UK Science to Benefit From Further Investment in High Performance Computing

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has received £12.32 million, from the Government’s Large Facilities Capital Fund, to invest in new hardware for the UK’s High Performance Computing Consortia (HPC) – providing UK particle physicists and astronomers with upgraded HPC technology to address some of the most challenging scientific problems.

The new funding will allow the UK’s HPC facilities to continue pooling their complementary expertise and help ensure that the UK remains one of the world-leaders of theoretical modeling in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology.

The Minister of State for Science and Innovation Lord Drayson said, "Our physicists need the next generation of supercomputers to explore big questions about star formation, the forces within hadrons, and fluid dynamics. The UK is a world leader in the theoretical modelling of fundamental physics and this investment in new hardware will help to keep us on top."

Professor Stephen Hawking, principal investigator of the COSMOS consortium, welcomed the news and said, “This is an exciting time in astronomy, particle physics and cosmology with the UK heavily involved in world-leading terrestrial and space-based experiments. These STFC supercomputer funds will ensure that calculations from our theories keep pace and are tested against the observations now flooding in. I am confident these resources will help UK scientists answer some of the biggest questions about our Universe."