Supercomputing

Supercomputing by PRACE

The course will introduce you to what supercomputers are, how they are used and how we can exploit their full computational potential to make scientific breakthroughs.

The topics covered are:

  • introducing supercomputing terminology and some of the largest machines in the world
  • how they are built from hundreds of thousands of CPUs, each similar to those in a desktop PC
  • using parallel processing to harness the power of all of those CPUs for a single calculation
  • how we can perform virtual experiments to make real-life predictions
  • how supercomputing is making scientific breakthroughs that were never possible before

This course is designed for anyone interested in leading-edge computing technology, supercomputers or the role that computer simulation takes in modern science and engineering.

This supercomputing course has been developed by the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE) and the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) at The University of Edinburgh in collaboration with SURFsara from The Netherlands.

View course on FutureLearn

This course is hosted on an external learning platform.

This course leads you from the introduction to the high performance computing. It contains all the essentials needed to understand the supercomputing. The content is explained with clarity and the given examples are helpful. Even if you are familiar with the supercomputing, this course still offers some insight.
Summary
  • Type of course
    Short course: Study a subject through videos, articles, discussions or quizzes.
  • Cost and certification
    Free, with option to upgrade for a certificate
  • Duration
    5 weeks
  • Weekly effort
    3 hours
  • Difficulty level
    Intermediate: May require some subject knowledge
  • Learning platform
    FutureLearn
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