for funding.

In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and/or gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement; however, should proposers consider it to be of relevance for their proposal, they are strongly encouraged to integrate it.

Projects are expected to develop synergies with relevant projects funded under the Digital Europe Programme (DEP).