ICTP and the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) are pleased to announce that they are now accepting applications for the inaugural year of the Master in High Performance Computing (MHPC) programme, which will start in September 2014 in Trieste.

The MHPC is an innovative degree programme that prepares students for exciting careers in the fast-growing field of high performance computing (HPC). Set in the stimulating research environment of ICTP and SISSA, the programme will combine lectures with hands-on and applied projects to prepare future HPC specialists for academia and industry.

MHPC coursework will be driven by challenging scientific and technical problems that require an HPC approach. Lectures will be provided by ICTP and SISSA staff and highly recognized international experts. Both institutes have long histories and experience in developing and applying scientific and research computation models.

Students who successfully complete the program will be able to address problems requiring advanced computational techniques in multiple domains, and communicate HPC technological issues in all scientific and industrial environments.

Details about tuition fees, fellowships, admissions requirements and application instructions are available on the MHPC website.

Application deadline is Monday, 19 May 2014.

Pietermaritzburg born Daniel Cunnama recently graduated with a PhD from the University of the Western Cape under the supervision of Prof Catherine Cress. His research uses state-of-the-art supercomputer simulations run at the Centre for High Performance Computing to study galaxies and their environments. Simulations of this kind have become an essential tool for interpreting observations from telescopes and for planning future projects. Many of the results deal with observations that will be carried out by the SKA, particularly those involving neutral hydrogen and synchrotron radiation.

Cunnama completed his undergraduate studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal with a BSc in computational physics, a pioneering course at the time and one which he feels set him up well for his future career. "Using computers to solve complex problems is a vital skill for any astronomer," he believes.

He then participated in the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme honours programme before returning to UKZN to complete an MSc in computational solid state physics. He has been a pioneer of simulation work in South Africa and has made major contributions to a flagship project at the Centre for High Performance Computing in Cape Town. He has recently taken up an SKA SA postdoctoral fellowship at the University of the Western Cape and continues to work on questions in galaxy evolution and cosmology using supercomputers in collaboration with Prof Chris Power at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research in Perth, Western Australia.

The centre is tasked with developing and growing the HPC pipeline in South Africa and as such, supports initiatives where it can showcase High Performance Computing as a career. University of Johannesburg's Soweto Science Centre and Science-tube hosted a series of lectures, interactive workshops, demonstrations and exhibitions at Miriyavhavha Technical Secondary School in Ha-Khakhu village, Vhembe Limpopo. The event took place over two days: Friday 28 February – Saturday 01 March 2014.

Lectures and workshops covered the following themes:

1. Space Science, Astronomy and SKA
2. Nanotechnology
3. Energy
4. Materials science
5. The Solar System and beyond
6. History of Science
7. State of Science in South Africa
8. Nuclear Science
9. Mathematical topics
10. Career Guidance/ Bursaries
11. Computational Science, Technology and Innovation

CHPC used the platform to exhibit and showcase what a career in HPC entails. The interaction and response from the Grade 8 to Grade 12 learners who attended was outstanding and some now see high performance computing as a possible career when they previously did not know what a supercomputer was. Their parents welcomed the career interaction their children recived over the two days.
 

CHPC Materials Researcher and PhD student, Cliffton Masedi, has won the Limpopo round of the FameLab Competition for his presentation titled: "Energy Storage Technologies and High Performance Computing". He proceeds to the national finals to be held during the National Grahamstown Sci-Fest taking place from 11-15 March 2014.

Dubbed the 'idols' of science, FameLab is an international competition that gets people talking frankly about science. The competition aims to provide new opportunities for scientists to develop their skills as communicators. "If you cannot, in the long run, tell everyone what you have been doing, your doing has been worthless," once said Erwin Schrodinger (Nobel Prize winner in physics).

 The competition runs in more than 25 countries with the international final in the United Kingdom. Contestants are given a maximum of three minutes in which to impress the judges. Judges will look for exciting, engaging and charismatic talks that can be understood by a public, lay (non-science) audience. "The competition consist of two presentations, the second of which is most challenging as you are given an hour to prepare it and to make it make sense to the ordinary man on the street", said Cliffton.

Cliffton is excited about the opportunity to be the first representative from his province, "I want to show the world that we, in Limpopo can communicate our science".

For more information on the international FameLab competition, please click here.