Supercomputing

Barcelona Supercomputing Centre

From January 15, 2022 to May 14, 2022

The Supercomputing course of the Crazy about Science program of the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation is a course developed by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center - National Supercomputing Center (BSC) aimed at high school students with a scientific vocation interested in STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). This course arises with the idea of introducing the multidisciplinary environment offered by supercomputing where different disciplines come together to solve all kinds of problems. The main objective of this course is to encourage scientific vocations and promote knowledge and education of excellence of young people in Catalonia.

Registrations for the Crazy about Supercomputing course will be open from September 15 to October 25, 2021 and among all those registered, 25 students of 1st baccalaureate will be selected to participate in the 4th edition of the course, within the 10th edition of the Crazy about Science program that will take place in 2022.

The course will be held on different Saturdays from January 15, 2022 to May 14, 2022 at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center facilities.

During the 15 theoretical-practical sessions (plus the closing ceremony) students will learn first-hand what supercomputers are and how they work and different types of research that can be carried out using supercomputing. They will also be introduced to frontier technologies in the world of computing, such as Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing.

To participate in this course it is necessary for students to bring a laptop to the sessions.

The course will cover the following areas:

• Introduction to Supercomputing
• Mathematics for supercomputing
• Simulations
• Artificial Intelligence
• Climate change study
• Quantum computing
• Computational biology
• Blockchain
• Sustainable cities

Specific objectives of the course

Around academic studies

• To encourage among young people scientific vocations linked to supercomputing in particular and computer science in general, as an object of study and as a tool for research.
• To offer the opportunity to have their baccalaureate research work authorized by a reference research center.

Research environment

• To make students aware of the importance of supercomputing in different areas of research: supercomputing is the third pillar of science and engineering.
• To learn about the operation of research centers linked to supercomputing.
• To value multidisciplinarity and technology as necessary elements for the progress of knowledge.

Supercomputing environment

• To learn that supercomputing is a necessary tool in different scientific disciplines.
• To understand the difference between basic research and applied research in supercomputing.