Transnational Access

What is HPC-Europa2's Transnational Access activity?
Transnational Access is an inter-disciplinary research visit programme. It enables researchers working in any eligible country in Europe (see list below) to visit a participating research institute to carry out a collaborative visit of up to 3 months´ duration, and to gain access to some of the most powerful High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities in Europe.
Researchers may visit any institute associated with one of the following HPC centres: CINECA (Bologna), BSC (Barcelona), EPCC (Edinburgh), HLRS (Stuttgart), GENCI-CINES (Paris), SARA (Amsterdam) and CSC (Helsinki).
Over the four-year lifespan of the project, some 1096 European researchers are expected to benefit from HPC-Europa2.

Who can benefit from Transnational Access?
Applications are welcome from researchers at any level, from postgraduate researchers to senior professors, who are working on non-proprietary research in any discipline which can benefit from High Performance Computing.
HPC-Europa2 can support projects in any field of computational science, including theoretical physics, condensed matter physics, material sciences, computational fluid dynamics, astrophysics, meteo-climatology, computer science, numerical methods in engineering, bio-engineering, computational chemistry, molecular modelling, genomics and proteomics, computational biology and life sciences.
HPC-Europa2 also welcomes applications from disciplines which are not traditionally associated with HPC, such as cultural heritage applications and virtual archaeology.
Users are expected to publish their results in open literature within a reasonable time.
Visits will be motivated by two factors: potential for scientific collaboration, and the need to use High Performance Computing facilities. Note that previous experience of HPC is not necessarily a prerequisite.
Applicants should firstly identify a researcher with whom they wish to collaborate, at one of the participating HPC centres or (more often) at an associated research institute (click here for further information about possible "host" departments). Note that applications will be approved primarily on the strength of the potential scientific collaboration.
Applicants must also demonstrate that access to HPC facilities is essential for their research. Any applicant who cannot make a convincing case for access will not be offered a place on this programme.
Finally, note that researchers may NOT apply to visit a centre in the country in which they normally work.

What does HPC-Europa2 Transnational Access offer?
- Access to an unrivalled range of supercomputers
Users have access to appropriate HPC systems at the centre visited;
Where appropriate, access to machines at other participating centres may be granted;
Consultancy and support is provided by experienced staff.
- Scientific support and collaboration
Visitors work closely with a "host" researcher who works in a similar field at the centre visited or in an associated department and also the host departments aren't necessarily nearby;
Visitors are allocated an office within their "host" department and should be fully integrated there.
- Travel and subsistence expenses and accommodation
HPC-Europa2 pays travel costs - up to a reasonable limit - plus a daily subsistence allowance.
Accommodation may vary between centres and may consist of a single study-bedroom in a self-catering flat, sharing with other Transnational Access visitors.

Application
Applications must be made using the on-line form. Please read the guidelines before completing the on-line form. The programme will last for 4 years and there will be approximately four Calls for Applications per year. Applications should not be made more than 6 months before the proposed start date of the visit.
Applications are particularly encouraged from the following categories of researchers:
- those from research groups which have not previously benefited from the programme;
- those whose research would benefit from HPC facilities but who would not normally be able to have access to these in their own country;
- those working in fields not traditionally associated with HPC.

How long in advance should the researcher apply for a visit?
Selection meetings for HPC-Europa2 are held every three months.
As a general rule, people should apply between two and six months before they wish to begin their visit.
The selection panel will meet 4-6 weeks after the closing date, so it is not possible to start your visit less than two months from the closing date of the application. In fact, we would recommend allowing a little more than 2 months, so that there is time to arrange all the logistical aspects of the visit after the selection meeting.
On the other hand, there have been problems in the past where visitors have come so long after writing their application that the whole direction of their work has changed and this may no longer be of any relevance to the host research group. Thus, if you apply too far in advance, it is likely that your application will be rejected and you will be asked to apply again nearer the time.
For example, an applicant wishing to start his visit in October could apply in May, but another applicant intending to start his visit in December should not apply in May, as this is more than 6 months in advance of the proposed start date of the visit. Instead, the second applicant should wait for the August closing date.

Eligible countries:
Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, FYROM, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

Past Programmes:
HPC-Europa2 builds on the partners' pre-existing experience of running Transnational Access programmes. BSC (at that time CEPBA-CESCA), CINECA and EPCC were all funded under each of the EC's Transnational Access programmes between 1993 and 2003, with the Projects ACCESS, MINOS and TRACS.