About Us

PlanetHPC is a Support Action funded by the EU’s 7^th Framework Programme. Launched in November 2009, this two-year initiative provides a unique forum for European researchers and industrialists to identify the research challenges facing High Performance Computing (HPC).

PlanetHPC brings together the major players in European HPC from the scientific and business sectors - users, service providers, hardware providers and software providers. By bringing these communities together and facilitating their interaction, our aim is to coordinate activities, strategies and roadmaps for HPC in Europe.

PlanetHPC is led by EPCC, one of Europe’s largest supercomputing centres based at The University of Edinburgh.

The European Commission has funded the PlanetHPC Support Action to explore the issues around software and hardware for HPC with a specific focus on simulation and modelling for industry. The outputs will be the production of a series of research roadmaps designed to set the European research agenda in this area for forthcoming FP7 and FP8 work programmes and calls.

In order to maximise the benefits to the European economy we will place particular emphasis on Europe’s strengths. In particular we will:

• Ensure strong representation of the European software industry with a particular emphasis on those supplying HPC applications and tools for Europe’s engineering industry;
• We will engage with existing Networks of Excellence who have links to the HPC community;
• We will involve European hardware manufacturers and vendors;
• We will have a strong focus on HPC for industrial growth.